The Wandering Disciple

When George Vanderbilt II envisioned his mountain getaway, he envisioned a grande mansion in a park like setting. So he set forth to make his vision a reality and entrusted Frederick Law Olmsted with developing the landscape of the Biltmore. Olmsted, the architect of great projects like Central Park in NYC and the US Capitol in DC, developed a stunning lanscape of manicured forests and colorful gardens that continues to impress visitors to the Biltmore to this day. (Photo: June 12, 2017)

A bright colorful flower in full bloom lightens up a path at the Biltmore Estate.  The country's largest private residence, the Biltmore has thousands of flower in gardens and along paths.  All year long, guests to the Biltmore can see flowers in bloom including a rose collection with more than 250 varieties of roses.  (Photo: June 12, 2017)

Overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains just outside of downtown Asheville is the largest private estate in the country.  It is here where George Vanderbilt built his little mountain escape.  The Biltmore is anything but little featuring 4 acres of floor space, 250 rooms, 33 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms and 65 fireplaces.  (Photo: June 12, 2017)

Asheville, North Carolina: Today we had a big day exploring the Biltmore Estate.  The crown jewel of Asheville, the Biltmore has been a place we have wanted to visit for a while.  It was also a bucket list thing to do for my wife so we were pretty excited to visit. We started the day with breakfast at the hotel.  The free complimentary breakfast was a lot better than we had expected.  It had omelets, waffles, biscuits and gravy, sausage and much more.  Much more than the standard cereals, toast, etc you come to expect at a hotel complimentary breakfast. After breakfast, we headed out to the Biltmore.  To say the grounds and estates were awe-inspiring is an understatement,   During our trolley tour yesterday, they told the story of the Vanderbildt's and described the immense size of the property, but it doesn't truly sink in until you arrive at the estate.  From the gate, it is still a 2 1/2 mile drive to the Biltmore House. We decided to...