Biltmore & Cherokee

Where to start? We are staying at a charming rustic cabin only five minutes from the Biltmore estate. The cabin has a kitchen, dining area, lounge (with fireplace) and bathroom with a deck out the back. Downstairs are two bedrooms and another bathroom.

View from our deck down to one of the lakes on the property

Tuesday was a bit cold and somewhat rainy and we headed off to Biltmore to visit the 250 rooms and wander the grounds. Built for George Washington Vanderbilt (grandson of the railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt) it opened Christmas Eve 1905. Won't talk about the room with leather wallpaper or the beautiful fresh flowers in vases all over the place. You'll just have to wait to see the photos and the brochure. We had lunch in the stables and forced ourselves to check out the gift shop.

Our little summer cabin 

The formal gardens were spectacular

Headed back to the cabin and started a fire to warm our bones. In fact we have a fire again tonight (Wednesday) and it is just what the doctor ordered.

Today we drove about an hour and a half to Cherokee - named for the Indian tribe who own a large reservation there. Went in to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian and the Qualla Craft Shop. Beautiful weavings and baskets and lots of other indian crafts. The dogwood and other flowers are blooming at the lower elevations.

Rosie showing off a white dogwood

An authentic indian - tepees used by Plains Indians

Dancing - he also did a war dance for me

There are flowering cherry trees too which are just masses of blooms. Then we headed off along a portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway. This runs along the ridges of the Great Smoky Mountains and, being at a higher elevation, spring has not yet arrived and the dogwood are not yet in bloom. The views from the parkway demonstrate why these are called the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Only met one wild mountain man in our travels today. Fed him some ice cream for tea and he fixed steaks on the grill for himself and Rosie. I had a good salad, some fruit salad and a coffee.

Imagine meeting this on a dark night - or even high noon!