Richmond odometer mileage: 93,248
Odometer mileage at destination: 93,559
Miles driven to destination: 311
Total miles driven to date: 570
States driven through: Virgina and North Carolina
As I prepare to head off today to Charleston, South Carolina, I would like to reflect on my time in the Greater Charlotte area and my visit to Asheville. Mostly, this visit was about spending time with family. Unfortunately, the weather in NYC and business appointments kept my cousin, Martin, from home, but his lovely wife, Trish, and my amazing nearly 90-year old aunt, Jo, more than made me feel welcome and at home. I won't bore you with the details of time spent with family - but we did look at a lot of old photos. Really fun!
What do you know about Charlotte, NC? Not much? Yeah, me either. I just assumed that it was all about the banking industry with the headquarters of Bank of America and Wells Fargo located here, but Charlotte has a surprisingly vibrant culture. The city center (called "uptown") is heavily concentrated with museums, theatres, sporting venues, shops, hotels, restaurants, and bars. NODA, another neighborhood in Charlotte, is a popular arts district, with galleries and other entertainment venues. I didn't get much time to explore either one of these neighborhoods. My cousin's wife gave me the 10 cent quick overview car tour, but I would like to come back and check it out in more depth.
Yesterday, Trish, Aunt Jo and I traveled to Asheville, NC where the Biltmore estate is located. The Biltmore House (photo above) is the largest privately-owned house in the United States. The house was completed in 1895 and is a spectacular house. It rivals all the great palaces of Europe with is splendor. Still owned by the Vanderbilt family, the house has 250 rooms, including 33 bedrooms for family and guests, 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces, three kitchens and 19th-century novelties such as electric elevators, forced-air heating, centrally controlled clocks, fire alarms and an intercom system. It has a indoor swimming pool, gymnasium, and male and female changing rooms. Unfortunately, photos are not allowed in the residence, but trust me when I say it is stupendous. I would like to go back for another visit to the Biltmore House, because from Feb 5 to May 25, they are having a special event: Dressing Downton. Visitors will be able to see more than 40 costumes from Downton Abbey. There were already a few scattered around the House as a teaser.
All in all it was a fun 3.5 days, but it's time to move on. Check out the limited photos taken from Stop 2 at my GART photo site.
As I prepare to head off today to Charleston, South Carolina, I would like to reflect on my time in the Greater Charlotte area and my visit to Asheville. Mostly, this visit was about spending time with family. Unfortunately, the weather in NYC and business appointments kept my cousin, Martin, from home, but his lovely wife, Trish, and my amazing nearly 90-year old aunt, Jo, more than made me feel welcome and at home. I won't bore you with the details of time spent with family - but we did look at a lot of old photos. Really fun!
What do you know about Charlotte, NC? Not much? Yeah, me either. I just assumed that it was all about the banking industry with the headquarters of Bank of America and Wells Fargo located here, but Charlotte has a surprisingly vibrant culture. The city center (called "uptown") is heavily concentrated with museums, theatres, sporting venues, shops, hotels, restaurants, and bars. NODA, another neighborhood in Charlotte, is a popular arts district, with galleries and other entertainment venues. I didn't get much time to explore either one of these neighborhoods. My cousin's wife gave me the 10 cent quick overview car tour, but I would like to come back and check it out in more depth.
Yesterday, Trish, Aunt Jo and I traveled to Asheville, NC where the Biltmore estate is located. The Biltmore House (photo above) is the largest privately-owned house in the United States. The house was completed in 1895 and is a spectacular house. It rivals all the great palaces of Europe with is splendor. Still owned by the Vanderbilt family, the house has 250 rooms, including 33 bedrooms for family and guests, 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces, three kitchens and 19th-century novelties such as electric elevators, forced-air heating, centrally controlled clocks, fire alarms and an intercom system. It has a indoor swimming pool, gymnasium, and male and female changing rooms. Unfortunately, photos are not allowed in the residence, but trust me when I say it is stupendous. I would like to go back for another visit to the Biltmore House, because from Feb 5 to May 25, they are having a special event: Dressing Downton. Visitors will be able to see more than 40 costumes from Downton Abbey. There were already a few scattered around the House as a teaser.
All in all it was a fun 3.5 days, but it's time to move on. Check out the limited photos taken from Stop 2 at my GART photo site.
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