It took us about two and a half hours to get to Columbia, SC and this was our first stop. We made our way to the South Carolina State House. It is a beautiful building and they were putting up Christmas decorations all around the outside. We took a self guided tour and loved all the great architecture in the building. After about 40 minutes we went outside and walked around the building and watched them hang wreaths on the front of the building. I had clues to a box hidden here and we had to get a couple of numbers by finding a plaque and the number of times that Sherman's cannons hit the building. Once we had these we went in search of the box. Unfortunately we never found it - and we tried twice. From here we drove to Harbison Lake. We took a walk around the lake and found a series of three boxes and a single box placed by TheBoogies. These were really nice carvings and we enjoyed the one mile walk. After the walk and letterboxing we decided to eat a little lunch before driving on.Back on I26 headed north we made a stop at the North Carolina Welcome Center.
One to get a map and some information and also to find a letterbox. First I went in search of the letterbox. It was an easy find and away from all the activity so I didn't have to worry about being seen. After stamping in I went into the Center to get the things I wanted and then we were on our way again. Oh, and with this find I added reached 28 states that I have now letterboxed in.The drive to Asheville didn't take us too long and and the entire day's drive was pretty good. We arrived at the hotel and checked in. We had made reservations with a package to Biltmore. When we checked in we got the package which included our tickets for admission to the Estate. It also included admission for tonight for their Candlelight Christmas Celebration. Our tickets were for admission into the house at 7:00pm. But once we were checked in and refreshed we decided to go to Biltmore a little early and walk around the gardens a little.
Our hotel was only about a 10 minuted drive to the entrance to the Estate and then we had a couple of miles to drive to the parking area. We then took a walk from the parking lot to the house. We climbed the Rampe Douce and took pictures of the house across the lawn. Then we made our way up to the house and had some hot chocolate and did a little shopping (although we didn't buy anything). When it was time for us to enter the house we took our place in line. The entire house was decorated for Christmas - there was a Christmas Tree in almost every room. They had a choir and some dancers that you could enjoy as you walked around. This place is amazing - 250 rooms, the entrance hall alone is as big as our house. We spent about an hour visiting the house and then we decided to leave and get some dinner. Even though we walked through pretty fast we enjoyed the visit and got a feel for the place. We have tickets for tomorrow again and we will be able to spend a little more time.
1 comment:
I love Biltmore Estate and have been there twice and always find something new to appreciate and learn about. I love the old pool in the basement and imagining all the people who swam and enjoyed it. And the main kitchen impressed me, too. I was also amazed at the elevators.....the first in the United States. My kids were most amazed to see and get up close to the chess set upstairs that was a gift from Napoleon.
Biltmore is always so beautifully decorated for the holidays, too. How lucky you were able to visit this time of year.
Oh! And the gardens....love them! One day I want to go back and do a horseback riding package, too. It would be wonderful to ride there because the grounds are so amazingly beautiful and manicured, and so different from New Mexico.
Did you stop in and visit the McDonalds while you were there? That is the fanciest M'Ds anywhere. http://www.notduck.com/08/mcdonalds08.html
~Twinville Trekkers
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