Date: 2019-04-20
From: Hot Springs

To: Biltmore/Asheville
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Rest day number one! Today was a zero day with my parents, but we went on an excursion to Asheville/Biltmore, so it was full of activity too! We had breakfast at the Inn, which was nice. The Innkeeper is so lovely and threw in a load of laundry for me. It¢s normally not included here, and the laundromat in town was vandalized. There is not much in Hot Springs folks! I was really expecting so much more. I was expecting baths and spas and tourists. Lol nope. It¢s a tiny town with one little street of shops and then the resort, which was closed all weekend due to the flooding I was walking in. Haha. Anyway, I threw the dirtiest clothes in there and wore my dry sleep clothes. I would¢ve liked to wash those too, but didn¢t want to push two loads on the Inn and the sleep clothes didn¢t smell nearly as bad. We headed out. It was about 50 minutes to Asheville, which is an actual city. I definitely didn¢t know that. I don¢t know a lot about this area to be honest, but I had heard amazing things about Hot Springs so I figured there was nothing in Asheville. Other way around! Asheville has an airport too so it really has a lot there. The Biltmore Estate is like a city of its own. This place is insane. It¢s 8,000 acres. The hiker in me was calculating the mileage from one end of the estate to the other and how long it would take me. Definitely not doing it in those long dresses they used to wear! We parked in one of a gazillion parking lots and walked up to the house. We spent some time walking through the ridiculous gardens. They were stunning, with bright beautiful flowers everywhere. And the greenhouse was filled with color and beauty. But it was extensive. Also probably the nicest bathrooms I¢ve used in a while haha. Now to go marry a Vanderbilt... just kidding!We walked back up to the house to tour the inside. We had a timed ticket and it was starting to rain as we waited outside. Perfect timing! The inside was gorgeous as well. There were a ton of flowers and plants in the main entrance, and then the tour led us through sitting rooms, guest rooms, the master bedrooms, the kitchens, the pool, exercise room, changing rooms, and back up to the grand dining hall. That place was stunning. It actually reminded me a lot of one of the rooms at Windsor Castle in England. It felt like American Royalty. It had a 7-story high ceiling and an extensive table adorned with flowers. Throughout the house, there were mannequins with the clothing that the Vanderbilts would have worn, and in this room they had the elegant dresses of the ladies. It was pretty impressive how they had people look through the photographs and design the clothes based on that. There was a Billiard Room and Smoking Room and then the exit. Wow. The whole house was a lot. And the audio guide was honestly kind of funny. It was conversations the staff would have had with the Vanderbilts and this one housekeeper kept chasing the dog around. It was more interactive than historical, but I did learn some about the things and life in the rooms. We exited the house/mansion/castle/palace thing and it was starting to rain again. There was a cafe and my mom treated me to a bagel and cookie. My family has been known to share snacks as meals, sorry mom. My dad had a clif bar and an apple. That doesn¢t really do it for me. Haha. I need a meal, something to fill me up and keep going. I was getting hangry towards the end of that tour. My friends joke with me because they don¢t think I drink enough water and I say it¢s because my family always shared two water bottles amongst the five of us while day-hiking. Clif bars and two waters! Haha. In all seriousness, I am grateful for everything my parents did this weekend; it was such a treat. But I tease them a bit because that bagel was a special event! It was actually delicious because I haven¢t had a bagel in so long. And if you know me, you know I loveee bagels. I have one every day for lunch back home. I don¢t really like sandwiches; I¢ve never liked cold soggy meat aka cold cuts. Lunch has always been tricky for me, but I love bagels so much. I know they¢re a breakfast food to many, but they work for me! Anyway, we walked back toward the car. It was really starting to rain now. We got some more pics of the house as we walked away. I saw a sign that said ¢Diana¢. I was pumped, maybe I do belong in the Vanderbilt line! Haha. It was just a statue of her. Goddess of the hunt. I followed the signs in the rain and got a pic of the statue. It looked out over the whole estate. I felt special. Yay Diana¢s! Haha. Can¢t say I¢ve been hunting too much in the woods, but I hunt after my dreams! I got pretty wet, but I didn¢t care because I had a car option and warmth that I wouldn¢t have had on the trail. We drove to the Winery. It was about 10 countries away from the house. They must make bank here. They have gift shops and an Inn and restaurants and the Estate and the Winery and Creamery and Village and Stables. Craziness. Our tickets came with a free wine tasting so of course we partook. The line was long, but moved quickly. The lady that served us wine was very friendly and helpful. We selected 6 wines we wanted to try from the list. I went for Chardonnay and Rose and then some sweet wines. I love sweet wine. It¢s dangerous because I could drink a whole bottle of that without realizing it. It¢s so delicious. I loved the sweet white that I tried. Yum yum! My dad probably ate an entire bowl of the crackers they give you when you have the munchies. It was so funny. She gave us more crackers. And she picked me out of the whole group to give a bonus tasting of the house Chardonnay! Ahh. That was so nice of her. Unfortunately, my ankle was bothering me at this point, but I was elevating it as I drank and hoping it would feel better. That fall really did hurt. The wine helped haha. Best medicine! We all were feeling pretty good, as many are leaving wine tastings. Italy¢s was an adventure haha. We had people wandering the streets of small Italian towns and missing the tour bus back. That wine, I tell ya! The lady had given us a recommendation for an Italian restaurant in Asheville because I was craving pasta. We drove to Asheville and arrived at Vinnie¢s. The locals will get mad that I¢m publicizing it, but holy cow this place was good. It doesn¢t get better than a family-owned Italian restaurant with the family recipes. The wait was an hour, but we hung out at the bar and got drinks. My mom and I had the ¢painkiller¢. It was delicious. It started to clear out and we got our table. I was starving. We ordered garlic knots and these fried risotto balls filled with mozzarella. I practically inhaled the garlic knots. For my main course, I had Sunday Gravy, the grandma¢s recipe. I don¢t even know where to start. It was so so good. I was getting full from my garlic knots situation, but I savored the bites I had of this spaghetti. We had delicious wine with it and it was all just amazing. If I had room, I would¢ve gotten their cannolis. One cannoli hope! Hardy har har Diana, so funny! But alas, I took the Sunday Gravy home with a wonderfully full stomach. It was about an hour back. Once we got onto the small town roads, there was an annoying truck with super bright headlights on our tail. It was really dark on these roads. We finally arrived back at our Inn and stored my gravy in the mini fridge. We passed out and this time I didn¢t get up to brush my teeth. Oh well! Too tired from all the wonderful activities of the weekend! It was an amazing day and my parents treated me to a lovely excursion. I was very thankful. I have a bottle of that sweet wine and I¢m going to pour it in a Gatorade bottle to bring on trail. That will be such a treat! Little Debbie