In Autumn, we decided to head to the Smoky Mountains to take a scenic train ride and finally see the Biltmore estate.
The highlight of our trip was sightseeing on the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad, taking the Nantahala Gorge excursion. What a beautiful ride! We were on the train for a little over four hours total. There was plenty of time to soak in the views as well as grab lunch from the food car. They stopped halfway at the Nantahala Outdoor Center where we took a few pictures and stretched our legs before the train went back the way it came. I’d definitely go on another GSMR excursion. We were a little too early in the fall season to get the foliage color change, but it was still beautiful.
Biltmore was the next major feature of our trip.
We’ve been seeing TV ads for Biltmore since we moved here. You know the kind. All full of glamor and leisure and perfect people having candlelight dinners and taking romantic walks in peaceful gardens. We knew what the truth was likely to be, of course, but we decided it was time to check out this expensive tourist attraction.
The exterior architecture is certainly impressive. It’s not symmetrical, but instead done in a châteauesque style. Of all the Biltmore features - house interior, house exterior, gardens - I liked the exterior the best. The lines of the staircase are dramatic, and the detailed stonework is lovely.
It’s not very old, even though it pretends to be a mature French estate. It was built between 1889 and 1895. The exterior architecture is spectacularly grand. The upstairs interior is decorated in a most impressive style to match. However, I have to admit we found it to be pretentious. It was clearly designed for someone who had a lot of money and wanted to impress people. Unfortunately, for all of the rich furniture and tapestries, there’s something about it that says tacky nouveau riche.
Unlike the old European mansions it is copying, it was built with running water and bathrooms - toilets and showers, at least. But no sinks. Instead they still have the pitchers and basins. What’s that all about?
The basement reveals the true time period of the house, complete with a bowling alley, a generally bland indoor swimming pool, and a Halloween room that looks like it was painted by a bunch of middle school kids last weekend.
(P.S. If you want to be impressed by a swimming pool, instead check out the pools at Hearst Castle out in California!)
The house gardens are pleasant to walk around, but not as elaborate as many of the other formal gardens we’ve been to, both inside North Carolina and in other states. The surrounding estate is lovely. As the ads show, they are probably quite nice if you can enjoy them while horseback riding. Some of it was very picturesque.
Don’t get me wrong - it was a nice place to visit as a tourist, once. I’m sure it would have been a fun place to stay as a houseguest back in its heyday. But given a choice between Biltmore and Longwood Gardens, I’d go back to Longwood Gardens before Biltmore. And you can see more impressive mansions in Europe.
Going up to the great smokey mountains gave us an opportunity to drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway, one of Wayne’s favorite scenic drives in the state. Alas, some portions were closed because of the Hurricane Irma damage in September.
Before heading back home, we stopped at some other smaller tourist spots, including the Emerald Village where we went to see the North Carolina Mining Museum to learn more about the area’s mines. We did not do any gem mining on this visit to the mountains.
Our final stop included a visit to see Linwood Caverns. I’ve always loved visiting caverns. The one sad note about this place was that the white-nose syndrome has finally made it here and sick bats have been spotted in the area. They are taking precautions at the caverns to clean shoes and prevent the spread of the fungus, but it’s an ominous situation for the bat populations in the smoky mountains.
Links to all of the galleries: