It was a breath-taking drive onto the estate.
We've been so many times before, and every time I am just as taken aback by the beauty.
First we went to the house. There are such beautiful views and the home itself is so amazing.
We didn't actually go into the house this time. This is the first time that I've visited the home and not gone in, but there was so much else to do and we've toured it quite a few times, so we decided to spend our time in other areas of the estate
We did tour the gardens. They were amazingly immaculate!
Back to the parking lot. Even that was gorgeous.
The 2 1/2 mile drive to the winery was rejuvenating. Watching as horseback riders trotted and bikers peddled in no hurry at all, taking in the scenery was so relaxing.
Antler Hill Village was the next stop and my new favorite area of the Biltmore Estates.
We had a wonderful time there. The winery, as always, is beautiful on its own. But now there is a whole little village of shops, restaurants, a sports center where you can rent equipment and bicycles to ride around the estate, and even a little creamery for an ice cream treat.
We went over to the barn area where we ate lunch at the charming little Smokehouse. This was an area where they posted there menu of Carolina BBQ on a chalk board and a lady behind a half door took your order. It was so cute! Charming enough that we passed up some rather nice restaurants for it.
The biggest plus was enjoying our BBQ outdoors while the kids played in the courtyard.
The kids are playing farm games while we eat our lunch
Emma stops to smell the flowers outside of the Smokehouse
Games for the children were set up in baskets and at benches all along the perimeter of the farm.
There were simple yet beautiful fall arrangements everywhere you turned.
Farmer Drew about to take the tractor out
Farmer Emma had her turn too
"That Pumpkin is this big," says Drew
All of the scarecrows.... wait, something's not right here...
Biltmore would never have just your ordinary scarecrows. I loved the romantic, victorian styled scarecrow
The family takes a moment to pose on "The Biltmore School Bus" This really was a recreation of the school bus they used.
This was the view as you approached Antler Hill Village
3 comments:
This is on my list of places to visit. It's so beautiful! Just love the pictures of the kids on the tractor...so cute! Enjoy your weekend. ~ Julie
The picture of the fall arrangement in the basket looks like a painting! I would love to visit the Biltmore sometime. What is your favorite time of year to go for a first-time visit?
I really would recommend the fall. It's absolutely beautiful! Any time is wonderful, but fall is my favorite. I always watch the "leaf report" for Asheville to estimate the weekend that we'll go (but so does everyone else, so it can get quite busy).
They have an absolutely gorgeous Christmas display in Dec. but it's just so hard to make time at such a busy time of year. It truly is beautiful all decorated for Christmas though. You won't really get the "authentic feel" because it is more about Christmas than the Biltmore, but there is certainly nothing wrong with that. (: They have Candle light evenings (I've never been for that) that I bet are just perfect.
This is probably no help.... haha. I could ramble on about Biltmore all day! Because now that I think of it, spring is beautiful too in the gardens.
haha! Sorry, I just can't narrow it down. It all boils down to you just can't go wrong visiting the Biltmore any time of the year (:
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