We visited the Biltmore Estate over Thanksgiving 2000, while Mike was on augment from the boat during Westpac, as part of our trip to North Carolina to visit Chris' sister and her roommate Doug. The four of us made our way up to Asheville to see the Biltmore Estate, a cherished childhood memory for the girls as they remember an old movie starring Don Knotts and Tim Conway called "The Private Eyes," which was shot almost exclusively on the grounds of the estate. In preparation for the trip, we even rented the movie, so Doug and I would have some sort of clue why this was important.
Silly movie, great house.
The estate itself is quite impressive -- designed to be totally self-sufficient, the grounds include an impressive vegetable garden with hothouse, stables, and a dairy farm which has in recent years been converted to a winery (cheaper to buy milk from nearby farms than to keep enough dairy cows to supply their needs).
Speaking of their needs, there are several different eating establishments on the premises; we ate at two of them. For lunch, we stopped at the bistro  , located at the winery, and enjoyed a wonderful lunch accompanied by wines produced just next door. For dinner, we stayed at the Stable House restaurant, which is indeed the old stable complex adjoining the main house that has been converted to a cozy dining establishment (a number of the booth style tables are situated in the actual stalls that once housed horses) (Oh, calm down -- they cleaned everything before moving in tables and chairs; we're not that medieval)
A tour of the grounds is an all-day affair; the main house takes several hours to explore, with the help of a knowledgeable tour guide -- without one takes a good deal more. The manor house was also decked out for the Christmas season, and was about as festive as you'd imagine. The evening tour of the decorated rooms was accompanied by music in various portions of the house, provided by local musicians.
There is a treasure trove of artwork and fine furnishings to be seen at the Biltmore Estate, and well worth a visit. If you're ever in the area, be sure to make time to see this historic and picturesque piece of American history.
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