Day 70 - North Carolina

Day 70

Dec. 20

Asheville, NC

Dear Miss Smith

    Today is the last day of our trip in North Carolina. It seems like we just got here yesterday, but I think we saved the best for last. Today we had a quick breakfast, and then headed to Biltmore Estates for the day. We drove down the long three mile approach road, and even from a distance the place looked big, but as we were driving closer it kept growing, and growing, by the time we got there it was HUGE!

Grand Banquet Room

    When we arrived we went in to tour the house. We were told that the house has over 4 acres of floor space. We also learned that George Vanderbilt had it built for his summer home, and that his estate used to have 125,000 acres, including Mt. Pisgah. I probably don't need to mention that he came from a wealthy family. Everything was decorated for Christmas. The Grand Banquet Room was 72 feet long by 42 feet wide with a 70 foot high ceiling.

On one side of the room there was a triple fireplace. The fireplace was so tall that I think I could have stood up in it, and the mantle was so high that even if I stood on my toes, I would not be able to reach it. It must have been a little difficult for them to hang their stockings there at Christmas time, or maybe they hung them on one of the other 64 fireplaces in the house. I wonder how they decided which one to use. In the middle of the room there was a long table that had thirteen chairs on each side and one on each end. They must have liked having lots of company. I wonder if any of the Vanderbilt's guests ever got lost when they went to use one of the 43 bathrooms, and ended up spending the night in one of the 35 bedrooms, and getting found in the morning by one of the 80 servants? Since I can't ask them, I guess I'll just have to wonder.

Winter Garden

    One of Kristina's favorite places in the house was the Winter Garden. It had a marble floor, and there was light coming down on the many palms, ferns, flowers, and poinsettias through the windows in the domed ceiling.

Library

Billiard Room

Priscilla's favorite room in the house was the Library. Kristina and I also really liked the Library. It had walnut paneling on the walls, and a black marble fireplace, but I think the best part about it was all those books. We were told that there are over 10,000 volumes! I don't think that they ever had any trouble finding something new to read. There was also a small spiral staircase and a ladder in the room, so that you could get to the top bookcases. We were also told that George Vanderbilt spoke eight different languages fluently, and that the books in the library are in eight different languages. I think that if we had been allowed to read the books in the library, that we could have spent the whole day there just reading, but we weren’t allowed to, so we went to look at some more rooms.
    One of the rooms we looked at was the Billiard Room. One of my favorite things about this room was that it had hidden doors in the paneling of the wall next to the fireplace.

Edith Vanderbilt's Room

Another room we saw was the North Bedroom. We were told that this was George Vanderbilt's mothers bedroom before she died, and that later when he married Edith Styvessant Dresser, it became her bedroom. We also got to see George Vanderbilt's bedroom. It was the South Bedroom, and had a great view of his 125,000 acre estate. Later after his death, his wife Edith sold 87,000 acres of the estate to the United States Forest Service, for less than five dollars an acre. Later some of the land that they had left was developed into the town of Biltmore Forest, and some was sold for the Blue Ridge Parkway. We were told that the estate today has about 8,000 acres.

Louis XIV Room

Main Kitchen

We also got to see the bedroom where George and Edith Vanderbilt's only child Cornelia Vanderbilt was born. It was the Louis 16th Bedroom. The bedroom was large and very pretty. We were told that Cornelia later married John Francis Amherst Cecil, and had two sons; George and William. We were told that her second son William was also born in this room. It seems like Cornelia must have named her sons after her father, George, and her grandfather, William. I wonder if George Vanderbilt named Cornelia the feminine version of his grandfather's name, Cornelius Vanderbilt.
    We also got to see the three kitchens; the Pastry Kitchen, the Rotisserie Kitchen, and the Main Kitchen. There was also a bowling alley. We were told that a servant would sit up above the bowling alley, and would set up the pins again when
the pins were knocked down.

Unfilled Indoor Swimming Pool

They also had an indoor swimming pool. The Breakfast Room, which they used for more informal dining, had Spanish leather on the walls. I really enjoyed seeing the Music Room also. During our tour we got to see rooms on the three different floors of the house not including the basement. We were told that the house has 250 rooms.
    After the tour, we made gingerbread houses with the pastry chef. That was really fun. Looking at all those gingerbread houses sure made us hungry, so we decided to go have lunch.

Our table was the third stall from the right

We went to eat at what used to be the stables, but has since been turned into a restaurant; the Stable Cafe. I know what your thinking. Yes, it has been cleaned since then. The food was delicious! They had so many special holiday options on the menu, that it was hard to decide what to eat.
After lunch we took a quick walk through some of the gardens: the Azalea Garden, the Italian Garden, the Bass Pond, and the English Walled Garden. There were other gardens too, but because it was so cold outside we didn't walk through them all.

