Saturday, 4/11:
4:05 PM - Drive down to the farm. I know this way very well, as I have already driven it twice - once there, once back, on accident. Good thing the scenery is so stunning, or I might be annoyed. (The following is a picture of the barn, not the stunning scenery.)
4:11 PM - Find a secluded spot in the parking lot to pump. However, parking lots are never as secluded as you would like for times like this. Have several near scares as people walk a little too closely to my car and all it's lactating activities.
4:12 PM - Walk into the barn to find this stool in the entryway. No, the irony is not lost on me.
4:13 PM - Have a great time in the barn petting goats, sheep, ponies, and holding baby chicks that had just been born the day before. SO tiny and SO soft! Which just proves the point that you don't need a kid with you to enjoy petting zoos. (Since the goats were just out, freely roaming around, Shaelyn probably would have been terrified anyway.)
4:45 PM - Talk to one of the farmers there about the sheep and their wool. Because another dream of mine is to live on a self-sufficient land with lots of sheep - and to turn their wool into yarn to knit with. Betcha never knew I want to be a real country girl, too! Found out Biltmore doesn't keep their animals here at the farm - these are just for show. The animals are kept on the west side of the property (where tourists don't go). There are over 500 sheep currently being raised at Biltmore.
4:48 PM - Watch the farmhand I was just talking to call for his sheep dog to round up the sheep into the sheep truck to transport them to the west side. "Stinky!" he calls out. And then when the dog was done, I lie not, he said "That'll do, Stinky. That'll do." Babe, anyone?!?
4:51 PM - Leave the barn to head over to the kitchen garden and old stables. See a gaggle of people dressed in blue jackets and helmets approaching me on the sidewalk riding Segways. (Yes, a group of people riding Segways is called a gaggle. Because I said so.)
4:51:30 PM - Someone biffs it on their Segway, creating a train wreck amongst the Segway gaggle. Now I have to turn and run in the other direction, because I am laughing so hard and I don't want anyone to see. Not that I've been that inconspicuous to begin with. I mean, who takes pictures of Segway gaggles? The answer should be everyone. I mean, how can you not?!?
4:55 PM - Am totally inspired by the kitchen garden, where every veggie or herb that is served on the estate is grown. Get the grand idea in my head that our little Aagard garden is going to be this spectacular. (Wait for the upcoming post about the Aagard garden to discover for yourself how far from the truth this is...)
5:10 PM - Enter the old stables/barn area and spend time talking to the docent at the entrance, who is shocked to discover I'm there alone (Really? Is it that outlandish of an idea to take a vacation alone? I guess I used to think so too...), and is totally impressed with my husband for watching the girls so I can get away. (Really? Are that many men that scared of being alone with their kids that they couldn't handle a 24-hour period on their own?)
5:15 PM - Start exploring. LOVE this part of the estate. The stables remind me of my great-grandmother's old smoke house out back on her property, filled with the exact same farming equipment on display here. The tags all say things like "circa 1924" and make me really appreciate the opportunities I had growing up to be so connected to my family's past and heritage. I bet a lot of other adults my age would have just thought those items to be old relics. Me - I had an emotional connection as I remember my sister and I playing hide-and-go-seek and climbing all over the farm equipment (even though we weren't supposed to).
5:25 PM - Stumble upon an old quilt. Since I've been reading the Elm Creek Quilt series, I'm really into quilts and quilt history (even though I still don't quilt myself). Ask the docent about its history. The story is not that interesting. Too bad. I thought I was going to experience a real-life version of something that happens in the books. Which I highly recommend, by the way.
5:30 PM - Pass through a gallery displaying pictures of farm workers out working in the fields. I find it so inspiring. When I was younger, the last thing I wanted to do was any kind of manual labor. Now I would love to have a huge garden to work in, cows to milk, sheep to shear, eggs to collect... I think this is only because I've romanticized the idea of provident living in my mind. Because even if I owned all those things and had the land to live that kind of lifestyle, I would still have a 2 year old. And I can barely grow strawberries in a planter on the patio without her getting in the way and destroying them... But still, the pictures are inspiring.
5:35 PM - Head over to the winery. Being a non-drinker, I'm not sure what the appeal of touring this building will be, but I paid $50 to see the estate and I plan on seeing ALL of the estate!
5:38 PM - Park at the winery. The landscaping in just the parking lot is gorgeous. There is an outdoor café that looks so much like France I think I've been momentarily transported there. Wouldn't that be great? And well worth a $50 ticket to Biltmore if they could somehow transport you to France. Like on LOST. But you'd end up in France in the present time and Benjamin Linus wouldn't be around. And Jacob wouldn't be involved.
