Next Day

Can you tell where we are? Plans are to spend the whole day here and play the evening by ear.

We pretty much spent the whole day at the Biltmore Estates. We started by perusing the shops and exterior of the house since the inside was really crowded when we arrived. That turned out to be a great plan as the crowds thinned out quite a bit by the time we were ready and we enjoyed a leisurely tour through this magnificent house.

When we were done in the house, we headed to a fabulous meal at "The Stable" - still on the grounds - where we warmed up a bit as well. The temperatures were a bit chilly but we wanted autumn weather - and autumn weather we got!

When we left the restaurant, we figured it would do us well to get a bit of exercise so we walked the grounds and ended up in the beautiful gardens and greenhouse. I can only imagine how gorgeous this must be when it is full of spring flowers.

After lots of walking, we headed to the winery and it was the perfect way to end our visit.

Since we were all still a bit full from our wonderful meal, the girls asked if we could go back to the hotel, watch a scary movie - them, not us - and order room service when we got hungry. And, that is exactly what we did...and it was the perfect way to end the perfect day!

Still more to come. Stay tuned...and Happy Halloween. I am having a busy day and will be sure to share it soon as well. Bwah haha!!!

"We're Back!"...

...and boy do I have LOTS to share!! We had a wonderful trip to North Carolina and I took so many pictures that it has taken me 2 days to go through them and try to decide which to post. I think I will do it a day at a time so I don't lose any of you along the way!

My daughter and her two children picked up my hubby, youngest daughter and me on Wednesday afternoon and we were off to Gainesville to pick up daughter #2 and one of her daughters. Would have loved for the whole family to be able to come along, but darn work and school obligations got in the way for some!

Here we are with the car "almost" all loaded. We had 5 adults, 3 teens and all of the "stuff" it takes to keep us going for 5 days crammed into that car. It wasn't exactly comfortable but it was cozy and as we got farther north and the temperature began to drop, I was happy to have so many pillows and blankets on my lap. We wanted family togetherness-and we sure got it!

Getting a little stir crazy - yes, we are almost there!

We drove to Savannah the first night so the long drive was broken up and didn't seem too bad. After a good breakfast the next morning - and a quick stop to repair a nail in a tire - we were on our way!

Since this trip is a tradition for daughter #1 and her family, we left the itinerary up to them and their first stop is always the apple orchard.

Most of the apples had already been picked but we had a few "apple whisperers" with us, so we all managed to find a few.

At the edge of the orchard was a huge field with some cows and a horse. Everyone wanted the animals to come closer so we could pet them. The horse co-operated fully but the cows kept moving away from everyone except my husband. As he meandered along the fence, they came along one by one until they were all there with him.

We petted the animals in the petting zoo, had fresh apple donuts and apple cider, played games and enjoyed the beautiful views and sky.

As it was getting dark and we were getting hungry, we headed to our hotel to check in and meet up with my brother and sister-in-law. We were met by this guy.

A quick freshen up and we were all off to downtown Asheville where we had so many choices for dinner but finally decided on Mayfels - and we weren't sorry!

Once we were all full, we headed back to the hotel where the kids loaded up on complimentary popcorn and headed to the room to watch a movie and the adults settled in the lobby in front of a cozy fire and enjoyed a bottle of wine and good conversation and laughs - memories in the making!

So that takes us up to Thursday night. So much more to come. Stay tuned.