Be Still and Know...Then and Now

This one is just for you Linda , well and every other Gingerbread lover. Since The Grove Park Inn was just under five miles from Biltmore we could not head for home without stopping by on our way out of town. Each year The Grove Park Inn host The National Gingerbread Competition . You can click on the link above for addition pictures. Some of the top winners were no longer on display and had been sent on to New York (bummer) but there were still lots of amazing pieces available to viewing. View Full Album I will also say that in the very brief time we were at the Grove Park Inn it looked like a very nice place to stay should you have the time and the funds. It had an amazing Sunset Terrace and just as we were leaving the sun was setting. We Took a brief detour before heading home and spent a few minute watching the sun set over the North Carolina mountains. God is just to awesome! This picture just does not do the sunset justice. If you look closely at the picture abov...

Just down these steps and a short walk from the main house is the Conservatory.   There were no restrictions on picture taking in there so having been restrained for the better portion of the day I had an absolutely wonderful time snapping away to my hearts content. It was just amazing inside. If you are a regular visitor here at my blog you will know how exacted I get over God’s creation, and boy was He showing of in big way inside the walls of that conservatory. Here is my tropical adventure in the middle of a winter wonderland! Y’all take my advice if you make a visit to Biltmore make sure you take the short walk down those steps and explore the Conservatory. To sum up our visit to Biltmore, it really made me think. On the way home my husband and I discussed how different life must have been, and the reality that we have no concept what it must have been like growing up with that sort of privilege. Cornelia Vanderbilt, the only child of George and Ed...

  Without boring you to tears here is a very brief background on the Vanderbilt's and Biltmore Estate. George Vanderbilt III (he was not married when he began building the house, I would call this the ultimate bachelor's pad wouldn't you) opened Biltmore on Christmas Eve in 1895. It still maintains the title of the largest private residence in the United States. It took six years to build. The total floor space of the estate is 4 acres, y’all want to vacuum that???? The mansion has a total of 250 rooms, 43 bathrooms, 33 family an guest rooms, 65 fireplaces, three kitchens, and indoor swimming pool as well as the very first bowling alley built inside a private residence. In 1650 Jan Aertsen van der Bilt emigrated to the United States. The family did not become the American industrial icon’s until Cornelius Vanderbilt began the family empire, legend has it that he borrowed $100.00 for his mother and then launched a ferry service across New York Bay which he eventua...