Retuning Home from the Biltmore Bubble

What a week!  My little trip to Asheville, NC was everything I needed and more.  God is so faithful and He did some good work in me while at the same time I got to enjoy spending time at one of my most favorite places on earth and I got to spend time with my friend Dena.  Since Roy, Buddy and I moved out to Rancho de Five, it has made spontaneous dinners and conversations that Dena and I have been so used to become almost extinct.  Believe me we had a lot of time in the car to catch up.  We had a blast and now we have a goal.  We are going to try and visit every Cracker Barrel in the USA.  OK, I joke but it is funny to stop at a CB and remember our previous stops at that very one.  Just in Alabama, there were Cracker Barrels just about every 17 miles along the Interstate.

Once we got to the Biltmore Estate, we settled in at the Inn.  We learned so many new facts about the Vanderbilts and even went on the gossip tour that is really known as the Friend and Family Tour.  Oh that Edith Wharton...what we didn't know. 

Of course the tendency when staying with the Vanderbilts... haha...is to think one should spend money like a Vanderbilt even if one's fiduciary standing is significantly on a much lower scale.  Actually, I restrained myself this trip but brought home some good things.  Dena and I even left the Estate two times during the week.  Believe me once you get there, you really don't want to go much of anywhere else.  But we did do some shopping in Biltmore Village and got our hankering for Mexican taken care of at the Mexican restaurant there in the village.  On Thursday we did a short trek on the Blue Ridge Highway and went to Mt Pisgah and the Mt. Pisgah Inn.  We thought we might like to eat dinner there but we were a bit concerned about it getting dark and making the return trip a little difficult.  We got some great pictures and they had a little but well stocked gift store. 

As much as I love the Biltmore Estate, I loved the rest and the pace of the week.  We had a few planned things but we were at leisure in between to read, think, write and well of course eat and shop. 

I'll be back later when I am not so tired and when I have hopefully partially unpacked. 

Roy and even Buddy welcomed me home with open arms.  I missed them both!  Roy did so well taking care of my flowers.  They look wonderful!  He has listened to all my stories, maybe even twice.  He and I went out to dinner and then drove around trying to find where a new friend and family are building their house.  We never found their street but we think we found the general vicinity.  They are not that far away from us at all.

Typing this has been hindered just a bit by Buddy.  She's asleep on my lap.

I've returned home with a new perspective and a rest-filled heart.