5:39:30 PM - Oh. They offer free wine tasting at the end of the tour. I wonder why this line isn't even longer.
5:42 PM - The room they have you wait in is decorated to look just like southern France. A note on the wall says that all the items on display are for sale through the "Biltmore Home" line.
5:43 PM - I am the only idiot standing in line taking pictures of the "Biltmore Home" collection on display.
5:46 PM - I'm standing behind this totally obnoxious guy and have been quite entertained by eavesdropping. Here is what I've surmised: 1) He's there with his wife and in-laws. 2) His mother-in-law is going through a divorce. 3) The family is rolling in the dough. (Enough to be able to afford all the surrounding "Biltmore Home" collection.) 4) This guy is quite the know-it-all, and based on the stuff he's been talking about, he is an attorney and an accountant.
5:48 PM - They let us into the winery, and I soon discover that Mr. Obnoxious is not only an attorney and an accountant, he's also a sommelier (also known as a wine expert - take that, Mr. Know-It-All. I know a little something too!).
5:49 PM - Mr. Obnoxious has a voice that really carries down here in the echoy stone corridors, so even though I've distanced myself from him, it's hard not to hear every word he says. Evidently, his family was trying to distance themselves from him, too, because I overhear him saying, as we're going down a flight of stairs, "Now Anna, the reason the rooms have to be so cold... Wait for me Anna! Let those people pass in front of you! Now, as I was saying..."
5:52 PM - Hit another line. This one is the one you wait in to receive your two wine goblets for your wine tasting. Since I'm not participating in this activity, I pass by everyone (suckers!) and enter the room.
5:53 PM - There are two types of people participating in this venue - those who think themselves to be wine connoisseurs and those who just want to drink free wine. The connoisseurs are the ones that swirl their glass, sniff, swish, and spit the contents out. They are the ones saying ridiculous things like "I can really taste the currant" or "a bold wine" or crap like that. The free wine drinkers are the ones who guzzle the glass down, no thought involved. The majority of the room is filled with free wine drinkers. I don't wait for Mr. Obnoxious to enter the room. I'm sure I can guess which of the two he will be, and I don't want to wait around to see (or hear) it.
5:57 PM - I enter the gift shop of the winery. It's even bigger than the tasting room. But I love it in here. Of course they're selling all their varieties of wine, but everything else in here is so French. All kinds of cheeses and spices and other delicacies. I'm no gourmet, so I can't fully appreciate even half the stuff that's in here, but I send out more "I heart France" vibes to Bex, knowing full well I'd have to rip her out of this place with a crow bar while she was kicking and screaming, and only after she spent $500 on merchandise.
6:00 PM - While browsing, I find an intriguing Biltmore cookbook. Intriguing because it lists menus that they served at the château while George Vanderbilt was living there - complete with handmade lists and notes made by the head chef. Reading over the several courses, I realize why people would really have had to "relax" before and after these meals. With as much food as they were eating, they probably had to relax during the meal, too.
6:28 PM - Did I really just spend that much time reading a cookbook? Shocking. Especially considering that my cooking expertise doesn't extend itself much past the microwave.
6:30 PM - Head out into the gorgeous flower garden right outside the winery. More tulips! So happy!
6:38 PM - Well, there's not much more to see, and I really should be heading home so I can see the girls before they go to bed. I slowly drag myself to my car. And seriously consider calling Michael and telling him I'm spending one more day in Asheville. If it wasn't Easter tomorrow, I probably would.
6:42 PM - Head back to the main gate, when I suddenly have the urge to see the house again one last time. Knowing this will probably be the only chance I ever have to come here, I can't bear to leave just yet.
6:47 PM - Right decision. Since the house is closed, there is no one on the road on this side of the estate. So I'm able to drive as slow as I want and really appreciate the scenery. I even take some videos of the what's passing out my windows for your enjoyment. (I do not recommend driving and video-taking unless you are the only car on the road and you are only driving 15 MPH. And no, I did not wreck the car...)
7:00 PM - Leave the estate and head for the interstate. I had a blast and didn't miss the girls anywhere near as much as I thought I would. I even had hours at a time when I didn't even really think of them. Before this trip, I would have felt guilty about that. But I needed this trip. And I think my family needed me to take this trip, too.
9:45 PM - Get home and find my girls waiting for me. Rachelle was VERY happy to see me - I don't think she would have tolerated one more bottle. And Shaelyn just molded herself to me. To see how happy she was to see me, see the video I took of us singing her Easter song.
Thank you, Michael, for putting all of this together for me. It's the best present I've ever received. I look forward to my next Mommy Vacation in 6 months!
