Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC

While it was both a wonderful and worthwhile stop, Greenville was merely a stopover to our destination of Asheville, North Carolina. Why Asheville? This quaint little town tucked away in the southern Appalachians is the spot where in 1889 George Vanderbilt began building his masterpiece home, Biltmore. Biltmore is the largest privately owned home in America, still owned and operated by George's descendents, who is also entrepreneur Cornelius Vanderbilt’s grandson. The 250-room mansion (that's 4 acres of indoor floor space!) originally sat on over 125,000 acres of land of which 8,000 are still owned by the estate (about 100,00 acres were dedicated to the Pisgah Forest). With the help of architect Richard Morris Hunt (who also designed the pedestal for the Statue of Liberty, The Breakers, Marble House...) and Frederick Law Olmstead (also known as the founding father of American landscape architecture who among other things designed New York's Central Park) George set off to build his masterpiece which opened six years later in 1895. The tour took us through many of the formal living areas, George and then his wife Edith's bedrooms, as well as the bowling alley, indoor swimming pool, and then my favorite, the kitchens, laundry areas, staff quarters - the 'guts' or organs as I like to think of them as without all of the support staff, the house could never subsist. The tour was amazing; we opted for the audio headsets which provided a great narrative. I have to be honest though - by the end, I was exhausted! The depth of Vanderbilt's wealth is a bit dumbfounding and after about 2 hours walking on hard marble, my feet were cooked! After the house tour, we took ourselves outside to tour the stables and the grounds which included an Italian garden, a walled garden, conservatory, esplanade, spring garden and azalea garden (we didn't even have time to get to the deer park, bass pond and lagoon!). The approach road alone must have stretched some 2 miles and was lush with greenery - shrubs and bamboo among some of the plentiful plantings. We finished our visit at the Antler Hill winery which now operates in what used to be the Biltmore Dairy (Mr. Vanderbilt's goal for Biltmore was to create a self-sustaining estate with vegetable and fruit gardens, along with the dairy). The kids and I enjoyed squashing grapes and inside James and I were able to sample some of the winery's best. After a little ice cream, we were on the road to Virginia and DC.

Happy 4th of July from Greenville, South Carolina!!

We chose to stop in Greenville because it offered an affordable place to stay that was close to our destination of Asheville. Am I glad we did! We headed downtown around 7:00 to enjoy the Red, White and Blue event. Our amazing night began with a wrong turn down a dead end street. There was a small parking lot on the left, which a friendly attendant told us was full however he quickly offered to move his own car so we could slip our rig in there. As it was staff parking, he said he "couldn't charge us"(!) I thanked him profusely and mentioned that I was a southern girl by birth, born in Lake City. We wandered in towards Main Street, stopping to listen to some music for awhile before heading down to the Red, White and Blue event. While the band rocked on, the kids enjoyed an ice cream and James and I sipped on a cold beer. There were food tents and small carnival rides but most of the people on the closed off street listened to the Piedmont Boys who played on the main stage just by the river. The downtown area of Greenville is beautiful with lush, green trees shading the sidewalks. Many of the restaurants spilled out on to the sidewalks with small cafe tables taking up a place beside the pedestrian way. The impressive architecture in the downtown area included The Peace Center (http://www.peacecenter.org/) as well as a couple of spectacular suspension bridges which stretched out over Falls Park (http://www.fallspark.com/167/Falls-Park). While the kids sat down by the river, James and I wandered around the park and listened to the band before settling in to our spot by the river. The fireworks began at 9:45. We sat by the shallow, rocky river where some kids sunk in to the deeper spots while others chose to sit with their families on the grassy banks. With the prime parking afforded to us by the wonderful gentleman at the Brown Street parking lot, we were able to make a quick getaway back to our hotel. As we pulled out, I made sure to thank this man again, telling him "I'm moving to Greenville!" A quick mutual smile and we were on our way. This chance meeting with Greenville was such a very fortunate one!

Mississippi and Alabama

Yesterday was the last day of our holiday in New Orleans so we headed east to the beaches of Mississippi. I would have loved to travel a bit further to Pensacola but with all of the driving we'd be doing on Friday, that idea was quickly dismissed. We found a decent spot right outside of Gulfport. The sand was white and the water was warm albeit mirky, presumably due to the large amount of silt deposited from the Mississippi. We stayed for a game of football, a little stroll and some castle-building and then headed off to the 'showers' down the road. After a quick rinse we drove down to Shaggy's for some good Southern eats - fried shrimp, pulled pork and crab cakes. Emmett took the opportunity to fish off one of the piers and wouldn't you know it - he caught one! Whether the fish was strong or heavy I'm not sure but Emmett's little fishing rod was bending quite a bit and I wondered if it might snap. We headed back to Metairie and had an early night as the Gomez family was in for a 4 a.m. departure this morning. We set off about 4 hours later, driving northeast to Birmingham. After a fairly easy 5 hour ride, we arrived at the Civil Rights Institute on 16t Street North which sits across from the 16th St Baptist Church, the site of one of Birmingham's most notorious bombings and one which took the lives of 4 young girls who were attending Sunday Mass on the morning of September 15th, 1963. The well-kept museum is one of the most beautiful, moving places I have ever visited. There were displays depicting the segregation that was a part of life in the South, and detailed exhibits on the Civil Rights movement as well as human rights movements around the world. The artifacts, pictures and words some of which were disturbing and some inspiring were difficult to look at and read at times but it's a museum to which I would return. After about 2 hours, we headed south to our hotel. We were greeted by amazing, friendly staff who brought complimentary cupcakes to our door and called to see if we had settled in all right. Down at the pool, a man entered, arms overflowing with goggles, balls, dive sticks, floats and water pistols. There were ice pops for the children as well. Pretty sweet. .

