Biltmore Vacation

We took our summer vacation this year to one of the only "touristy" places in our area.  We visited the Biltmore estate.  It is a huge home and gardens built with the money of the well known Vanderbilts.  I spent much of my childhood in Hyde Park, NY which is home to another Vanderbilt family, but this far exceeded that property.  We had a wonderful time being away and spending time wandering the trails of the property and thinking about the vanity of earthly riches - we just can't take it with us!

Hubby also enjoyed having the time to fiddle with the camera.  Though the gardens were a little sparce because of the heat of the summer, there were some remaining blossoms fighting it out in the high 90 temperatures.  Some of them were looking a little better than I was! I am still not completely acclimated.

Then hubby humored me.  We had been seeing a lot of engagement pictures posted on the internet.  We never had any taken (maybe because our engagement was so short).  We may be 8 years late (May 14, 2002), ... but here are some fun pictures that we took while on the grounds at the Biltmore. 

Well, I guess this last one couldn't be an engagement picture, but it was still fun!

The last day of vacation, we drove up the Blue Ridge Parkway (about to the top of NC) and then stopped at Mount Airy (aka Mayberry) - the childhood home of Andy Griffeth.  They have refurbished some of the scenery from the show, barber shop, sheriffs office, Garage for a tourism boost. 

Now we are back in the saddle.  Hubby is beginning work to get ahead before the semester starts and I am trying to keep the garden producing in the heat and dryness and hope to be canning again soon.