Biltmore & Asheville (or Sunshine & Rain)

Today we planned to spend the morning at Biltmore Estate and the afternoon letterboxing in Asheville. Last night when we were at Biltmore we asked if there was a good time to visit as to avoid too much of a crowd. They told us that coming when the house first opened or waiting until around 4:00pm. We decided we would go first thing. Since they don't open until 9:00am we didn't have to rush this morning. We slept until 7:30am and then had a leisurely breakfast. Then we made our way to the Estate. We parked and walked to the Rampe Douce and from there walked up the Vista to the statue of Diana. There is a letterbox near here and we decided we had enough time to get the box before the house opened. So I followed the clues and found the box. It was a nice peaceful morning to sit and stamp in - no one else was around and I wasn't worry about being seen. We got the box back in place and then walked back to the statue of Diana. I took a few pictures of Diana and of the house from the top of the Vista. Then we walked down to the house to take our tour. We had audio tours with our admission tickets so we stopped and picked up the headsets before beginning our tour. This morning we spent about two hours walking through the house listening to everything that the headsets had. It was a very interesting tour and I really love the house. The only thing I can't understand is why someone needs that big of a house - it just seems like a waste. Once the tour of the inside was done we took a walk through the gardens and made our way to Bass Pond. We had a beautiful, sunny morning to spend in the gardens. While walking we also looked for two letterboxes - we got to see all that Frederick Law Olmstead designed and found two boxes in the process. The gardens are beautiful even though all of the flowers are gone for the winter and most of the leaves have already died as well - I can't even imagine what this place looks like in the spring. After an hour spent in the gardens we left the Estate and went to get some lunch.

While eating we looked over the clues for letterboxes in the area and mapped out a plan. We found our first letterbox just across from the entrance to the Estate off of All Souls Crescent. The box was called A Lady of Biltmore - the stamp was carved by Kirbert and the box placed by dixie. It was a nice find. While stamping into this box it began to rain a little - nothing too hard - really just a drizzle. I was stamping in the car so it wasn't a problem and the hiding spot wasn't far away so I made a quick dash to replace it. The next two stops were also drive-bys and even though the rain would stop and start I was able to get those boxes and bring them back to the car to do the stamping. But I was getting wet going back and forth - but it was for letterboxing so it was okay. The next stop was Riverside Cemetery and there were five boxes here. The cemetery was quite large and it was hilly with lots of winding roads. So there wasn't a planned layout and it was hard to see from one area to the other. So I read one of the clues and Thomas parked near the first marker in the clue - Thomas Wolfe. From here we tried to drive to find the next few markers mentioned in the clue (the clue was pretty long and had lots of names). We ere having trouble but since it was raining I really didn't want to just walk the entire thing but I didn't really have a choice if I wanted to find the box. So I got out of the car (Thomas decided to stay in the car and read) and started walking. I found the first three markers but then I couldn't find the next one. I jumped ahead thinking I might find another name mentioned. No luck and it started raining harder. So I got back in the car and read all of the clues trying to keep names in my head. The rain stopped, I got out again and walked - I found a name for one of the clues (not the original one I started) and found a box - WooHoo!!!!!. I stamped in under a tree to try and keep things as dry as possible and once in place I got back in the car and reread the clues. We tried several things and decided it was best to call it quits before I got too wet. And as we were driving out I found a marker from the first clue I was working on and from there things fell into place and five minutes later I was in the car doing my stamping thing. After I put this box back we decided to leave the cemetery - I just didn't have it in me to keep walking in the rain to find all these markers - the cemetery was a very confusing place and I think the rain messed with my concentration. We decided to do a couple of indoor things. First we drove to the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We looked around at all the crafts and I was able to get two passport stamps. The Rangers there told me to drive a couple of mile south to the Visitors Center for the Parkway and get two more stamps there - but we had to hurry because they would be closing in about 15 minutes. So I got four new passport stamps and we stayed dry. From here we drove to downtown Asheville to make two more stops for letterboxes. All indoors and dry. The first stop was French Broad Chocolates. We found the box and stamped in and left with some chocolate for later. The last stop of the day was at Malaprop's Bookstore and Cafe. There are two boxes here and you have to ask for them. We got both of them and some coffee and found a table to sit and relax. I stamped in and we drank our coffee and talked about our day and our plans for tomorrow. I returned the boxes and we headed for the hotel.

We got things organized since we leave Asheville tomorrow morning and head south to Acworth to my brother's house. Depending on the weather we may or may not make a detour to the Great Smokey Mountain National Park.