the Biltmore

Wednesday morning, we said good bye to Tennessee and began our trek north. We really had no plans of "where" we were going, except that Glen told us that the NASCAR hall of frame was just three hours from where we were. So, we thought, "let's go and check that out". And we headed threw the Great Smokies to North Carolina. As we were traveling I saw signs for the Biltmore. I had no idea we were that close and said to Ed we needed to check it out. For those who may not know, the Biltmore is the largest house in America and is located in Asheville, NC.

Built in the late 1800's by George Washington Vanderbilt (a grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt the railroad tycoon) the original estate was 125,ooo acres. Currently the estate still has 8,ooo acres, and is still owned by the Vanderbilt family, though open to the public. The house is overseen by William A.V.Cecil, Jr. - grandson of George, and the family keeps an active interest in the estate.





Today is it run much like a resort, and there is a hotel that you can stay at, plus a winery and all sort of outdoor activities, including biking, horseback riding, hiking -- the famous gardens, and things of that sort. Guests can tour the great house, seeing 50 of the 255 rooms. At first I thought seeing "just" 50 rooms probably wasn't much, but I was proven wrong. It took us nearly four hours to go threw (and it wasn't busy or crowded) and I realized that much of what you don't see, where probably just servant rooms and the like. The tour is very good and you see alot.

Inside photos were not allowed, so I snuck a few outside. This house had (has) all the moderns even in its time.. electricity, running water (65 bathrooms!!!) indoor, heated swimming pool, two lane bowling alley... elevator!!! (that is still used today for folks that can't climb the stairs)

The views of the Great Smokies is amazing....

And the workmanship simply incredible. It is all in working order, even today --- over 100 years. It is hard to describe, so all I can say, if you find yourself in North Carolina, try to fit this into your travel plans.

As impressive as the house is, I am always interested in the people. From what we were told, this line of Vanderbilts were extremely kind and well loved in this area. People wanted to work for this family, and often Mrs. Vanderbilt would pay a call on the families who worked for her, especially if the children were sick. Mr. Vanderbilt educated the men who worked for him, and many went out on their own running businesses for themselves.

Those are the kind of stories I like to hear. That a family of wealth appreciated what they had and was willing to share it. Today this is a gift and coffee shop, but originally this was the stable attached to the house. The Vanderbilts were true animal folks, loving their horses and St. Bernard dogs.

The hayloft of the great barn....

and the riding stable (now a restaurant)

The alleyway of the barn. They have don a nice job in putting the space to use without ruining it's original charm.

Ornate hardly describes the place... while impressive.. I got a little creeped out by some of the work.....

All hand done... can you imagine

Despite the grey day, it was hot and humid. So, we opted to use the free kennel runs for Camille and not worry about her sitting in the truck while we toured the house. It's a nice set up, you padlock the dog in the run, and take the key with you. It was under some big shaded trees and people were working about, so they really aren't "alone"

I thought it was a pretty nice set up... Camille on the other hand - not impressed. The moment Ed opened the door when we went to get her, she ran to the truck and gave us the look of... "I am not leaving again... this is my ride home!!!!"

After you tour the house, you then get in your vehicle and drive threw the rest of the estate... so, had you been a guest back in 1900.. this would have been the great gate you drove threw to the house.

You had to keep your eyes open, because there were neat things "hidden" all around the grounds... Loved this turtle!!!!

And this is probably a picture that everyone would recognize.... this is the Biltmore

This is a small part of the gardens, and the garden house....

And this horse barn was for the work horses of the estate. Maybe not as fancy as the riding horse stable....

But pretty nice (and charming) just the same.

Cornelia was the only child of George and Edith. She lived on the estate her entire life, married there and had two sons (one of which oversees the estate)....

I loved this statue... a young girl enjoying her dog.... it made them seem like real people...

so, again, a great day of our trip, and I am so thrilled to think that I had the opportunity to see this wonderful place...

America'a largest home!!!!

Happy Birthday CHESTER

Wishing a happy second birthday to "our" Chester..... service dog!!! You look very happy buddy!!!!

it's called the Dixie Stampede....

All over Pigeon Forge are billboards.. which are kind of strange to us, because we don't have billboards around here. They advertise all these "entertainments".. and after asking around, we chose to go and see the "Dixie Stampede".. partly because it's "part" of Dollywood (so we expected it would be good) and partly because it was all about horses. We also made plans to meet up with our friend Glen for dinner, and since he had never seen a show, he thought it might be fun to go and see.




It's both dinner and a show, and since we didn't know much about it, we went over to buy the tickets and scout it out. One thing for sure, they certainly had a beautiful barn.....













and horses!!!!













Now THIS feels like home ... wonder what they need Percheron's for????

The outside doesn't look that big.....

So, we arrived for the show, and started off browsing in the gift show. The first thing that caught my eye... a Painted Pony. I collect them, and the Dixie Stampede has their very own (sadly, none in the shop to be bought... though I did find another but I would like to get my hands on one of these!!!)

They do a "pre show"... it was very, very good. These folks are awarding winning performers and I thought if this is just the pre show, we're in for a treat with the real show....

Here's the arena... They serve a four course meal during the show. It was super good.....but then they announce NO pictures during the show, so the few I snuck in will have to try and tell you how good it was.

They had a number of musical numbers.. one was a tribute to the native Americans... complete with Buffalo!!! (so wished I could have snap a pic of them)... it was excellent... and then a number about the north and the south.. and just all kinds of things. But towards the end I just loved this show with the horses, lights and flags....

At the end, they allowed photos, and you could go out onto the floor with the performers and horses...

