Christmas at Biltmore

If you have seen Downton Abbey and live in the Southeast USA, then I am sure you have heard of Biltmore. Heck, you probably knew of Biltmore before, however I did not. I found out about the Biltmore Estate when I heard they were holding a Downton Abbey exhibit there. Needless to say, I was not disappointed. My love for everything antique and historical was made greater by visiting this elaborate "castle" as my kids called it. It was even more beautiful during the Christmas time. It was freezing, and packed of course, but it did not deter us. I thought I would share a few of the hundreds of photos I took.

Biltmore House, constructed in 1889 by George Vanderbilt, took six years to complete. This "castle" has over 250 rooms and is certainly a maze to say the least. The main floor has a breakfast room, dining room, library, music room, sitting room, etc. The basement has the servant rooms, kitchen (which even to day would be a dream to cook in for me), bowling alley, swimming pool, gym, etc. There is even an entire floor dedicated to guests where they have their own bathrooms of course, as well as sitting area which I can say without a doubt has more square footage than my entire house.

Later, they built a dairy and winery. There are blacksmith shops as well.

During WWII, this estate housed many works of art from the National Gallery of art in Washington D.C.

Later in the 21st century, the hotel was put in as well as the Antler Hill Village where visitors can shop, and the Village Inn.

Originally, this entire Estate covered 125,000 acres.

Google Image of Biltmore 

Biltmore at Night. There were about 11+ Christmas trees lit up which gave us the light for this photo

The dining room at Biltmore and three of the 65 fireplaces.

My favorite room! Lady Edith Vanderbilt's bedroom. 

Napoleon Bonaparte chess set. 

Another favorite room, the Library. 

If you haven't had the pleasure of visiting regardless of it being during the holidays or not, I would suggest going. If you're a history nerd like me, you won't be disappointed. You may even leave with a better appreciation of it. 

College Baseball Hall of Fame

One thing you may not know about my sweet husband is that he has played baseball his entire life. From the time he could hold a ball and bat, still in diapers, he was playing. He played baseball at a junior college before transferring to a four year to finish up his bachelors and play ball there. He played ball at Belmont Abbey in North Carolina. Back in September I want to say, he received a letter in the mail saying he was going to be recognized along with the other ball players on his team that year and they were going to be inducted into the baseball hall of fame. The expression on his face was priceless. If I were to describe it, it is comparable to someone getting a scam letter or phone call saying they won a lot of money. After a few facebook messages to long-lost fellow teammates, it was legit and he was ecstatic. It was a well deserved moment of excitement. October came and we were on the road to North Carolina. He showed us the building he stayed in, the hill he almost fell down when he was on crutches after knee surgery, and the cages he had batting practice in. He even got a few swings in in the same exact spot he did in college. That was a big moment for him.  I was so proud of him for this moment. I took a candid photo of him during the ceremony and he wasn't hiding the pure joy he had of being there. Like a kid in a candy store for the first time. He would kill me if I posted it. HAHAHA! Food, fun, and fellowship, followed the rest of the night and I am elated he was able to catch up with friends he hadn't seen or talked to in years.

The team. Way to go boys! 

Same handsome man, same old cages. 

My only hope is that it doesn't take something like this for him to see his buddies again and we keep in mind how important friendship is, no matter how far apart we are in distance.