March 28th: We arrived in North Carolina for a few days of site seeing. There are many things to do in the area. Since it was the closest to where we were staying at Lake Lure, we went to Chimney Rock the first day.
March 29th: Since Biltmore (circa 1895) was the "must-see" event for this trip, we luckily had a great day of weather for the tour. We did the Behind-the-Scenes tour as well as the regular tour. Then we went over to the Biltmore winery for a little wine tasting.
March 30th: I played the Apple Valley Golf Course in the morning, then Janet and I took off for a beautiful drive along a stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway. This is the 469 mile route follwing the ridgeline of the mountains running from Smoky Mountain National Park to Shenendoah National Park in Virginia. We got as far as Mount Mitchell which is the highest point east of the Mississippi.
March 31st: The rains returned so, we went south on the Blue Ridge to Cherokee Village and Smoky National Park.
April 1st: Still overcast, so we made our way to Asheville via Black Mountain. Spent some time in a great old hardware store in that little town. Once in Asheville, we happened upon the Grove Park Inn, which turned out to be a real find, something that Janet had wanted to make a point of seeing anyway. This was built around 1912 and was the place to stay if you couldn't get an invite from the Vanderbilts. It still would be a great place to stay although pricey.
April 2nd: Saying good-bye Lake Lure, we made our way back home.