Tapestry Gallery

    Later when it was starting to get dark we went back to Biltmore house for their Candlelight Tour. The house was full of traditional Christmas music, from the many ensembles, choirs, and soloists playing and singing. There was even music from the pipe organ in the Banquet Hall. I think I could have stood there listening to it all night, but I was curious to see what the rest of the house looked like with all the Christmas decorations at night, so we went to take a look.

George Vanderbilt's Room

The house was beautiful! All the fireplaces had a cherry fire roaring in them, and the candles gave a soft glow to the rooms. It almost seemed like we were stepping back in time, if it wasn't for all those Christmas trees loaded with electric lights. There were so many Christmas trees throughout the house, that we decided to have a contest, to see how many Christmas trees each of us could see before we left that night. I carefully kept count throughout the evening, but before we went to bed that night, I forgot how many Christmas trees I had seen. Priscilla also had been keeping count of how many Christmas trees she had seen, but she forgot about the contest halfway through the evening, so Kristina ended up winning the contest.

Grand Staircase

Even though I have forgotten how many Christmas trees I had seen, I have not forgotten how tall the Fraser fir was that they had set up in the banquet hall. It was 35 feet tall. We stopped for a little while to listen to the Christmas music in the Winter Garden. It was wonderful. Then we went to finish looking at the rest of the house.

While we were walking up the grand staircase, I looked out one of the windows that was facing the front of the house. There was a 55 foot Norway spruce decorated on the front lawn, with a fountain splashing behind it.

    While we were looking around, we were told that the estate took just over six years to build, and that it was opened on Christmas Eve 1895 to guests and friends. We also were told about a Christmas tradition started by George Vanderbilt in 1895. All the estate employees, workers, and their family's, were invited to the house on Christmas morning for a Christmas party. There were presents for them on the Christmas tree, and they had cakes and ice-cream. This tradition has been continued ever since that first Christmas at Biltmore estates. We also learned that George Vanderbilt's mother, used to read Christmas story’s to their guest's children, around a large table filled with delicious food. I really liked how the rest of the house looked at night with all the Christmas lights. I especially liked how the Music room, and the Library looked with all the candles, and the fires glowing. The evening was over all too quickly. When we left, we drove out of the Lodge Gate, which was decorated with white Christmas lights, and looked very pretty. I’ve really enjoyed our trip to North Carolina, and I hope we will do it again some time.

From,

Katelyn

P.S. I hope it’s warmer next time we come.

Day 69 - North Carolina

Day 69

Dec. 19

Chimney Rock, NC

Dear Miss Smith
    Today we drove to Chimney Rock State Park to spend the day. After we arrived, we picked up a trail map and decided to start on the Four Seasons Trail. We packed a picnic lunch, and got the dogs ready to accompany us on our hike. Then we started on the trail.

    Priscilla was wearing her new Sunny-Green Hat, and walking Penelope. Katelyn was walking Timber, and I was carrying the picnic basket. One time when we stopped to rest because the trail was quiet steep, we saw some deer, but Timber and Penelope started barking and scarred them away. When we were about two-thirds of the way through the Four Seasons Trail, we saw some large rock formations, and stopped to take a picture and enjoy the scenery. Then we continued our hike.     Eventually the Four Seasons Trail joined up with the Hickory Nut Falls Trail, so we started hiking on that trail. While we were hiking down the trail we saw three different types of wood peckers, and we even saw a purple finch. Priscilla stopped to take a quick picture of it before it flew away. After we had been hiking for a while we came to a footbridge. We knew from looking at our trail map that Hickory Nut Falls was not far away. We crossed the bridge, and after walking a short distance we came to Hickory Nut Falls. It was 404 feet tall! It is one of the highest waterfalls in North Carolina. We were able to get close enough to the waterfall to feel its mist. It was quiet a sight. There was a picnic area close by, so we decided to stop and eat lunch.

    We set the picnic basket down on the picnic table, and pulled out the sandwiches we had made earlier that day, and started eating. From where we were eating, we could hear the roar of the waterfall, and see it cascading down the cliff. After we finished eating we walked back down the trail. Priscilla saw a Golden Crowned Kinglet and stopped to take a picture. She also had taken some pictures of the waterfall. This hike has sure been well photographed. After a while we came back to the spot where the Four Seasons Trail meets up with the Hickory Nut Falls Trail. We decided to continue on the Hickory Nut Falls Trail. Eventually we turned off the trail and headed up several flights of stairs to get to the Outcroppings Trail. Once we got to the Outcroppings Trail we headed to Vista Rock. When we got there, we took a short rest and enjoyed the view. Then we hiked over to Pulpit Rock to see the view from there. Timber and Penelope really seemed to be enjoying the hike so far, and they still seemed to have plenty of energy left, so we headed up to Chimney Rock. We climbed the 44 steps from the trail to the top of the Chimney Rock and as we were climbing, I noticed that the wind was starting to pick up.

