We spent last weekend in Asheville, NC.
It was a fun weekend - I got to hang out and catch up with one of my dearest friends Kelly and her gang and we took the kids to Biltmore. Al had never been either so this was killing two birds with one stone (so to speak.)
I was VERY surprised that the kids had such a good time. I was expecting them to hate it - especially since it was raining and COLD - but they were in awe of Biltmore. O even said that she wanted to build a house as big as it when she grew up. Yeah, probably not going to happen O!
I was sort of disappointed in the gardens. And yes, I know it's February but still. There was nothing but DIRT. The Greenhouse was fabulous though (and not because it was warm and dry but that certainly helped!) and was probably my favorite part of our tour. The flowers and plants in there was so beautiful that a few didn't even look real. I would have touched, but that would have led the kids to pulling leaves off of everything and us kicked out. So I refrained. Especially the boy - he would have knocked over some priceless tree or something and we'd be on Headline News.
O will tell you that we toured all 250 rooms of Biltmore, but I can assure you that we did not. I do think we climbed every single stair at least twice though. My legs were so sore the next day, they hurt when I blinked. And I run so that just goes to show you how much walking up and down you do! Cooper's favorite room was the pool (of course) but he kept referring to it as "the big bathtub." He did great with his audio guide, which really surprised me. O swears her audio guide said the Vanderbilt's daughter's name was Lila but I heard it 100 times and it was always Cornelia. She hears what she wants too folks, that's all I can say.
I do want to go back in the spring when the gardens are in bloom and it's not freezing cold. Or raining. Of all the days to finally rain, it just had to be the day we went. Oh well. We still had a good time and the kids even passed out on the way home and didn't fight as much.