Everyone says that the Biltmore is beautiful at Christmas. As luck would have it, our cabin was only about an hour from Asheville, so we made a daytrip to see the Biltmore at its finest.
Before touring the house we had lunch at the Stable Cafe. The kids and I had eaten here before when we went with my parents, and we wanted to make a return visit. This restaurant is cool because it is in the old horse stable. We sat in a booth that use to be a horse stall. I like this restaurant because of the historic and unique atmosphere, but the food is also very good. Everyone enjoyed their meal.
After lunch we entered the house for our self-guided tour. We decided not to do the audio tour, and we really didn't need it because there were workers in most rooms who were happy to answer your questions. Some of our favorite rooms were the winter garden, the banquet hall, and the library. It was also neat to see where the servants slept and worked. The house had the whole upstairs/downstairs Downton Abbey thing going on. You could see passages where the servants would go so that they could do their jobs without being "seen". The opulence of the house cannot be overstated. It is lavish.
Early January turned out to be a great time to visit because the house was still decorated for the Christmas season, but the crowds were virtually non-existent. The Christmas decorations included 55 decorated Christmas trees, the largest tree of which was 35 feet tall.
This was the first visit for Brian and Barb. They were both impressed.
Included in our price admission was a free wine tasting at the Biltmore Winery. The winery is located on property at the site of the old dairy farm. We tried a few different types of wine. Some of it was better than others. The kids had grape juice. They were excited that there was something there for them.
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