New Orleans Jazz

The Muddy Mississippi

We arrived in New Orleans at about 9:30 and strolled down to Cafe du Monde on Decatur for some cafe au lait and beignets. A jazz trio played in the street while the kids bathed in powdered sugar. We had about an hour to shop before we needed to head down to the lighthouse to board the Steamboat Natchez (rhymes with matches...). Abby and I managed to pick up a couple of dresses from the Sweet Pea & Tulip Boutique on Chartres Street and Abby finally broke down and bought her very over-priced 'New Orleans' t-shirt (boooo). We boarded the steamboat at 11:20 and we set off about 15 minutes later. The tour took us down, then up the Mississippi River and we passed several barges as well as a Domino sugar refinery. We watched as a machine dredged the river bed and listened to the live jazz that poured out of the restaurant. Back on shore, we headed to Johnny's Po-Boy where we ate tasty muffaletta sandwiches and catfish po-boys. Today was the rainiest day of the trip but we were lucky in that when it poured, we happened to be inside, and when the rain let up a bit, we were on the move. After lunch, we headed up to Canal Street to take the St. Charles line out to Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 and the Garden District. The cemetery is largely overgrown and many of the crypts

are not very well kept however there is an organization which is trying to restore some of the hardest hit areas. It seems to me that if they would ask each visitor (who isn't there to visit a relative of course) for a small donation, this could go a long way. We left the cemetery around 4 when we heard the call on the bullhorn that the cemetery would soon be closing (I wouldn't want to get locked in there!). We headed towards Third and Coliseum past the house where Benjamin Button was filmed before heading back to town on the trolley. Tired after our long day out, we headed back to Metarie for a little food shopping, some rest and a well-deserved glass of wine... or beer... maybe one of each...

New Orleans School of Cooking

We woke up a little later than expected (these shuttered blinds make it easy to sleep in... oh, and someone accidentally turned off the alarm when he meant to hit snooze...) but we made it to the New Orleans School of Cooking just in time for roll call and entrance to the demonstration kitchen. Our instructor Harriet was a funny, lively, septuagenarian who held court for just over 2 hours with her historical tales and family stories while we devoured bowls of gumbo, plates of jambalaya, pralines and (Emmett's favorite) Bananas Foster. We imbibed in the local beer Abita, as well as iced tea and lemonade before heading back to Metarie for a little pool time. At around 5, we headed in to the city's Garden District to join up with some friends of Uncle Fred's. We ate at Purloo, a southern style restaurant that uses locally-sourced ingredients. The restaurant is adjacent to the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, and the cocktails and menu items we indulged in could easily have been exhibits themselves. The dishes were as appealing to the palate as the eye. We started with the "Southern"

board: Charleston pimento cheese, smoked Pickett Farms lamb, green tomato chutney, deviled eggs "Meuniere", fried pickles, boiled peanuts and pickled okra - yum. We enjoyed the meal as well as the company of Jake and Courtney whom Fred met many years ago when he worked with the March of Dimes. We enjoyed sharing parenting stories (Jake and Courtney have three young children who are 5, 3 and 3 months) and the delicious food a drink. A wonderful night!

When The Saints Go Marching In at Musical Legends Park

Audubon Aquarium and the delicious Domenica....

Another last minute change of plans today. While James, Amy and Fred took off for a swamp tour just north of the city, the 5 kids and I headed in to New Orleans to visit the Audubon Aquarium. The kids enjoyed having a good look around for just about 3 hours. The Aquarium was beautiful and clean and had a variety of exhibits. I particularly enjoyed the tunnel under the great tank where some divers were feeding the rays. Following our visit, we headed north to Cafe Beignet at the Musical Legends Park on Bourbon Street. We enjoyed some jazz and a drink before heading over to the restaurant Domenica next to the Roosevelt, an elegant Waldorf Astoria Hotel. We met our cousin Nathan there whom we hadn't seen in a great number of years. We noshed on gourmet half-priced pizzas and a pint of beer and then Nathan led us on a little walk to the French Market. It was nice to catch up with Nathan but pretty soon, it was time for us to pack up and head back to Metarie where the kids enjoyed a good, long splash in the pool. We're off to bed as we need to make an early start tomorrow to the New Orleans Cooking School.

