It was love at first sight and yet another reason j'adore the South–

Twenty-three years ago hours after we said "I do," my new husband whisked me through a romantic North Carolina tour, honeymooning at two beautiful destinations:  Olde Edwards Inn in Highlands and Asheville's Grove Park Inn.  Both were remarkable in their own way, but the latter proved my favorite by a hair's breadth in spite of…

…housekeeping ignoring my "Privacy" sign and walking in at a very **inopportune** moment that coulda put me in therapy for life!  But I digress, and that's another story for another time…

Or not.

Anyways…

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I fell in love with Asheville immediately–"small city" in contrast to "large town," artsy, trendy, creative, edgy, adventurous.  A colorful and rich history; diverse and gorgeous architecture; and scenic, rolling landscape that will steal your breath. No wonder George Vanderbilt was inspired "to create a relaxed country estate" here, a nice little 250-room love shack French château known as Biltmore Estate.  

My jaw dropped when Tad and I first toured the Biltmore all those years ago–it's a princess's castle and you can almost see Repunzel letting down her hair.  I've had occasion to return since then, and e.v.e.r.y. visit leaves me astonished and impressed by the home's architecture, furnishings, appointment detail…and enormity.  Four acres of floor space, 250 rooms, 34 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms and 65 fireplaces.

I have to look past the wretched excess and appreciate the Estate as historical masterpiece and consider the countless stories beyond its facade. Those are what I'm most drawn to.

A few month's ago I was contacted by Biltmore staff to join a group of others for a "blogger familiarization tour".  By immersing us in all things Biltmore, their hope was for us to chat about our experience in the digital spaces we occupy and to introduce new audiences to Biltmore.

Because of my existing impressions and affections for this place, how could I say no?  I'm thrilled to be trusted with sharing my thoughts about the Biltmore Estate and Asheville, and rather than write another longish post, I'm going to break it up over the next few weeks in a Biltmore series.  

I hope you'll visit along!  If you haven't already, please subscribe in a reader or via email.  I have a fun giveaway planned with my next post, so stay tuned! 🙂

{Deep gratitude to Biltmore Estate for their generosity in hosting this trip including meals, lodging at the beautiful Biltmore Inn, activities and travel!  Though they didn't require we write about our experience, it was a smart, calculated risk!  They KNOW bloggers will show and tell!}