Pit Stop in the Smoky Mountains

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On our way back from Myrtle Beach, Manny planned a stop in Asheville, North Carolina, a place we had repeatedly wanted to stop in over the years of driving between Florida and Ohio. Now the schedule and budget permitted for it to be done right, so we did it.

Albemarle Inn

Asheville's only Four Diamond AAA Bed & Breakfast, there were in fact fewer choices than we had expected in Asheville, seems as though the Biltmore Estate absorbed all of the lodging niceties for the area. We stayed in the Royal Hideaway, which even at mid-week rates was still our most expensive B&B yet. The location was right, the view okay, and the house well cared for and well-done. Highly recommended as a place to stay if in town, a little bit more of a mill than our typical experience, but just about right for a BnB.

We checked out the Grove Park Inn on the mountain above the Albermarle but even though it was impressive it was not worth the additional loot.

Biltmore Estate

We paid the fortune they ask for to visit the estate (you don't have a selection of things to do in this town otherwise). The house was interesting as any other great estate is of the American aristocracy but we still like Flagler's Vizcaya in Miami more - nothing beats being on Biscayne Bay and the Italianate design of that home. The house was absolutely out of scale and left an oversized negative impression, the decor was not of any particularly good taste and appeared to be more focused on impressing than meticulous attention to design detail. The gardens, on the other hand, were better and very expansive with a multitude of different areas. All in all, nothing beat the winery.

We started off with a boring tour where they try to get you to spend some money, tasted some wines as part of the tour, and finally went and had lunch at the cafe which featured a Californian-style selection of foods that was to our liking as was the wine we had. The wines are in fact quite good and can be found retail in an increasing number of places. Their whites are particularly good. What improved the charm of the winery was the agreeableness of their cafe patio, a definitely recommended destination in town.

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Photos

Biltmore Estate
Not what WE would have built . . . but okay, we'll take it!

Park View of the House
Are we in Europe?

Drinking Wine
After our visit of the winery we got sucked into this tourist trap which was well worth it both for the wine and food.

The Albemarle Inn
We are still deferential to the Victorian Lady in Norwalk, Ohio but this place came in a very close second. In many ways a better B&B but we wouldn't be comparing apples to apples.

Breakfast at the Albemarle
Sorry Victorian Lady, but Manny saw this spot on the website and we were the first down to breakfast to grab it. Exclusif!

Room at the Albemarle
Nice, but still not the Victorian Lady!

Comments

[Gaynetta Ross]

We just came back from the Biltmore. It was a great place. We would go back there again.
It was a great place. We would go back there again. The tours and shops were great! We loved the drive up to the house and leaving the house. The drive to the house and from the house reminded me of Cades Cove. Only it was more upscaled.