Being in NC means being able to go to one of my favorite cheesy tourist destinations....the Biltmore House! I love this place so much and I can't even tell you how many times I've been and I never get tired of it. Plus, it's a civil engineering wonder (just love all the technology they thought to incorporate before 1900)! It had been a few years though so it was good to go back. Jeff has been watching a lot of the "Men Who Made America" lately on the History Channel and the Vanderbilts were one of the big families like the Rockerfellers that have a big place in history, so he was interested to get back up there too. Tyndell's school unexpectantly closed on Friday, so we decided to take a family day and show Tyndell the "NC Castle." Engineering, Power, Castles...mass appeal for us all in this family. We didn't really want/need to take a day off work (these things are never convenient), but it was beautiful weather, and the time together was much needed. Any excuse to sit in the car and listen to Christmas music for several hours is always a bonus too (who can get enough of the Elf Soundtrack?)! We even took a special tour called the Friends and Family of Biltmore where we got to see some extra rooms, clothing, and exerpts from letters....it was super interesting and really painted a vivid picture of what life was like back then. It also unfortunately pointed out the lost art of letter writing. My Mom and I used to visit Biltmore a lot back when I was in college and we loved to walk around and pretend it was our second home...haha...but really, the tour we took did similar. Most fascinating was the references made to the children eating dinner at 5pm and then being sent to bed with nannies and the adults dressing for formal dinner at 8 o'clock sharp. I don't think even if I had the option to send the kids off to bed that early I would...dang, I'd never see them! Anyway, it was a fun history lesson and beautiful seeing all the decorations...I even got a renegade shot of the BIG Christmas tree in the dining room (I did get caught but they let me go). Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the gardens, but that's ok, we'll just have to go back in the spring when it's more beautiful anyway. Win - Win.
***This post is especially dedicated to the Baby Ergo carrier, without which, we may not have gotten through the entire house tour with both children alive.
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