Biltmore...A Magical Garden

I've talked about different things at the Biltmore House.  Things from the house itself to the winery.  Today, I'm going to talk about the garden.

This garden is the best garden that I have ever seen in my years past.  This past time that I went to the Biltmore House, I didn't get to see it because it was in the middle of February, but the part that I did get to see was greenhouse!

There are a lot of pictures that I took, not only because the flowers that they had, but also because my sister had the camera at some points.

These flowers have a lot of different things about them.  They all have their own uniqueness in them, just like people.  I don't know about you, but for me, flowers always have been known to catch my eye.  These are just a couple of pictures of some of my favorite flowers:

Inside of the greenhouse, on one side, there is what they call the HOT HOUSE. 

On the other side of the greenhouse, they have what they call the COOL HOUSE.

There are many sidewalks that you can take to get down to the greenhouse.  My favorite is the one that has the awning over it.  There is one spot in particular that you can see through the trees and you can see the Biltmore House through it.  This is what it looks like.  Can you see the Biltmore House in the background?

The following are some of my favorite flowers that I found.

This is my favorite.  I think I will call it a pumpkin flower. :)

I thought that this was the prettiest, because they were all lined in a row!!! :)

If you like some of these, don't worry in the basement of the greenhouse is the greenhouse store!  They have people in there that are willing to help you with any of your questions also!!

Hey guys, I won't be back on until March 13, 2013! I hope that you have enjoyed this blog and until next time as always safe traveling!

- Bekah Grace

Biltmore...The Most-Visited Winery in America!!

On Sunday, February 17th, I went to the Biltmore House.  I told you in my last post that I was going to write about the Biltmore the next couple of times I post a blog.  This time I am posting about the Biltmore Winery.

They have over 40 wines that they make there, on the Biltmore Estate.  This winery is the most visited winery in America.

 I am more of a wine drinker than any other kind of alcoholic drink.  I don't drink a lot just an occasional glass after a stressful week (which isn't that many).

I took a tour of the winery, where the tour guide told us that they get 80% of their grapes from California.  Now, don't think that all of their grapes are imported and they just make it there.  The history of it is this.

Seven years before the winery opened, William Cecil (George Vanderbilt's grandson) planted a lot of the vineyards himself.  After the seven years, everything had gone great! There weren't too bad of storms were they were out of business and the grapes were looking wonderful.  Until...there was a bad winter the year before it was suppose to opened.  In May of 1985, it opened with 80% of the grapes imported because the storm of 1984 had knocked down and killed a lot of the grapes.

The tour was very useful (I thought), because it showed me that there are many different things that are being put into the work of the wine making business.  The tour guide also told us that there is a clock tower that is what everyone followed.  Now, I know, if you are at the house and the clock tower is at the farm, how are you suppose to see it.  The Vanderbilts got a clock smith to synchronize all of the clocks together.  The clock only have 3 sides that show that clock.  Why? Because the 4th side of the clock tower faces the pasture, and as our tour guide told us, "They didn't think the cows would care what time it was!"  This is that clock:

Since I am 21, I got to wine taste.  They were all so good! My favorite that I had was the 2011 Chardonnay winner.  It didn't have a bite like all of the others did.  When I say a bite, if you have ever had any type of wine, you know what I'm talking about.  After swallowing my win, I always have the back part of my cheeks that turn up and kind of make me make a face (like a sour face).  I love wine, even though it does make me look weird!

I would suggest that you try the winery.  The people that work there are always kind, and always have great smiles on their faces.  It's an experience like non that I have every had.

Until the next post, have a fun and safe travel!

-Bekah Grace

Great Deals At the Biltmore House!

This past Sunday, my boyfriend's parents and him, and my mother, sister, and I all went to the Biltmore House in Asheville, NC.  For the people reading my blogs that don't truly know who I am, I have a passion for history.

The Biltmore House has just that!  There are different interesting history facts that you can find out.  My boyfriend surprised me this past November, he upgraded our tickets for $30 each and now we get to go to the Biltmore House for free!  

Not only that, we get a certian percentage off at all of the shops, including the winery!  This including 10% off the stable cafe, and other restaurants at the Biltmore!

There is a place where you can stay, called the Biltmore Inn.  Now, these rooms are not too expensive because you get to sleep on the Biltmore land that George Vanderbilts family gets to see and wake up to  the exciting views that he and his family and friends got to wake up to everyday!!

In my eyes, the Biltmore House shows you how the elite of the early 1900's lived.  There was so many things that George Vanderbilt (the man behind the Biltmore House, he built it), wouldn't do for both that house, his wife (Edith), and his daughter (Cornelia).

There are 43 bathrooms in that house, including an indoor heated pool, workout gym, bowling alley, a lot of bedrooms.  A fun fact that the bus driver told me and everyone I went with on our way back, to look behind the house, the tallest mountain was Mount Pisgah.  "Every inch of land from there to the Biltmore House, George Vanderbuilt owned in the early 1900's." That's a lot of land.

Over the next couple of blogs that I do, I will tell you the interesting things that I have either discovered or that I find new every time that I go to Biltmore.  The next three or four blogs I'm going to be posting pictures and sharing my fun experiences.

From now til then, have fun and safe travels!

