Headed out from Asheville today to make the long drive back to Washington, DC. Had planned to go to the top of Grandfather Mountain but it was a very, very hazy day and the entrance gatekeepers stated that visitability was basically zilch. Sooooo, that'll have to be a trip for another day. Headed over to Blowing Rock with the hope that visitability would be bearable once I got there. Blowing Rock is located about 100 miles from Asheville. According to the brochure, "The Blowing Rock is an immense cliff 4000 feet above sea level, overhanging Johns River Gorge 3000 feet below...the [View Full Entry]

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Flew in a little early for a conference in Washington, DC, rented a car and decided to have a little weekend getaway before my meeting started. Drove down to Asheville, NC. Beautiful drive along the way. I had read and heard so much about the Biltmore. It is truly one of America's few castles. Started out the day touring the Biltmore. We were not allowed to take pictures inside but you can see online if interested just how beautiful the interior is. Plus, they did an episode of A&E's "America's Castles" on it. It is staggeringly massive with extensive grounds and [View Full Entry]

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Just got back from a week in Hawaii. It was my second trip to the Hawaiian Islands but my first to the "Big Island." We spent our entire time on the Big Island. It's an island with a bit of everything. It's large but yet not that large. You can easily drive all around it if you don't take stops and plan on a long day. We of course didn't do that because I need to hike to my waterfalls and stop at every point of interest worthy of a photo. September 24, 2002: Arrived on Kona via Honolulu at around [View Full Entry]

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