The Biltmore House

The last stop on our road trip was the Biltmore House in Asheville, Nc. This house was built by George Vanderbilt in the late 1800s. It was enormous. We were able to tour about 40 of the 250 rooms. It was amazing to me that anyone had a house this big. In reading about its construction, they had to lay 3 miles of railroad track just to bring in the material to build the house. My experience at the Biltmore went like this- I walked around listening to the audiotour with my mouth hanging open in awe... until I realized that one of my children was trying to touch something or get past the ropes. At that point, I quickly came back down to earth and grabbed whichever child it was (this time) before they could mess with anything. Repeat. It did help that my mom was there to help me reign them in.



















After touring the house, we had lunch at The Stable Cafe. As the name suggests, it used to be the horse stable. I actually think that our booth was in a former horse stall. I have a picture of the cafe below. You'll probably notice the Christmas tree. Apparently, Christmas is a big event at the Biltmore House. They were busy putting up holiday decorations in many of the rooms while we were there.



































Following lunch, we did a little shopping, walked around in the gardens and conservatory, and then began our journey back home. Overall, our fall break trip down the Blue Ridge Parkway was a lot of fun. The kids and I had a great time, and my parents did, too. This trip also proved to me that my kids do well with road trips. Maybe my parents will let us tag along when they do the "Big O" in a few years. Hmmm....

Blue Ridge Parkway

The third day of our road trip was the day that we actually spent driving the Blue Ridge Parkway. We drove from Roanoke, Va to Asheville, Nc. The drive was about 264 miles, and it took all day to complete. We figured out rather quickly that we couldn't get out at all of the stops and overlooks, so we alternated between stopping to take pictures and taking pictures from the car. The most scenic part of the drive was the area between Boone and Asheville. This part of the parkway was at a higher elevation, and the leaves were just beautiful here. We also saw fields full of pumpkins, cabbage, and corn. The kids liked looking out for tunnels. We drove the parkway on a Sunday, and it seemed like everyone was outdoors enjoying the beautiful fall day. There were tons of people picnicing, laying out (sleeping), and reading on the side of the road. Others were riding the road in their antique cars or on their motorcycles. If I lived in this area, this is exactly how I would like to spend such a gorgeous day. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the drive.

Virginia Safari Park

After visiting Monticello, we drove to Natural Bridge, Va to visit the Virginia Safari Park. This stop was totally for the kids, and they deserved it because they were so well-behaved at Monticello. The main attraction at the safari park was a 180 acre drive-through exhibit where you could feed the free-roaming animals. I thought that all of the animals would be smallish- like deer, ostriches, llamas, etc... These animals were there, but there were also some larger animals like elk, bison, and watusi cattle. Before entering, we purchased two buckets of feed. My dad drove so that the kids and I could all sit in the front and feed the animals. I let the kids choose which animals they wanted to feed, so we mainly fed the smaller animals. Probably the most memorable moment of the entire trip occurred when Olivia decided that she wanted to feed the bactrian (two-hump) camel. This surprised me because it was pretty big. We pulled up to the camel and stuck out the bucket of feed. It came over and started scarfing down the feed. I was a little concerned because I had only purchsed two buckets and I didn't want the camel to eat too much (and not have feed for animals later). So, I pulled the bucket back inside the car- and the camel came in after it. That's right- the camel had its head in my lap. The kids were delighted, but I was a little freaked out. I started shouting at daddy to drive- and he's like, "I can't- there's a camel head in the car". All of the commotion must have distracted the camel, because he pulled his head out of the car- and we took off. After driving throught the "safari" part of the park, we got out of the car and walked through the zoo portion. The kids especially liked the petting zoo. This park was lots of fun, and it was a good way to end the second day of our trip.

Monticello

Our first stop on the second day of our Blue Ridge road trip was in Charlottesville, Va. We went there to visit Monticello- home of Thomas Jefferson. President Jefferson was an incredibly intelligent and interesting man, and I think that I learned a lot about him by visiting his home. I wanted Olivia to have some idea about the significance of Monticello, so I gave her a nickle to carry around (because Jefferson is on the front and Monticello is on the back of that coin). We took a guided house tour, and we also walked the grounds on our own. Some of the more popular sites were the garden, the "ice house", and the dumbwaiter exhibition. Before leaving, we visited Jefferson's gravesite and bought some souvenirs at the gift shop. An interesting fact- they give you change in $2.00 bills at the gift shop because Jefferson is on that bill. We all enjoyed the visit- especially my dad (he's really into this sort of thing).

Luray Caverns

There are several caves and caverns along the Blue Ridge Parkway that are open to tourists. After asking around, we learned that the "best" ones to visit were the caverns at Luray. According to their brochure, Luray Caverns are the "largest and most popular in the East". Owen has never been in a cave, so we decided that this needed to be one of the stops on our road trip. The caverns did not disappoint. There were plenty of stalactities, stalagmites, columns, and other formations to look at. The kids did fairly well in the cave. Of course, it was a constant battle to try to keep the kids from touching the formations, but they did a good job walking and keeping up with the group. At the end of the tour, we found ourselves in a large room with an organ in it. Luray Caverns is listed in the Guiness Book of World Records for having the world's largest musical instrument. Any guess what it is? It is an organ that is connected to the stalactites. Somehow it is rigged so that little hammers hit the stalactities causing them to vibrate and release sound. We were able to hear "A Mighty Fortress is our God" played on the stalactities. It was kinda cool.

Skyline Drive

The kids and I have recently returned from our fall break trip down the Blue Ridge Parkway. Brian was not able to go with us because he had taken off work the week before to visit his dad. Not wanting me to drive alone, my parents graciously offered to go with me. The journey began last Friday in Dover, De. I picked the kids up from their Poppy's house and then drove to my Aunt Connie's house to pick my parents up. They had flown up the day before to visit with my Aunt and Uncle. The itinerary for day one: drive the Skyline Drive and visit Luray Caverns. After saying goodbye to Uncle Mike and Aunt Connie, we set off toward Front Royal, Va to get on the Skyline Drive.



















The Skyline Drive is the name given to the northernmost 105 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is a scenic drive that runs the entire length of the Shenandoah National Park. The scenery was stunning, and we were greeted with beautiful views of the Shenandoah Valley almost immediately. Of course, we had to make several stops so that we could get out and enjoy the view. Unfortunately it was overcast, so a lot of my pictures turned out dark. In addition to making several stops at the overlooks, we also made a stop at Luray Caverns. By the end of the day, we had driven 65 miles along this scenic road. Here are a few of the pictures from the drive.

Canoeing on McGinnis Pond

I was stuck at home- alone- all last week while Brian and the kids were living it up in Delaware. One day, they went canoeing in the pond behind Poppy's house. Olivia told me all about the canoe trip on the phone that night, and it really made me wish that I was in Delaware with them even more so than I already did (if that's even possible). Apparently, everyone had a great outing on the lake. Well, maybe Uncle Dustin not so much- it looks like he had to do most of the rowing.