St. Joseph's Plantation

We had to delay our day at the National Seashore due to some incredible storms that rolled in over night. With more storms forecast for today we decided our time might be better spent touring the St. Joseph Plantation and Jean Lafitte National Historic Park and Preserve. We arrived at St. Joseph's at around 11 and were greeted by an older man and woman, descendents of the Waguespack family who have own the property for over 138 years. Our guide, who stayed at the house as a child when it was inhabited by her grandmother lovingly told the story of the homes' original inhabitants in the 1830s leading up to the last century when it was owned by members of her own family. The antebellum creole house sits on a fully-functioning sugar plantation that has been the background for many shows and movies including 12 Years a Slave which was filmed primarily at the sister plantation Felicity which sits about a half mile to the east of St. Joseph's. After a quick lunch under the moss and fern covered trees, we headed southwest to Jean Lafitte. We were hoping to spot some alligators but another heavy storm rushed our visit. Before we left, we were able to scramble along the quick 1.5 mile loop through the bayou at Barataria Preserve. There were beautiful cypress trees, roots stretching skyward, and enormous silk spiders but not an alligator in sight!

New Orleans!!!

Our adventure in to the city was delayed somewhat by an early morning call from our eldest who is traveling overseas. Seems somewhere between Venice and Florence Aidan misplaced both his passport and remaining rail reservations. Luckily the passport which was once believed lost was in is backpack. The rail tickets? As far as we know, they are enjoying a little Sicilian sunshine... Once we finished trying to sort him out, we headed in to New Orleans. We spent the day in the French Quarter, taking in a few of the sites including Madame John's Legacy, an 18th century National Historic Landmark as well as 1850 House which is an antebellum row house on St. Ann. We enjoyed our packed lunch in Jackson Square before heading on to Bourbon Street. We were caught in an amazing rain storm but luckily had already taken cover in one of the bars - phew! After a quick stop in to Pat O'Brien's we headed east. It looks as though there has been a good deal of rebuilding since we last visited New Orleans in 2010. After cruising past Fats Domino's house in the lower 9th ward, we headed west to Metarie to enjoy some fun in the pool and a home cooked meal. Tomorrow, we'll be venturing out to the National Seashore in Mississippi (sorry James...).

Kentucky!

The sky was dark and stormy when we set out from dry Dry Ridge this morning. First stop - Alltech, a microbrewery and distillery in Lexington specializing in bourbon and, my favorite, Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale. Dream come true. Alltech specializes in animal feed and founder Pearse Lyons (a Dubliner) began the brewing and distilling as a hobby!

The kids joined us on the tour however Abby and Emmett skipped out early to throw a football in the parking lot. Ben stayed with us for the tour which saw us through the expanded brewery and distillery. Our tour included several tastings of the beer and whisky which included a Kentucky Bourbon Stout and some fiery Rye Whisky. We stopped in to 'Sweet Spot' in downtown Lexington so the kids could grab an ice cream before we hit the road. An hour and a half later we were at the General George Patton Museum. When we finally caught up to Emmett, we discovered a number of artifacts from Patton's youth and military days. An impressive man with an impressive career but what I liked most were the number of quotes and references to trust, ethics, leadership, honor, bravery and valor. As the Museum is in Fort Knox, we not only had to clear security to get in, we shared the sights with a number of soldiers. We cruised past the federal depository and down to Nashville, saving an hour with the change in time zones. Now finding ourselves a bit peckish are heading off to Hattie B's. Tomorrow is the final leg of our trip to New Orleans!

Football Hall of Fame Canton,OH

We left Pennsylvania at about 8:30 heading south on 90 to the Football Hall of Fame. When we arrived at the Hall we learned that the AFC drafts were inside the museum for a special gathering so opening was delayed for about an hour. No big deal; we headed around the corner to take in our packed lunch on a little piece of grass we found. When we arrived back at the Hall, we found the players were just leaving. Several Steelers players stopped to sign autographs but our own Malcolm Brown was nowhere to be seen. The hall held information about the history of the game as well as its most outstanding players. The stewards were incredibly enthusiastic and knowledgeable, and the number of exhibits was extensive however as the kids pointed out, it would have been even better if there were a few more interactive exhibits for the fans to enjoy. We left the hall in good spirits anyway, and hit a tasty little barbecue spot in Florence, Kentucky. After another 30 minutes we arrived at our home for the night in Dry Creek which is in a 'dry' county by the way; no Kentucky Bourbon Ale for me....(!) Oh, well, at least we remembered to pack the box-o-wine. I bet you wish you were here Robyn.

Good night!