Our Trip to Biltmore....

On Wednesday, my daughter, granddaughter and her fiance piled into a car and drove to Asheville, to see Biltmore in all its Christmas finery. Biltmore is a treat to see at any time of the year, but they go all out at Christmas! The guides told us there are 67 decorated Christmas trees in the house. And the cluster of trees on the grounds in front of the house have 50,000 kights on them. It is definitely brilliant! We had reservations for a 9 pm candlelight tour. We parked in the lot and got on a shuttle bus to take us to the house. Can you believe the driveway is a mile long? In Vanderbuilts' days, it was gravel, but now it is paved, so it takes considerably less than the one hour it took them in the late 1890's, to do it in a horse and buggy. The shuttle let us out right in front of the security entrance (which did not stand there when it was built, nor did the large public bathrooms or the shops. Here are the entry gates (from inside).

Here is the cluster of trees out front. It is a bit blurry, as the shuttle was moving.

Here is one of the turrets on the house. My daughter took this pic, catching the moon above. The house is truly a magnificent sight, whether in daylight or nighttime.

Here is the entry way to the house, all decked out with trees, garlands and lights galore.

The first stop is the solarium, which has many plants and that night, a choir was singing carols. Some were dressed in costumes from the early days of the house.

Next was the billiards room, complete with two tables and a viewing post, elevated so the people could see the play and tell if anyone was cheating.

The first view of the impressive dining room:

There are three fireplaces on the end - keeping guests as toasty as possible in the huge room. The second view of the dining room:

It is impossible for me to convey in a photo just how large this room is. That table holds 26 people, if I counted correctly, and it is beautifully set. The magnificent centerpiece! I wonder how many times they have to redo it during the holiday season?

Of course, it probably is never really warm in that room, so perhaps they only have to do it once a week. I think that is all for today. Come back soon to see the rest of my photos.