Tuesday, November 28, 2014

We awoke to yet another stunningly beautiful day and gave thanks to God above for blessing us, as He always does, on our getaway weekend. Today, after breakfast and making sandwiches for lunch, we got into the car and made the hour long drive to Dupont National Forest for some more hiking.  We had picked up some information yesterday at the Asheville Chamber of Commerce on hiking trails in the area, specifically looking for locations used in The Hunger Games movies.  The location we chose was the closest and included the waterfall where Katniss found Peeta in the first movie after she dropped the beehive on some of their fellow Hunger Games participants.  It took us a little bit to find the trailhead we wanted, but once we did we first made a trip to the visitor's center where a very helpful gentleman showed us on a 3 dimensional map of the area just where we were and the trail that we had chosen.  It is a 3 mile round trip hike with only a moderate change in elevation.  Just what we were looking for.

on the trail

View from our lunch spot

We hiked to Triple Falls, where the Little River drops in elevation over three successive waterfalls.  There is a staircase off the trail that takes one down about 100 steps to the rocks you can see in the picture above.  Turns out that this was fall break for most of the local schools so we ran into lots of families that were out hiking and this seemed to be a pretty popular spot.  Kathi and I found a shady spot on a rock that let us enjoy the sound of the waterfalls along with feeling a bit of spray occasionally when the wind blew our way to sit and enjoy our lunch.  It was quite a warm day (mid 70's or so) and we had worked up a bit of a sweat on our hike so that spray felt wonderful.  Again, those made at home sandwiches after some exercise tasted like one of the best sandwiches ever, then we just sat and enjoyed the place and the day for a while.

After letting lunch settle for while, we made our way up the 100 or so steps and set out for the return trip to the car, which only took us a half hour or so.  Upon returning back to Asheville, we made a grocery store stop to gather a few items for dinner that evening.  We still had some uncooked chicken breasts left that I used to make baked Parmesan chicken.  Kathi worked on homework while I made dinner.  We stayed in for the rest of the evening and just enjoyed our meal and one another's company, knowing that this was the last evening of Girls Weekend 2014.  Tomorrow, we need to make the drive to Greenville, South Carolina for our flights home.  We decided that we would spend the morning hanging out at the cool bookstore (the wi-fi connection there was MUCH better than we had in the cabin) until it was time for us to hit the road.

Another wonderful day!

Monday, October 27

At the Rattlesnake Lodge trailhead

Kathi, having gone to bed and been asleep by 10 last night is up this morning at 6:45am in an effort to make up for some lost homework time.  Kathi has already made a pot of coffee and put bacon in the oven for breakfast. Breakfast consists of bacon, eggs and toast and is quite delicious.  We spend some time blogging, sorting pictures, doing homework (Kathi, only!) and researching hiking opportunities, of which there is MUCH to choose from.  Today we decide to take a hike up to the ruins of Rattlesnake Lodge, since the trail is fairly close to us.  On past Girls Weekend trips we have spent HOURS driving to an activity that we both really want to do, but upon reflection have decided that we would like to spend less time in the car and more time actually DOING things that are available nearby, so we tend to look for opportunities than don’t take more than an hour to get to. The Rattlesnake Lodge trailhead is about 20 minutes away and the trail itself is a moderate hike of 2.6 miles that follows an old wagon trail with an elevation gain of 550 feet through a lush, Appalachian forest.  Sound perfect!!

We shower and dress for hiking.  Kathi fixes us sandwiches for lunch and we head out on yet another beautiful, sunshiny, 70 plus degree day to get some exercise and fresh air.  We love this!  

Rattlesnake Lodge was built in 1903 and 1904 as a summer home for Asheville physician, Dr. Chase P. Ambler. and his family.  Dr. Ambler’s wife, Harriet and their five children spent summers at the lodge from 1908 until 1920, when the property was sold.  Dr. Ambler would join the rest of the family on weekends and most Wednesdays.  They also entertained many guests at the lodge during the summer months.  The trail that was cut to the lodge was purposely left too narrow for horse drawn carriages of the time to navigate in an effort to keep the property private.  Guests left their carriages at a carriage house at the bottom of the trail and either walked or rode horses up to the lodge.  While not quite as impressive as the Biltmore Mansion, it sounds like the lodge was quite a comfortable and inviting place to visit.

https://www.facebook.com/lori.c.arnold.77

There were tennis courts and a swimming pool and a big back porch.  Unfortunately the lodge burned down, most likely due to a lightning strike in 1926 so all there is left to see are remnants of retaining walls and chimneys.  But the hike is beautiful, affording views of the mountains along the way.

