Field Trip to Biltmore

We went on a field trip yesterday to the Biltmore Estate and it was easily our best field trip ever (well, except that whole trip to China thing when K was in Kindergarten). We got there at 9am and I finally dragged the girls away around 5:30pm. There were a ton of things to do and see and the girls would have happily stayed forever.

The Biltmore is a huge, privately-owned estate in Asheville, NC. There's an enormous house to tour, a working farm to visit with a blacksmith and woodshop, ornamental and kitchen gardens and a large conservatory, and extensive grounds to explore by Land Rover, bike, boat, or even one of those cool looking segways. I had never been there and wondered what was so cool about a big, old house, but it really is a neat place.

We started out at the farm where the girls watched the chickens. K wanted to know where the rooster was, but their flock is only made up of hens. We saw where the eggs were laid and K asked if she could take one home and hatch it, but I explained that since there was no rooster, there would be no baby chicks from those eggs. After awhile, one of the workers came in to check on a group of chicks, and K asked where they had gotten those chicks since there was no rooster. See, she listens, remembers, and applies; I was so proud :-) FYI, the chicks had come by mail from Cameron, TX.

We left the barn and found the blacksmith shop where the smithy was eager to talk about his trade and we watched as he made a keyring and then gave it to us. The guy in the woodshop was kind enough to show K how the old drills work, then he let her use a corn sheller and grinder to make scratch feed *and* he let her keep the corn cob. Her day was made.

We went then and toured the house. It is HUGE! We spent well over an hour in there and I could have happily spent twice that and more, but the girls got rather tired of it. They behaved very well until the very end where even the indoor bowling lanes and antique washing machines couldn't keep L's interest.

After a quick picnic lunch, we headed to the gardens where they had activities on everything from watercolor to stone carving. The girls spent ages at the watercolor station and K decided she wants a violin for her birthday. Don't think our neighbors would be too appreciative.

I finally convinced the girls to leave the gardens by promising one more trip to the farm before we left, so we made a quick stop in back to the blacksmith shop and the gift shop. We were headed back to the car to rest Mommy's aching feet when an employee stopped us and asked if we'd done the corn maze yet. Of course, the girls insisted on going...out past the barn, across the field, and past the trees...my poor feet! So we went and it was the 3-year-old who got us out of the maze in the end.

If you ever find yourself near Asheville, you've got to make time to go to the Biltmore. Until then, you'll just have to enjoy our pictures.