And from Shenandoah we continued south to Asheville, NC, a town that is proud of its fine collection of Art Deco and Arts and Craft architecture and has something of an identity crisis--locals root for the Tennessee Vol's and watch South Carolina television. But for most of us, Asheville is a simply a gateway to Great Smoky Mountains National Park and home to the Biltmore Estate.
BILTMORE ESTATE
 |
| Official Photograph of Biltmore house. |
 |
| Thanks to shuttle buses, this is the view tourists always get. |
The house at the heart of the estate would never be confused with Taliesin. Completed in 1895, Biltmore was designed by Richard Morris Hunt for George Washington Vanderbilt who was the youngest grandchild of the Commodore and a great uncle of Gloria. It remains the largest private residence in the United States, exceeded in the world only by Antilia in South Mumbai, India, which is considered a bit of a joke.
 |
| Tourist Entrance |
Tours have been given since 1930 and it has grown into a major operation today. Besides the regular tour of 40 of the 200+ rooms there are others available, including guided tours, the grounds, the rooftop, and even one from the servants' perspective.
Biltmore is a re-creation of a French chateau, or an English country house, modernized with indoor plumbing, electric lighting, central heat, refrigerators, and elevators. So, if you've seen any of Downton Abbey, you already have a very good idea of what it looks like and how it works.
Biltmore is a re-creation of a French chateau, or an English country house, modernized with indoor plumbing, electric lighting, central heat, refrigerators, and elevators. So, if you've seen any of Downton Abbey, you already have a very good idea of what it looks like and how it works.
 |
| There is nothing quite like a fine Library |
 |
| Unless it's a Billiard Room (Billiards on left, Pool on right) |
There is also the winery, the village, and the farms, but what made this a must-see for me is Frederick Law Olmsted's incredible landscape design. Olmsted is famous for his parks: Central, Golden Gate, and Niagara Falls, as well as his master plan for Yosemite, and he considered the Biltmore park to be his last great project.
There is nothing that is natural on this site. Contemporary photographs show the bare, worn ground on which a million trees and several million plants would be placed. Hunt designed the house, but the site was selected and designed by Olmsted as were the farm and the forest (which he kept intact and simply improved).
There is nothing that is natural on this site. Contemporary photographs show the bare, worn ground on which a million trees and several million plants would be placed. Hunt designed the house, but the site was selected and designed by Olmsted as were the farm and the forest (which he kept intact and simply improved).
It's actually walking distance from the Entry Gate to the house but Olmsted designed a winding entrance road that is three miles long. This is the final section exiting the estate. Everything here is from original plantings.
Formal gardens and a conservatory (designed by Hunt) with a four acre walled garden were built next to the house. (Out of view of the house and its visitors is the working nursery that is needed to maintain it all.)
 |
| View of Conservatory in Walled Garden |
Olmsted's original plan called for the gardens to include fruits and vegetable but Vanderbilt wanted only ornamentals--what a loss. Today bananas grow in the conservatory giving a slight glimpse of what might have been.
Likewise, vineyards were planted in the 1970s, and a winery was started in the 1980s, and today grapes are grown and fermented for the estate bottled wines sold there. Vanderbilt, himself, collected and drank fine wines, but it is clear he was not really interested in being any sort of gentleman farmer.
Likewise, vineyards were planted in the 1970s, and a winery was started in the 1980s, and today grapes are grown and fermented for the estate bottled wines sold there. Vanderbilt, himself, collected and drank fine wines, but it is clear he was not really interested in being any sort of gentleman farmer.
-
Giving credit where it's due, I am quite happy to report that the meal we had at the Village was the best food I had on this entire trip.
- - -
When we left Asheville heading west, the Great Smokys were really smoking, but the fog lifted as we entered Tennessee driving toward a Tennessee Vol's football Saturday. We were slightly ahead of the fans coming into Knoxville from the east but we did see bumper-to-bumper fans coming in from the west. We continued through Nashville, St. Louis, and Kansas City. After Chicago, we were glad we planned St. Louis for a Sunday morning and we made good time.
Near Junction City, KS we saw signs for the National Bio- and Agro-Defense facility now under construction. This will replace New York's Plum Island Animal Disease Center and will store dangerous biologicals and conduct studies on some of the most vicious diseases known. I'm sure a lot of factors entered into the decision to build in that location, but it's going to be right where it belongs, out in the middle of nowhere.
