December 8-11, 2022
Another year married means another anniversary trip in December! However this time we had a little tagalong with us. In September 2022, we started a new adventure when we welcomed to our world our baby girl Hillarie! So this was our first family vacation!
We opted for a destination that we could drive to since it was Hillarie’s first vacation and we were limited on time this year since I had taken time off for maternity leave.
Both Jonathan and I had been to Asheville and The Biltmore before, but never together and never at Christmas time.
We rented a cabin at the newly opened Wrong Way River Lodge & Cabins. I had booked our cabin in July before they were even complete and open. I’m glad I did since there are only 16 cabins total. We loved staying here and the staff we interacted with were so nice and friendly!
We drove to Asheville on late Wednesday afternoon and made a stop in Crossville, TN for our first Bucees experience. We tried to get all the good stuff we’d heard about including the brisket, club melt, roasted pecans, beaver nuggets, homemade chips, banana pudding, and cookies! Yes I know that a lot of stuff, but we did have some of it to eat on for the next couple of days.
Wednesday night was a little rocky with Hillarie not feeling great and not sleeping well. So on Thursday we opted to hang out in our cabin all day. Also it rained most of the day. Jonathan picked up lunch at the Sunny Point Cafe. He had the shrimp & grits and I had the chicken & waffle sandwich. Both were delicious! I had read great reviews about the breakfast here as well so maybe one day we will try it as well.
For dinner, we all ventured out to Pie.Zaa Pizza. It is a small little pizza place with HUGE slices of pizza. We both got a slice of the snowdazed pizza and a slice of pepperoni to share before we realized how big the slices were. One slice required two paper plates to hold it! We took the pepperoni slice with us because there was no way we could eat it there.
We also made a quick stop at Sunshine Sammies for dessert to take back to the cabin for later. Jonathan got two chocolate chip cookies with vanilla bean ice cream as the filling for his cookie sandwich. I just had a chocolate chip cookie that was yummy!
After a good night’s sleep, we went to the Biltmore on Friday. I had originally made house tour reservations for Thursday, but they were very helpful when I called the day before to move our reservations to Friday.
Depending on the time of year, you may need to pre-purchase tour tickets with the time you would like to tour the house. (click here for tickets).
Our self guided audio house tour was for 11:15. They recommend you check in 15 minutes before your scheduled tour time in front of the house. Also it is recommended that you allow for 45 minutes to drive from the Biltmore entrance to the parking lot and walk or take the shuttle to the house. We opted for the shuttle. It was super easy to bring the stroller on board with us.
On our shuttle ride to the house we saw a mama bear and her two cubs!
The Biltmore at Christmas (and really anytime of the year) is stunning. I previously wrote a blog post from a spring time visit when the gardens were in bloom. There is also a great YouTube video (click here) that shows the process of getting the massive real Christmas tree into the Banquet Hall on the first floor.
On the self-guided audio tour, you pick up an audio device that you will enter the room #s into as you visit three floors and the basement of the former home of George, Edith and Cornelia Vanderbilt. A good book I read about the mansion is “The Last Castle”. It’s definitely worth a read if you’ve been or planning to go to The Biltmore Estate.
The mansion was designed by architect Richard Morris Hunt. The house is 175,000 square feet which is more than 4 acres of floor space making it America’s largest home! The four floors of the mansion contains 250 rooms including 34 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces, 3 kitchens, a bowling alley and indoor swimming pool. The formal opening of the house was on Christmas Eve in 1895 when the Vanderbilts welcomed friends and family to a holiday celebration.
For anyone traveling with small children…The house was easy to navigate with a stroller on the first two floors. There is a small elevator that goes between them. However, for the third floor the staff offered to hold the stroller while we carried Hillarie on that part of the tour. For the basement we had to carry the stroller down the staircase down the staircase.
While on the property we had lunch at the Stable Café. Reservations need to be made way in advance if you are visiting during a busy time of year. I had made our reservations months in advance. However, since we had to reschedule our visit, we lucked out and three was a last minute reservation that came available at 2:00. Jonathan had the roasted chicken and I had the chicken salad croissant. Everything was delicious!
After lunch, we walked to the Conservatory at The Biltmore. The flowers were beautiful. During the spring, the gardens at The Biltmore are also a sight to see! There is .75 acres of formal and informal gardens designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. He also designed Central Park in New York.
We took the shuttle back to our car and drove to Antler Village on the Biltmore Estate. The winery is located here as well many shops. There is also an exhibit of “The Vanderbilts at Home and Abroad” that was interesting to walk through. For dinner we ate at Cedric’s Tavern in the Antler Village. The tavern was named after the Vanderbilt’s St. Bernard, Cedric. Since we had eaten a late lunch we had some appetizers (the pickles, chicken wings and the cheese and artichoke dip). Before we left, we stopped at the creamery for some dessert. 🙂
The next morning we went to The Biscuit Head for breakfast. While the line was long to get in it did more relatively fast. The biscuits here are HUGE! There is also a jelly bar where you can sample various jellies.
After eating, we decided to drive a portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway. We made a quick stop at the visitor’s center to grab a map first. It was so foggy it was impossible to see anything, but we drove south and made stops at Sliding Rock and Looking Glass Falls.
For dinner, we drove to downtown Asheville and ate at the White Duck Taco Shop. Afterwards we checked out Mast General Store before having dessert at The French Broad Chocolate Lounge. We didn’t have time on this trip but you can also book a tour of their chocolate factory (click here for more information about the tour and booking a reservation).
On Sunday, we checked out of our cabin and ate breakfast at The Moose Cafe. After another yummy breakfast we checked out the WNC Farmers Market next door.
Then one last stop at Well Bred Bakery in Biltmore Village for some coffees and snacks for the road!
It was a fun first family trip with our newest little traveler!
So Many Places So Little Time 