Once we reached the area where the lodge once was, we stopped and ate our lunch of sandwiches and chips.  I have to say, nothing tastes better than a sandwich after working up a bit of a sweat and appetite after a hike uphill!  We finished our lunch, rested and enjoyed the sunshine a bit, then started back downhill, realizing that we had made reservations for a LaZoom Haunted bus tour of Asheville for that evening and we needed to get back and get ready for that.

We both decided that a nap sounded like a pretty good idea once we got back to the cabin so that we would feel refreshed and ready for our bus tour that evening. I don't think that it took too long for either one of us to pass out once we stretched out on the bed and after we shook the "sleepies" off when our phone alarms went off, we took turns hopping into the shower to wash away the sweat from the morning hike, hopped into the car and drove into downtown Asheville. While trying to find a place to park close to the "Thirsty Monk", where the bus was to pick us up, we discovered a little are of town that we had failed to discover and explore the day before that had a very interesting bookstore. This bookstore was not only full of books (ALWAYS a favorite with both of us), but also a champagne bar and a coffee bar along with all of these separate rooms and stairways and nooks and crannies with comfy chairs and conversation areas that could be reserved for bookclub meetings and such. We vowed to come back here!

We found the LaZoom bus and took some time to get some photos and to go into the Thirsty Monk to grab a couple of beers to take with us on the bus and enjoy during the tour. Once we boarded the bus we came to the realization that were we probably the ONLY ones on the bus who had not already begun the evening's festivities with wine spirits PRIOR to the tour. The tour promised to be funny and to "uncover tales of murder, deceit, scandals and ghosts."

Our tour guide was a wild and crazy guy who sounded a bit like Wolfman Jack and had big wolf-like ears on. He swung around a pole at the front of the bus, played loud rock and rock and did all kinds of crazy things while telling us stories as we drove around town. There was another "cast member" who welcomed us aboard the bus and introduced our tour guide. He then left the bus and appeared later throughout town as multiple characters in the historical tales we were told by our guide. It certainly made for an entertaining hour but I can't say that I am convinced that all, or any, of the stories that were heard were completely accurate. Nevertheless, it was a fun way to spend the evening. A bit reminiscent of the Nash Trash Tour that we took in Nashville, Tennessee a few years back.

The tour completed, we climbed into the car an drove back to our home away from home, where we had a late dinner and got rested up for tomorrow. So, I am realizing as I wrap this day up that there are a couple of things that I have left out. The first being that last year we decided to add an extra day to our "Girls' Weekend". Our travel days are now Thursday and Wednesday, rather than Thursday and Tuesday, giving us ALL of tomorrow to continue our little getaway and do a bit more exploration. WooHoo! Two, we did the final tossing of the states last night and after a couple of tosses where both states landed face down, we did come up with a winner! 

Looks like we will be headed back to this part of the country, so we will have to see if we can find a place where we can get a different kind of experience. I will start researching!

Tomorrow, we are going to hike again. This time we are going to hike in some of the locations that were used in The Hunger Games movies in the DuPont National Forest. We will be on the lookout for mockingjays.

Sunday, October 26

So lovely to be on vacation and have no alarm clock going off to wake you up, therefore being able to sleep in.  I LOVE that!!  Sleep in, we did, then, as Kathi and I have been known to do because we are such nerds, we both get on our computers almost immediately and start checking e-mails and browsing the internet and whatever other mindless activities one gets up to on one's computer on a lazy morning, while drinking coffee and smelling the bacon that one of us put in the oven a bit earlier.  Life is good!!

