Tuesday, June 1, 2010

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AH, MY SOUTHERN VACATION...here's more of it (mostly photos, fewer words, because, after all, I'm still busy here in Asheville doing lots of things I can only do here, and eating lots of food I can only eat here, and not doing the things I can 'not do' any place at all). And now that I've mentioned food...







(I'm sorry, please forgive me if I say ah once again...or even ahhhhh. I can't help it, I've been missing this good ole biscuit-eating way of life; and, woe is me, I didn't think to show you the plates of food my chauffeur stowed away!)











We ate the famously good food at 12 Bones, where the very Barack and his wife Michelle hung out with our daughter and her boyfriend a few weeks ago. (Uh, huh...at adjacent tables!)

"The wait line stretches out the door no matter when you come,"
says Caroline. "And that was BEFORE Obama!"






So, then to the Arboretum, with the many plants and flowers




of the colorful and the bonsai sort,
and the carefully trimmed and shaped;

not to mention miles of this,

and some of that,


and a little of this.
And...after that...
back to the four-acre house--you know, Reader Dear, the one where the builders said goodbye to George and put away their tools in 1895, finished with the four floors and the 250 rooms and the 65 fireplaces and the 43 bathrooms and the bowling alley and swimming pool. Still don't know which one I mean? The one with Napoleon's chess set in the salon, okay? Yes, Biltmore --most humongous private house in the nation!

It just so happens there are gardens there, too. (What a surprise, huh?)




































Two conservatories.
Acres and acres of landscaped gardens.
Thousands of acres of open meadows, wooded mountains, a river, small lakes, vineyards...hmm, you get the idea, do you not? I can only give you a few glimpses.


___________________________________And here's the final one: wild Vanderbilt geese.



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