Monday, July 6, 2009

Asheville, North Carolina (The Biltmore Estate)

Drew and Annie had Friday off so last minute we decided to go to Asheville, North Carolina for the weekend. Drew had been wanting to visit Asheville since we moved to Kentucky. It's only a 3.5 hour drive and really it was a beautiful city that had some fun things to do. The main thing on our agenda was visit the Biltmore Estate. It's the largest private residence in the United States.

Warning: 3 posts and way too many pictures

After a long day of traveling we let the boys play for a bit.

The 175,000 sq ft. home sits on 8,000 acres of some of North Carolina's most beautiful land.

The gardens were amazing.

Me by my name sake the "Ash Tree"
On the estate they had a little village with old fashioned games and people reenacting life back in the late 1800's.
Mac loved the bowling.

There was a cute little petting farm with little baby chicks.

The funkiest looking chickens and the sweetest miniature goats.
Saturday we came back to tour the inside of the house. It was absolutely beautiful!! A must see in my opinion and worth the money.

Biltmore Village and Fish hatchery

The Biltmore village reminded me of Park City. It was filled with yummy restaurants, art galleries and great shopping. All the buildings looked like old Swiss shops. We enjoyed window shopping and eating Blueberry pie ice cream.
Mac and Gray posing on the bench Mac referred to as "My size"

The fish Hatchery
Saturday we headed towards the hills of North Carolina. The drive alone was amazing. The Smokey Mountains are beautiful! We visited the fish hatchery in the Pisgah Canyon. Mac loved it. We fed the fish and went on a nature walk.
Annie and her beloved brown trout
Mac singing the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" or rather how he says it"The a.b.c.d spider"

July 4th festivities

We left Asheville just in time to make it to our friend's get together.

Even though it rained the kids enjoyed the fireworks.

Well, some of them did:)