SUNDAY, JANUARY 31 .. THE SECOND DAY HAS BEGUN!!! Rise and shine time is at the Red Roof Inn in Knoxville, showers taken, bags packed back up, Day One is posted .. time to head for the Hospitality Room and Breakfast!!
9:15 AM our time!! We’ve had our hot Breakfast in the Hospitality Room .. our bags are loaded in the car .. getting Coffee for the road .. LET’S GO!!!
This morning we are headed for Asheville, North Carolina to see the Biltmore Estate .. of course we are also heading towards Myrtle Beach!!! The day started out looking a bit dreary but it wasn't long before the sun was shining and it became a beautiful day!!!
I must warn you .. you are going to see a LOT of scenery as we are driving through the Smokey Mountain area .. not much along the side of the roads except trees but beautiful clouds and mountains in front of us ..
10:00 AM .. North
Carolina t .. and I actually managed to snag a
picture of the sign!!!
10:08 .. Traffic jam .. looks like road construction .. going 4 MPH .. Kenny is not a happy camper!!
Ahhhhhhh .. they're running us off that part of the highway and traffic jam is over already .. the jam only lasted about 10 minutes .. Yayyyyyy!!!
Headed for the tunnel ..
The view at the end of the tunnel ..
As you're driving through these mountains / bluffs in some areas you see water seeping through .. in places the water is frozen although the temperature right now is 62 degrees!!!
.10:38 .. North
Carolina Welcome Center .. this is a really nice
one. You can walk around and look at the
beautiful scenery and they have a nice big picnic area with grills to cook
on!!! Hard to believe the snow in the
area and the temp is 62 degrees!! The
lady inside said they had gotten 18 inches of snow a few days ago and it has
just not melted completely off yet!!! I
would love to have been able to scoop some of the snow up and taken it to Florida for Sydni and
Summer .. if only there was a way to keep it from melting!!!
The Biltmore Estate at last!!! Just driving through the area to the mansion
was awesome!! Hard to believe there was
snow on the ground in many places but many of the trees were bright green ..
and patches of Bamboo were looking healthy and bright green!!! It’s worth going just to drive through the
estate!!!
This beautiful mansion has 200 plus rooms!!! We weren’t allowed to see them all but we saw a lot of them and each one is just as awesome as the one you saw before it!!! There were audio devices to use to tell you about each room and to give you short stories about happenings in the mansion. Of course pictures were not allowed .. but I tell you what .. I was happy with that for a change .. there were so many things and so much beauty that I would have gone bonkers trying to get pictures of practically every inch of that place!!!
The pictures Ken took of me ..
After standing and standing and standing and smiling and smiling and smiling and he hasn't snapped the picture yet I go to see what's the problem .. and he snaps finally snaps the pic .. LOL!!!
Now you see why Liz takes all the pics .. LOL LOL LOL!!!
I think his finger must have been partly over the camera eye .. LOL!! Love you Ken!!!
After the awesome tour of the mansion we set out to find the Antler Hill Village & Winery ..
a 5 mile drive .. and you're still on the Biltmore Estate!!! 
We thought perhaps we had found the Antler Hill Village .. but no .. this was a hotel .. notice the back of the Biltmore Mansion on the hill above ...
We were amazed at the green all around us although there was snow on the ground too .. even ice in some spots!!!
Giving up on finding the Antler Hill Village and heading out ..
Would like to have gotten a better picture of this waterfall but didn't realize it was there until we got clear around a curve that came just before it and there were cars behind us!!!
And out we go ..
If you look on past hat entrance / exit building you can see the roof of what I am calling the "Biltmore McDonalds" that you saw sitting at the stoplights as we turned to go into the Estates!!! That's were we are headed!!!!
2:30 .. The Biltmore McDonald’s .. looks almost as beautiful as the mansion at the Biltmore Estate!!! Across the street is the “GRAND BOHEMIAN HOTEL”!!! A lot of the buildings in Asheville are built with a Biltmore Estate type architecture!!! It’s a beautiful town!!
The piano was playing music electronically and the keys were going down as it played!!! Pretty neat for a McDonald's!!!
Notice the trolley going down the street .. a very neat little town!!!
Did we have dessert???? Of course we did .. but I saved mine and had it for Breakfast this morning!!! You wouldn't think you could ever get tired of Belgian Waffles but I decided I'd really rather just eat my Strawberry Crème Pie with my Coffee this morning .. that way I don't have to feel guilty for eating it, right??????
Time to get a better picture of the Grand Bohemian Hotel!!! For those of you who don't know it .. Ken is Bohemian!! We should have gone over and seen how many hundred dollars it would cost to spend the night there .. LOL!!!!
In hindsight I do wish we had at least thought to go in and see the inside .. wondering how they decorated this Bohemian place!!!
This has to be the nicest McDonalds I have ever been in!!!
3:03 .. Leaving Asheville and heading for Spartanburg South Carolina where we will spend the night. Noticing gas prices .. running around $1.75 .. good thing we filled the tank yesterday in Knoxville for $1.49!!!
Notice the houses up among the trees on this hill / mountain .. there is one waaaaaayyy up there at the top!!!! Imagine making your way home to those places!!!
3:47 .. we have reached South Carolina!!!
Got to Spartanburg, South Carolina and the Days Inn about 6:04 .. look at the sky as we're unloading the car into the room .. beautiful!!!
Looking across the way we saw a FATZ CAFE .. a place we've never been before .. of course that's where we chose to go for a bite to eat before settling in for the night!!!
We actually took an early evening walk to make our way over to the place!!!
We had a very friendly and cute waitress .. Rachel. I asked her if you pronounce FATZ as fats or Fahts and she said Fats and chuckled .. then said this must be your first visit .. I'm going to give you some of our Calabash Chicken to sample before you order .. and off she went. The Calabash Chicken Fingers were very good dipped in Honey Mustard .. Ken ordered the Calabash Combo .. Chicken and Shrimp and Cole Slaw .. I wasn't very hungry so I had just a Baked Potato and a couple of Ken's Chicken Fingers .. and of course one of the delicious Rolls w Cinnamon Butter. The manager of the night .. Doug .. came over and talked with us and was very welcoming and friendly. We had never heard of a FATZ CAFE .. he told us they are popular in Carolina .. and gave us a list of 30 of them!!! There is one in Columbia, South Carolina and we will be going there so I'm thinking we will be visiting FATZ again!!
The view of Days Inn as we're crossing the parking lots to make our way "home" for the night!!!
And that's it for DAY TWO!!! It is now 9:20 Missouri time and it is time for Ken and I to hit the road once again. We will reach Myrtle Beach today .. Ken says it is about 3 hours away. Can't get into our room at the Caravelle until about 3:00 so we'll be doing some looking around in some Antique stores along the way .. Wooooo Hooooo!!!
Hi Liz and Ken !! Your pics were just Wonderful !! I am so enjoying my trip with you !! I have a smile on my face ! I am thrilled that the weather is so nice and not like last year !! Your pictures were Outstanding !! Have a Wonderful time today !! You are almost there to your Destination!! Love and Big Hugs to you Both !! Be Safe and Enjoy !!
ReplyDeleteChuckling .. we have said several times how glad we are to have this weather instead of the blizzard we had last year!!! Glad you're enjoying the trip!!
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