Travel is something of an addiction. After traveling to places of geologic, historic and cultural importance you find the desire to see more. Some people collect items, like model cars, stamps and coins. Traveling is a hobby of collection that is insatiable, there is so much to see and such a short life to see it in. So why would I want to return to some places, like the Biltmore, that I have already visited? It boils down to a simple fact: the travelers of the world collect memories.
Often visiting something once simply isn’t enough because the place offers so much to experience. Memories come in many colors, whether it be gained knowledge, culture, experience, friendship and more we seek to add them into our mind banks. The Biltmore Estate is so much more than the largest home in America. It is one of the first successful lanscaping forestry projects, thousands of acres covered in local and exotic plants, a winery, a working farm, hiking trails, animals, shopping, gourmet foods and more. Every season, every year, is a differend experience. This year I went to visit with a good friend of mine who moved to North Carolina a few years ago and lived reasonably close to Asheville, the city created by the Biltmore Estate.
The large home bulit by George Vanderbilt in the late 1800s, which takes up 4 acres of floor space (That’s 174, 240 square feet!!!!) is the center attraction of the 125,000 acre Biltmore Estate. Designed by Richard Morris Hunt (founder of the American Institute of Architects and designer of great works like the pedestal for the statue of liberty) the house took only 6 years to complete. A marvelous feat for a home that was so detailed, and the size of over 80 average sized homes combined!
The grounds were designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, the pioneer of American Landscape architectecture and forestry. There are gardens galore to walk through, a beautiful pond, a large, stately nursery and beautiful forested grounds. You could spend days looking at nothing by the grounds and still not see all of it, not to mention that it changes every season with different plants in bloom and different annuals in the ground/ in the nursery.
The running of Biltmore Estate is a remarkable feat. A private home until 1956, the estate is one of the only self-sufficient National Historic Landmarks, receiving no grants or government funding to continue restoration and availability to the public. The admission fee is a little more expensive than many places, around $50, but there is simply so much to offer that it is well worth it. If you sign up for the newsletter you get discounts in an email. Three days before my visit to the Biltmore Estate I received an email offering 50% off admission price.
My friend and I were able to tour the house, where no photography is allowed, and then wander around the estate (all at our own pace). We both agreed that to truly drink in all the Biltmore Estate has to offer you would have to be here for several days. Every corner you turn there is something more to see. There is a hotel on the grounds you can stay at and I have often thought of spending a nice 4-day weekend here.
I absorbed as much of the Biltmore Estate as I could, and then we headed back home. Tomorrow was to be another day in the life of a traveler, and it was time to head north and visit a state I had never been to before, along with a new cavern in a geoologic province I had never been to before. Time to store this memory, and ready to collect more.
See you then,
Nicole