It was so good, it's almost too hard to describe.. but if you get the chance to catch a show do go.. and the Percheron's... were used to pull the covered wagons...(of which there were two)... so the Dixie Stampede... tops on my list. We had such a good time, meal and enjoyed the evening with Glen (which I should have taken a photo of us together!!!)

Just for the record... Camille thinks traveling is very tiring!!!!

the great smokey mountains...

Today, the weather was a little better, though we had heard on the news that tropical storm Lee was a slow mover. So, expect showers and maybe some down pours every now and again. After getting so wet yesterday, we really weren't in the mood to walk around, and decided that a drive up in the Great Smokies might be a fun thing to do.








We had never seen them up close and I am so glad that we took the time to check them out.














The views were amazing and even those these photos are pretty good, they just don't compare to the real thing.










Another couple was trying to take their photo, so I offered a trade, I would take their picture if they would take ours. (wished I had looked in a mirror before we did.. I look a bit wind blown)...but since the wind was really howling, oh well......

I thought this was kind of funny. "My dog can do such a good stay, that I can leave her in one state, while I go to another one!!!!" I am in Tennessee, and Camille is in North Carolina!!!!

The rest of the photos, will simply speak for themselves. But if you ever do travel south, take the time... certainly one of God's most beautiful work!!!!

a visit to Dollywood

After our "not so comfortable night, and Camille had to sleep in the truck", we arrived late in the day at Pigeon Forge, TN. I knew we would have a "Camille can come in "room this evening, because I had been calling ahead. We found a very nice Super 8, that was not only pet friendly, but was also just one traffic light away from the road that took us to Dollywood. We had two main reasons for our trip - other than our anniversary - one to visit with our friend Glen, and the other to visit Dollywood again. We have been there twice before, once in the late 80's when she had only opened the park a few years before and the other was in the mid 90's when we took the girls back and went to Dollywood with Glen and his kids. I guess what I really like about the park is other than the usual theme rides (and there are plenty).. Dolly "saved" this park and area, the park was close to going belly up and the economy in this area was very bad. When she took over the park, both thrived. It is also a place where she has young musical talent come and perform and often it's the break that they need, she has a whole section of the park that is dedicated to the old crafts of the mountains, and she also has an eagle rescue that she is very involved in. So, needless to say, if you really aren't the scary ride sort of person (and I am not) there is plenty to do and see.



Monday morning we awoke to this... pouring - pouring rain!!! Tropical Storm Lee had come to Tennessee just about the same time we did. Sadly, Dollywood is open part time this time of year, and Monday being that day. So, it was either go in the rain or forget it, and not go at all. Since I already said, this was on of the reasons for our trip... it meant going in the rain.














The Great Smokey mountains were certainly living up to their name that day!!!!



























When we first arrived, we had to drop Camille off at "Doggy wood"... a nice little kennel on the property. Smart idea, people do travel with dogs, and you couldn't leave one in your car while you did the park... so having a kennel on the property.. now someone was thinking!!!!













The runs were quite nice, and the building was cozy on this rainy day. Camille was certainly going to have a drier day than us. You need to return to check on your dog every so often, but I didn't mind doing that. I told Cam she was going to have a good day, but she didn't totally agree with me....

and here we are......

Interesting message for a day like this......

It's a beautiful park, even in the pouring rain. The good thing is, there are places you can duck into and we certainly did. The weather went from everything to heavy mist.. to pouring rain....

We picked up a couple of those "plastic bags" just to keep some of the rain off.. and actually they worked pretty well for most of the day. (though I think my hat weighed about five pounds before the day was over) Oh well... Happy Anniversary to us... we have com thru rain before!!!!

Since we aren't the "ride" kind of people, we had a great time going thru the shops and craft barns. They make beautiful buggies in Dollywood and we had a great time chatting with this gentleman.

It would be so cool if we could have bought a buggy like this to bring home.

This is the eagle rescue. Dolly is quite involved with this, and they have released several hundred bald eagles back into the mountains. They also serve as a home for the birds that can not be released back into the wild.

This is the eagle "pen"

And the birds look fairly happy... there are also a couple of nesting pair. Eagles mate for life by the way.....

We did try a couple of the rides. I am a HUGE fan of carousels.. and anytime that I can ride one... I do!!! This was a beautiful carousel and it was hard to pick the "perfect" horse. I finally chose this noble steed, because I liked his "wild" mane... kind of reminded me of Ginger (and her wild hair). I was the only adult riding, but you know... I didn't really care!!!!

The train was a nice rid as well, it's a real steam engine.. and it takes you for a nice ride aorund the park and a bit into the moutains.

This is a replica of the cabin that Dolly Parton was raised in. I guess the real one still stands.... according to what we were told, it housed 13 people at one point in time.... thinking it's about the size of our little camp, and the fact that we lived in th littl camp one summeer with just three adults and one baby (plus dogs)... makes me appreciate how it might have been.

The last show of the day was about the various eagles and other birds of prey. It was very good and I enjoyed learning about them, and watching them fly

Course, the bald eagle was the most stunning. They do thse shows all over the country, and it was so fun to see the birds up close and personal

The park was getting ready to close, Ed and I were about as wet as we could be. And as we were walking out, the heavens opened once again... we were pretty happy to be going "home". However, this one particular family didn't seem to be in too much of a hurry.

We got Miss Camille from her place in Doggywood.... climbed into the truck and rushed back for a couple of hot showers and a comfortable bed. Despite the rainy weather it was a really good day, and we have already made plans to bring Abbie here when she is a bit bigger....

thanks, Dolly!!!!