Asheville & Biltmore Festival of Flowers

We made our second trip in six months to Asheville NC and the Biltmore Estate. However, the Festival of Flowers is a much different experience than the Candlelight Christmas.We both cut Friday afternoon short at work so we could hit the road at a decent hour. We made great time out to Asheville despite the threat of rain. In fact, we arrived before 7:30, making us in time for the hockey game! Too bad the hotel stations didn't carry it. We did our best to watch online and the Canes managed a win while we snacked on room service goodies.

The next morning, we grabbed a quick breakfast before heading into Biltmore. Storms were moving in that afternoon so we spent the start of our trip wandering around the gardens. We walked through the azalea garden to the waterfall and then back to the house by way of the walled garden. The weather was warm and the humidity was in full force. Much the opposite of the biting cold weather when we visited in the winter.

We attempted to tour the house itself but were only interested in the new rooms that had opened since our last visit. Unfortunately, there was no way to do this without visiting the entire house, which was completely jammed. We opted instead to head out to the winery.

By the time we reached the winery, dark clouds were moving in. We originally planned to eat at the outdoor cafe but wisely changed our mind and took cover at the indoor bistro. Wise decision - it wasn't long before the sky opened up. And the food was amazing. We had a really great lunch there.

After filling our bellies, we went to the wine tasting room next door. We tasted 8 wines in all, picking two that we'd like to buy. Unfortunately, the were both more expensive than we thought it was worth so we passed. We inquired about two wines we had bought from Biltmore in the past but found out they were out of them. Still, we somehow managed to find three bottles for purchase before leaving.

As we exited the estate grounds, we realized we had never visited the gate house shop. We wandered around a bit and noticed they also did wine tasting. We tried three more wines, bought a bottle of each, and then called it a day.

That night we enjoyed early dinner at a pub called Jack of the Wood. A couple of pints and some great sandwiches and finally we were ready to call it a night.

Sunday we slept in and then drove home. Considering how much rain was in the area, we managed to avoid it both while driving and wandering around. Not a bad trip!