The sisters come over from their cabin after a bit to visit with us before they hit the road back to Raleigh.  Then Kathi and I shower and get ready to spend the day doing some shopping in downtown Asheville.  (Have I mentioned the weather? The weather is, once again, amazing.  We have had 70 degree, sunny days so far.  Much warmer than I was expecting!) Asheville is a cute little town with a thriving art colony, lots of nice restaurants, art galleries and quirky, one of a kind clothing shops as well as bars and brewpubs.  It is exactly the kind of small town that Kathi and I love to visit and explore.  We browsed all kinds of interesting places, beginning with a old-fashioned mercantile store that had everything from candy and greeting cards to the latest high tech outdoor footwear and camping gear, to an old Woolworth's store that still had its soda fountain up and running with pictures from the 1960 Greensboro, NC lunch counter sit-ins held to end racial segregation at Woolworth's lunch counters and their counterparts throughout the country. Kathi and I each ordered a milkshake and sat down together at a table to enjoy them and realized that we were able to do this because of those brave folks back in 1960 who dared to stand up (or sit down, in this case) against the establishment and insist on doing away with segregation.

This Woolworth's store was no longer operating as a Woolworth's, but held booths of local artists' work.  Paintings, handmade bound books, jewelry and photographs.  Our favorite display here was of photographs taken in abandoned places.  Haunting and spooky, yet beautiful.  Unfortunately, I did not write down the photographer's name, but they were truly amazing photographs.

Just outside of the Woolworth's was a guy spray-painted all in while standing atop a pedestal with a black and while electric guitar strapped on.  (You can see him in the background of the photo at the top of this post).  He stood statue-still until someone dropped some money in one of his money boxes, then he would begin to play the guitar, and sometimes sing, sometimes not, for a few minutes before resuming his statue-like pose.  He was really quite good and seemed to be playing more than standing still, so I am assuming he made a decent amount of money by the end of the day.

Kathi and I continued to wander around downtown and we each found something we like enough to buy (Kathi, a skirt and a top for me), as well as eating lunch at Salsa's,  a small restaurant that served up Mexican and Caribbean food.  We shared a butternut squash and carrot enchilada dish that came with rice and beans that was quite delicious, although a little spicy for Kathi's taste.  Kathi had also been on the hunt today for some orange earrings to take the place of a pair that she had lost at home.  Once again, success was hers!!

Since it was Sunday, the shops closed up at 5 pm, so we headed back to the cabin for an evening in.  I made dinner (baked chicken coated in a delicious rub, pasta with a garlic & lemon juice "sauce" and broccoli) while Kathi worked on some home work.  After eating and cleaning up, I sat down to load pictures onto the computer and work a bit on this blog.  Kathi had plans to work late into the night on her homework, but after dinner and a glass of wine became sleepy and was in bed and snoozing by 10pm. I did manage to stay up until about 12:30 working on the blog before turning in.  Just as I was about to drop off into sleep, however, I was startled back to full wakefulness by a knocking sound.  I laid in bed and listened for a while trying to figure out what it could be.  It wasn't anyone knocking on the door to the cabin.  Of this I was certain, because the cabin is very small and is basically one room, with the door being at the foot of the bed.  So, what the heck is this sound??  I get up and wander around the room in an attempt to try to see if maybe someone is knocking on one of the outside walls of the cabin. At this point, Kathi has been awakened by the sound, too and asks "what the heck is that noise?"  Now that Kathi is awake, I open the front door and we both come to the realization that this rhythmic, knocking sound is coming from the cabin next door, which is, maybe, 15 feet away from our cabin.  The cabin where we had seen a young couple sitting out on their front porch earlier in the evening.  Kathi and I look at each other and burst out laughing as we both come to the same conclusion at the same time.  We are pretty sure we had figured out what was "up" as well as what the source of the knocking was.  It wasn't too long before all was quiet again and we both fell asleep.

Tomorrow, we hike.

Saturday, October 25th

Saturday was dedicated to touring the Biltmore Mansion,  the largest residential architectural structure in the United States with 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms and 65 fireplaces and more than 4 acres of floor space.  There are 250 rooms, total, in the home.  I would certainly not want to be the housekeeper here!!  The estate includes 8000 acres today and that is after George Biltmore's widow, Edith, sold 87,000 acres to the US Forest service for $5 an acre after George's death.