    When we got to the top we saw an American flag waving in the wind. From the top of Chimney Rock we could see 75 miles away, and in the distance we could see Lake Lure and Chimney Rock Village. We were at an elevation of 2,280 feet. The view was breathtaking! Priscilla took several pictures. It was about then that a sudden strong gust of wind blew Priscilla's hat right off her head, and hurled it somewhere down below. She was taking a picture at the time it blew off, and I wonder if you can see her hat flying away in it? We watched the hat until it was out of sight, but there was nothing we could do about it, so we continued our hike. We were hoping we would find it when we hiked back to the RV. The Outcroppings Trail has over 500 stairs and we were starting to get tired, so we decided to stop at the Sky Lounge and take a look at their gift shop. While we were there, Priscilla bought a black bear key chain for her Fifty-State-Hat.

    Then we headed out on the Skyline Trail. Our first stop was the Opera Box. At this point the trail was covered by a rock overhang. From here we could see Hickory Nut Gorge, and Lake Lure. The view was great. After that we hiked to Exclamation Point, the highest point of the park. It was at an elevation of 2,480 feet, which is 200 feet higher than Chimney Rock. From here we could see the entrance of the park way down in the valley below. After taking in the view and resting, we started heading back. It was so nice to finally be going downhill again.

    After a while we arrived back at the Sky Lounge. There was a 26-story elevator here that we would have liked to take down, but they don't allow pets on the elevator, so we had to hike back down the stairs. The stairs didn't seem any shorter the second time. When we got to the base of the stairs, we decided to take turns going up and down the elevator, to experience the fun of going 26 story’s in only 30 seconds. Katelyn and Priscilla went up first, while I stayed with the dogs. After they went up in the elevator, and I had been standing there for a little while, the elevator door opened and a lady stepped out. When she saw me her face grew puzzled, and she asked me how I had managed it. I thought that she must be talking about me handling two dogs at once. I told her that they were usually well behaved dogs and that I could easily handle both of them. Her face grew even more puzzled than before. She looked down at the dogs, then she looked back up at me. She asked me how I had gotten down before her, because she hadn't seen me in the elevator, and I didn't look like I had just run down the stairs. It was my turn to look confused. I was trying to figure out what she was talking about. Then I realized what had happened. She must have seen Katelyn and Priscilla up by the Sky Lounge and then taken the elevator down. When she saw me she must have thought that I was Katelyn and that I had somehow gotten down before she had. When this occurred to me, I had to try hard not to laugh. When I explained to her that I was an identical twin she started to laugh, and I could not help joining in. After that she asked me what the dogs names were, and what kind of dogs they were. I told her, and then she leaned down and patted them on the head. After we talked a little more, she said she hoped that we would have a great afternoon, and then she left. It wasn't long before Priscilla and Katelyn came back down the elevator. Then it was my turn to go up. Priscilla said she would stay with the dogs, so Katelyn went up with me. After we came back down, I told Priscilla and Katelyn about the lady's mix up, and they found it very humorous. Then we started heading back to the RV.

   While we were heading back we kept a lookout for Priscilla's hat, but we didn't see it anywhere. Then all of a sudden while we were walking back through the Four Seasons Trail, a deer ran across the path right in front of us! The dogs lunged forward, and Timber managed to pull his leash right out of Katelyn's hand! He started to chase the deer, but Katelyn called him and he came back over to us. Katelyn quickly grabbed his leash again. When Katelyn called Timber, I noticed two people who were walking a little further down the trail, suddenly jump and look around nervously at the trees. Then they looked at us, and we explained to them that one of the dogs name's was Timber, and that they didn't have to worry about any trees falling on them. They looked relieved, and we continued on our way. We made sure to keep a tight hold of the dog's leashes after that.

    When we got back to the RV we could hardly believe our eyes. There was Priscilla's hat hanging on the rear view mirror! After retrieving the hat, we got into the RV. There was just enough time before supper for Priscilla to show us her hat collection. Katelyn and I liked her Miami Hat the best. After Priscilla showed us her hat collection, we all had supper and are now heading to bed to rest up for our big day at Biltmore Estates.

From,

Kristina