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The House That Vanderbilt Built
The Bilt-Hilt trip sadly is over. Tiffany and I returned late Friday night and after a weekend of true relaxation, or recovery depending on how you look at it, it’s back to work.
Between the Biltmore and Hilton Head island, we took more than 175 photos so it will take a day or two to trudge through the shots for Web site approval, cropping, uploading and the like.
So far I have been able to post photos from the Biltmore chapter of our trip which you can check out now in the photo section here.
The Biltmore experience was amazing. We left bright and early Saturday, May 5 for the 7 hour drive to Ashville, N.C., stopping only at The Party Source across the river from Cincy along the way to pick up some booze at cheap bluegrass prices.
The city of Asheville is a pretty cool little spot. It’s home to the University of North Carolina Asheville, a liberal arts university and the place is crawling with hippies. I felt like I was gonna get stung up with hemp for wearing a black polo shirt. It wasn’t like seeing a lot on the campus of Ohio State University back in the day where because of the sheer size of the school, the small percentage of hippies is actually a decent size total number. They were ALL hippies.
But because they were hippies, it was all very non threatening.
All kidding aside, the town had a lot of personality. Certain buildings had been maintained to stay just like they were in days of old. Instead of tearing down large signs off buildings from decades past, they left a number of signs up and installed new stores under it. For example, under an old Woolworth store they have installed a soda fountain shop and a gallery or two.
Before too long we found where the other polos hung out — a nice little Italian restaurant advertising with a chalkboard. We had some food and wine then headed back to the Best Western to call it a night.
We went to the Biltmore the next morning and it was nicer than I remembered. I had visited once when I was a sophomore in high school with the family and loved it, but I didn’t remember it being quite as amazing. Maybe time had worn some of the polish off the Biltmore of my memory, or perhaps it was because some things are just more enjoyable with your girlfriend than your grandma.
The house is the largest personal residence in the nation and despite being built in the early 1900s, had in indoor bowling alley, swimming pool and full electricity. The entire forth floor of the house was basically dedicated to the housing of all the required servants. It’s fun to imagine owning that much wealth.
Unfortunately they allowed no photography inside the house, probably because they want you to go pay the $45 entrance fee to see it for yourself. But it was well worth it. If only for the penis images alone. I guess Mr. Vanderbilt was big on detail.
Before leaving, we stopped in the the Biltmore’s winery for a tasting straight from the source followed by lunch. Then began the remaining 5 hour drive to Hilton Head, S.C. That’s right, I said we had some wine and then drove for 5 hours.
Don’t do that.
Stay tuned for photos and highlights from the Hilton Head chapter of the trip.
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