On this leg we also passed Independence, MO and drove through Abilene, KS, each home to a Presidential Library. People travel for all sorts of reasons--one couple is supposedly attempting to eat at every Cracker Barrel in America--but visiting Presidential Libraries, birth places, and homes is perhaps slightly more interesting. It's certainly something I would seriously consider.
From Abilene we continued west on I-70 to US40 and then south to Eads, CO. . . . This route is mile after mile of lonely cornfields but it is also a trail of ghosts.
Hays, KS on I-70 is the former Fort Hays featured in Dances with Wolves and US40 in Kansas is the Western Vistas Historic Byway passing through territory where great bison herds were once hunted by the Plains Indians and other hunters like Buffalo Bill. And then we turned south and passed the site of the Sand Creek massacre.
The great herds are now gone, the tribes have long been on reservations, and even Fort Hays is simply a ghost: the Fort Hays of the movie was re-created in Rapid City and that is where the tourists go.
Near Junction City, KS we saw signs for the National Bio- and Agro-Defense facility now under construction. This will replace New York's Plum Island Animal Disease Center and will store dangerous biologicals and conduct studies on some of the most vicious diseases known. I'm sure a lot of factors entered into the decision to build in that location, but it's going to be right where it belongs, out in the middle of nowhere.
On this leg we also passed Independence, MO and drove through Abilene, KS, each home to a Presidential Library. People travel for all sorts of reasons--one couple is supposedly attempting to eat at every Cracker Barrel in America--but visiting Presidential Libraries, birth places, and homes is perhaps slightly more interesting. It's certainly something I would seriously consider.
From Abilene we continued west on I-70 to US40 and then south to Eads, CO. . . . This route is mile after mile of lonely cornfields but it is also a trail of ghosts.
Hays, KS on I-70 is the former Fort Hays featured in Dances with Wolves and US40 in Kansas is the Western Vistas Historic Byway passing through territory where great bison herds were once hunted by the Plains Indians and other hunters like Buffalo Bill. And then we turned south and passed the site of the Sand Creek massacre.
The great herds are now gone, the tribes have long been on reservations, and even Fort Hays is simply a ghost: the Fort Hays of the movie was re-created in Rapid City and that is where the tourists go.
- - -
We visited two National Parks in the Rockies (and have now visited all four) and continued west on US50. In late September, this is an incredibly beautiful drive with great fall color. And this is despite the fact that the route goes straight through Cañon City, CO which calls itself the "Corrections Capital of the World." There are 13 or so prisons there including the Federal ADX Florence where people the likes of Ted Kaczinski and Robert Hanssen currently reside. Two of the other facilities, with the barbed wire and observation towers, were right next to the road. Not your typical scenic sight.
We climbed to Monarch Pass which sits on the Continental Divide and we drove through a cloud at 11,312 feet and saw the temperature drop from 72 degrees to 43 degrees. But we quickly descended to blue skies and vibrant fall color. We passed Mesa Reservoir, the largest body of water in Colorado, and finished crossing the Rockies as we entered Grand Junction, CO.
We climbed to Monarch Pass which sits on the Continental Divide and we drove through a cloud at 11,312 feet and saw the temperature drop from 72 degrees to 43 degrees. But we quickly descended to blue skies and vibrant fall color. We passed Mesa Reservoir, the largest body of water in Colorado, and finished crossing the Rockies as we entered Grand Junction, CO.
From Grand Junction we continued west on I-70 with a short stop in Moab, UT where we had some unfinished business. I-70 from Grand Junction, CO into Utah is the Dinosaur Diamond Prehistoric Highway, a National Scenic Byway, and the route from the Moab entrance to I-15 where the route ends should be a national park.
 |
| San Rafael Reef in rainy morning light |
The road cuts through the heart of San Rafael Reef
The formations extend north and south but the road keeps going west
We stayed on I-15 into Nevada and then headed northwest for home. Our route took us over the Extraterrestrial Highway once again and we did have just a touch of concern when we saw three dead steer on the side of the road. There was a mundane explanation though. We began to see signs warning of Open Range and they proved necessary as several steer crossed the road in front of us single file. We slowed down; trucks don't.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
