Weather and Wonders

These pictures are from November 1, 2014.  The first two pictures are from Vivian's home and the other three are pictures the Biltmore Estate put on FB and Twitter.  All of them are so beautiful and we were so thankful not having to deal with ice and snow on our drive in but we were thankful for being able to see the accumulated snow along I 40 as we drove from Ooltewah to Asheville on Sunday.

Last Wednesday the tree raising ceremony of bringing the huge Christmas tree into the Biltmore House was exciting and my first time to experience the ceremony.  We made plans to be up early, breakfast early and be early for the first shuttle of the morning from the Inn to the House. Many had the early morning theme, but we actually accomplished our goals.  We had front row views.

Dena and I thought that most of the crowd would rush into the house to watch the tree being put into place in the dining room but it seems that the crowd's goal was our goal, to shop on Pass holder appreciation day with 20% off in the shops and restaurants.  We found seating in the courtyard and reevaluated our original plans.  We opted for a shuttle ride to Antler Hill Village to shop in Traditions and the Mercantile and that was a great plan.  It wasn't crowded and we were able to look and shop in relative ease.  Both of our phones were on their last %, so we headed to the Inn for a quick recharge and then made our way to the house.  The crowds had thinned somewhat and after shopping we ate lunch at The Stable Cafe.  I will just say that banana pudding with caramel was pretty gosh darn good!

Dena and I are alike in many ways but there are just as many opposite likes between us.  Give me a cold room, she'd rather have a warm room and by warm I mean hot but of course that is just my opinion.  Our taste in TV shows are not even very much alike.  She was all a twitter over the CMA TV show on Wednesday and a program on Monday, fifteen CW songs that changed the world or something like that.  I fell asleep at song 13.  Give me a Simpson marathon or Dance Moms or Southern Justice or Smoky Mountain Money....  The ironic happening on Wednesday night, Dena had CNN on and it was about 8:10 pm.  My quandary; tell her she is missing the beginning of the CMA show or let her turn the channel at 9:00 and be majorly upset.  The Eastern Time Zone thing can throw you off...  I decided to do the right thing and mention she might be missing her show...I watched more of it than I thought I would but alas sleep called out to me and I was gone.

If anyone decides to go to the tree raising, the best bet is to stay at the Inn and take a shuttle because we heard the line to get into the estate was backed up all the way to I 40 and the people in the cars missed the whole thing.