- Bekah Grace

Fun in the Snow!!! (Hawksnest 2013)

www.merchantcircle.com

This past Friday, I went with my boyfriend's church to Hawksnest!  For the ones that are not from North Carolina or ones that don't go towards Boone, NC; Hawksnest is a snow tubing, skiing, and zip-lining resort that has different experiences that I experienced like never before.

Last Friday, I went snow-tubing only.  I had the most fun that I have ever had.  This was the first time that I had ever went snow-tubing.

It started snowing on our way up the mountain, then it would stop and start again.  Because the snow was fresh snow, when we got there, the lady that was in charge told us that we needed to go down one by one.  When we actually got outside, the man told us that because the snow was so fresh, that if we wanted to go down as a train, we could.

www.hcpress.com

With this being my first experience, I had no clue as to what a "train" meant.  I asked my boyfriend what a train was.  For the people who don't know what a "train" is, it's where a group of people go down the hill together.  It's an easier way for people to pack the fresh snow down for an easier sliding.

For an hour and a half, we got to slide a lot.

When you get to the bottom of the hill, make sure that you put your feet in the snow in order for you to stop. Next, you take your tube around the bottom of the hill and then you get on the snow belt and it took you back up to the top of the hill.

If you are looking for a new, fun, exciting experience, try Hawksnest!!! The people are friendly, they show you what to do, and most of all, want you to experience the fun and joy that they get to have everyday!

Go out and explore the fun! See you next time!

- Bekah Grace

Best Valentine's Day Experience Ever..Maybe Not!!

How many times have you ever worried about what to get that someone special something so precious that he/she would never forget it??!

I had this problem this year. I knew that Valentine's Day was coming up soon, but truth be told, I had no clue what to get my boyfriend. So, I decided to go to Wal-Mart.

First, I had to first decide what to get him. I thought for a very long time on this. Finally, after about a week or two I finally had it. Now, with it being this close to Valentine's Day, I'm not going to tell you what ingot him because he reads this blog also. BUT, I will tell you my experience at Wal-Mart of getting it.

I went to Wal-Mart about a week ago with my friends and they helped me. I went to the craft section, and got what I needed. It took over an hour, because either they re picking things out and I was and it either didn't look like him, or it was too girls. (This always happens to me!!)

Today, I went back to Wal-Mart, because I had started packing up a lot of stuff and I had realized that I was missing the biggest part of it all! THE BAG!!

Now, do you know how many bags Wal-Mart has that has to deal with Valentine's Day stuff.  Well, if you don't know, let me tell you they don't have a huge selection. Finally, after trying to deal with the crowd and trying to find a bag that wasn't messed up, it was about an hour that it took for me to get everything and pay for everything and go back to finish wrapping everything up.

I don't know how many people I saw in the trying to buy a gift for there significant other. I promised myself today that I will not go back to a popular shipping center like that on a popular holiday ever again!!

I know that this blog wasn't the best read for you guys, but it is a difficult topic because he is a reader. So, just for you faithful readers, I am going to post a blog of when he opens it and our Valentine's Day Extravaganza within the next two weeks!

- Bekah Grace

Snap Snap - Picture Time!

A club at my school recently threw a winter formal party, and normally I just take pictures at the dance and dance.  This time, my boyfriend's family and I decided to go out and take pictures.  

My very first thought was, "Where are we going to take these pictures at?"  

Then it hit me, we could take pictures at a very popular church and his sister wanted to take some photos at the train depot station.  

There are many different places that you can take pictures at! It was so much fun, because if you have different people holding cameras, like we did (Thank you Johnathan and Lois!!) you are always going to be caught off guard!  

The fun thing about getting caught off guard is that those almost always turn out to be the best pictures because it doesn't look like you are posing!

The following are some pictures that we took at the church.

The following are some pictures that we took at the train station.

If you don't have a party or anything to attend, just dress up one day and go out with friends and take pictures.  Just because you have a party to attend, doesn't mean that you HAVE to go take pictures.  That day was the first time I had went out to take pictures and before the party, I think that it was so much fun!

Stay tuned for the next blog coming up Wednesday!  

Until then, stay safe and have fun!

- Bekah Grace

Late Night Run - Hunger Nights

Hey Everyone! Sorry that I couldn't get the post up on last Sunday, I was too busy watching the Superbowl!

Today, I'm going to blog on fun nights in college (hunger nights!)

There are many times in college life that you can be up late and you get hungry.  I don't know how many times that has happened to me.  Actually, I have done this currently.

This past weekend, I was doing homework and I had a steady pace going.  Next thing I know, it hit me!  I wanted a Cook-Out milkshake.  Now, if you don't know what Cook-Out is, it's a hamburger joint, that has other things, but I go there most of the time only for the milkshakes.  I called up a group of friends and asked them if they wanted to go on a Cook-Out run.

They said, "Yes." This is when the fun began.

I went and picked up the girls, the first thing that we did was go to Cook-Out and got milkshakes.  Then we decided to just go on a run.  For us, this means we run to different resturants and get things to eat.  Next, we went to Taco Bell.  Then we went to Sonic. 

Can I just say that we are a group of females that go to a college, and when we get hungry we go out and eat.  But because we have difference taste buds we go to different places! 

Having a hungry nights isn't fun until you go out with your girls (or guys) and you blast the music in your car and everyone starts singing (on key and not on key)!!

I hope that you will now experience a hungry night like this and enjoy having Simply Fun Outings!

- Bekah Grace