This place is truly amazing and definitely worth touring, although it is somewhat exhausting because to really see the place in its entirety takes a whole day.  We arrived at the estate to begin our tour at 10:30 am.  JC, the beer savior (from our Brews Cruise tour) had suggested that we pay the extra $10 to get the device that included the audio tour in order to get the most out of the tour.  We did this and I must say, that I am truly glad that we did.  Kathi and I are both complete nerds when it comes to this kind of thing because we love to learn as much as we can about any place that we are visiting.  With the audio tour, instead of just walking around and looking at everything, you learn the story behind many of things you are looking at.  Who the painter was, who the sculptor was, where the tapestries came from, what day to day life on the estate were like.  Makes the entire experience so much richer.

We were joined for the days' events by the sisters-in-law, two of whom were in wheelchairs.  Natalie has chronic nerve pain in one leg that makes it difficult for her to do extensive walking and Sheila suffered a knee injury in a fall just a few days prior to making this trip that made it difficult for her to walk for very long or very far, too, so we traveled to the estate in 2 separate vehicles since the addition of 2 wheelchairs to Ingrid's car made it impossible for all 6 of us to fit. This made the day a bit more challenging, mainly because of the huge number of people that were there to tour the place.  Seriously!!  It felt a bit like Disneyland there were so many people.  I was not expecting such a large crowd.  In addition, there were 3 weddings taking place on the estate, too, while all this touring was going on.  It was kind of crazy.

One is not supposed to take pictures while in the Biltmore Mansion, but Kathi, being the rule breaker that she sometimes is, did manage to take a few pics.

the formal dining room

the breakfast "nook"

Edith Vanderbilt's bedroom

This tour was amazing and interesting, but exhausting!!  We toured 3 floors, then decided to have lunch before touring the basement, because we had already been at it for 2 hours or so and needed sustenance to continue.  The old stable and the outdoor area around it have been converted to a food court of sorts with a fairly wide variety of options for lunch.  Most of us opted for some form of sandwich and we all seemed to be satisfied with our choices.  There are also a few shops in the old stable, so we did a little shopping before completing our tour of the house.  The basement housed the servants and kitchen and also proved to be quite amazing, though not as elegant as the family living quarters.  The basement also includes the two lane bowling alley and indoor swimming pool.  No joke. Just a side note, the estate is still owned and operated by George and Edith Biltmore's descendants.  They decided to open it up to the public for tours in 1930 (during the Depression) to boost the economy of the area as well as to help with the enormous expense involved in the upkeep of the home.  None of the descendants actually live on the property anymore.

the view from the loggia of the house

  

Lori on the loggia overlooking the view

Once we were done with the house tour, we drove through the gardens and to another portion of the estate called Antler Hill Village.  This was reminiscent of a ski village, with small shops and restaurants located around a central village green where there was a bandstand where there was, indeed a live band playing music.  This is also the area in which the old dairy barn has been converted into a winery.  Included with our tickets was a tour of the winery and some wine tasting of the wines produced on the estate as well as some produced under the Biltmore name in other parts of the country.


We began the wine tour in back of the wine shop where we learned the story of how George's great grandson, William Cecil, decided to turn the dairy into a winery and started growing grapes on the property.  Apparently the first harvest and first wines produced were not very good, so Mr. Cecil went to France and hired a winemaster to assist in running the winemaking operation, which proved to be a good decision.

I lost track of how many wines we all tasted.  Just know that we had a good time tasting and chatting with our very knowledgeable wine server, Skyler.

Once we were done with the wine tasting, we did a little shopping in the wine shop.  Kathi bought a nice bottle of wine to take home and share with Eric.  We all hopped into our cars and headed back toward the cabins.  Kathi and I went straight back to the cabin, while the sisters stopped for dinner at Rocky's Hot Chicken Shack. Kathi and decided that we would just eat some of the leftovers that we had in our refrigerator and settle in for the evening, Kathi to get some homework done and me, to work on this blog!! We did go over to the sisters' cabin for a bit for a nightcap and hear about their meal at the Chicken Shack, which I guess was some pretty hot barbecue.  Neither one of us lasted too long because the day had been quite exhausting with all the walking around that we had done touring the house.  Tomorrow we plan on breakfast with the sisters, then going into town to do some shopping at the cute shops there.

Once we got back to the cabin, we did toss the states and got it down to 2!!  Nebraska and Virginia.

Until next time!!