The BILTMORE!!!

Hi everyone!

Sorry the internet is to bad to post pictures! I will keep working on it!

Today we went to the Biltmore! The house is not a house like everyone says, its a castle! When you drive into the drive way (or the road) there is a huge gate made of stone. After you go through the stone the stone archway you go in this road which is actually their driveway! The drive is beautiful to the parking lots they have, there is a river on the right side when you look out and in front of the river there are pretty trees and bamboo! Gram and I were in the car behind the RV and it felt like it took forever just to get to the parking lot, we found out later that the "driveway" is 3 miles long! After parking the car we took a shuttle to the Biltmore we were so excited! We were driving up there driveway when the shuttle bus driver told us that the designer of the grounds designed the driveway to have a lot of turns so each turn you go on you think the house is around that corner. After going around a lot of corners we finally reached the house! The house is so beautiful and grand! We took some pictures outside of the beautiful house then we went inside....but they wont let you take pictures inside! Sorry!! The inside is just as grand inside as it is outside, when you walk in the ceilings are extremely tall and the room flow so well! When we went to AAA to buy the tickets they told us to take the audio tour, we decided to take that tour and it was amazing! When you walk in they tell you to take the guide book and walk over and get your headset, they tell you how the headset works and what numbers to enter in. We were all ready to go! The first room was the inside garden it was full of pants and flowers, it was very pretty! There were a lot of rooms to go in and I wont tell you about all the rooms because I think it will get boring, but I will tell you some interesting facts! They banquet hall was the nicest place to eat that I have ever seen! It had beautiful carved wood, red fabric, a huge table, delicate dishes and a huge organ in the loft! The room has a seven story high ceiling, the organ is a 1916 Skinner pipe organ! They largest dinner held in that banquet hall seated 38 people! Every Christmas they buy a 40 foot christmas tree and put it in the banquet hall! They have this room called the music room which looks beautiful now but they said during George Vanderbilt's time it was left unfinished! Durring WWII the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. stored priceless paintings and sculptures in the music room! People were touring the Biltmore when those pieces were in the music room, they said that the people didn't even know that the art was in the room next to them! After the music room we walked into some other rooms which were beautiful, then we walked into the Library. The Library was a gorgeous room, the walls are lined with books and it has a spiral stair case leading to a loft area with books. In that room near the 2nd floor loft there is a fireplace, behind the fireplace there is a secret passageway... the passage way it for the men and women that want to go down to the library after hours. They are not allowed to go down the grand stair case unless you are in your full dress clothes, the secret stair case is for when you are not in your full dress clothes! Can you imagine wearing suits and dresses all the time?! Later in the tour you get to go to the bedrooms, they were very pretty each bedroom had a valet to help with changing outfits during the day. Did you know that they would change up to six times in a day?! After going to the bedrooms we went to a lot of other rooms, we were standing in a hallway and our audio tour said there was a little door under the back of the staircase....the kids living in the house used to hide in the little door :) Can you believe there was a bowling ally, pool and workout room? The bowling ally was right in front of the chiefs bedroom, if they bowled late at night the chief would cook a bad breakfast the next morning to get back a them! ;) The pool was ten feet deep with a sitting area above it! When you want to go swimming you have to tell your valet and they will bring your bathing suit down to one of the 7 (i think) dressing rooms they have near the pool. You were not allowed to wear your bathing suit in the upstairs of the house. After the tour we went to eat in stable, that was really neat and the food was really good! We went outside to the gardens and took some pictures :) After the gardens we went and got some ice cream, then got in the RV and started traveling to dollywood! Thats where we are now, and the internet is VERY bad its a miracle I am able to type all of this! Sorry I can’t post pictures! Maybe the internet will be Saturday when we go to a different campground! I have more pictures so keep checking back! We will see what tomorrow brings for internet and if I can post tomorrow night! Hope you enjoyed learning about the Biltmore :) Talk to you all tomorrow!