Walkabout With Wheels Blog: April 2013

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

The Farm at Deer Antler Village on the Biltmore Estate

The Farm at Deer Antler Village shows visitors the efforts that went into supporting and staffing the Biltmore Estate.

The herbs & vegetables

grown in the one acre

Kitchen Garden are

used in the restaurants

on the Biltmore Estate.

Staff is available to introduce

visitors to the farm animals.

There are antique

farm tractors

A farm wagon that welcomes
visitors to take a seat.

Plows used to till the land.

Edith Vanderbilt founded North Carolina's first 4-H Program and became the first female president of the North Carolina Agricultural Society.

Butter Churning Equipment

The Vanderbilts established apprentice programs that promoted local crafts and trained locals in the trades.

Iron tools were made

at the Smithy.

The Woodworking Shop

This Drill Press dates to

the 1920's.

A staff member told us about a six acre solar array on the property that is providing power for sections of the Biltmore Estate. The goal is to eventually provide solar power for the entire property.

Deer Antler Village at the Biltmore Estate

The Biltmore Estate was a large enterprise with a large staff. Many of the estate employees and their families lived in the local town of Best. George Vanderbilt purchased the town and renamed it Biltmore Village.

Deer Antler Village connects the past and the present. Included are exhibits, shopping, dining and the estate's winery.

The Inn sits above

Deer Antler Village.

Eric at the Winery

Ginny at one of

the gardens.

The Creamery

Statues of Cornelia

& Cederic

The Merchantile

Cederic's Tavern

The Biltmore Legacy details
Vanderbilts' life at home
& their international travels.

Monday, April 29, 2013

Riding Bikes Around the Biltmore Estate

Our return visit to the Biltmore Estate started with a bike ride.

We paid $5.00 each at the
Bike Barn to get passes to
ride on the bike trails near
Deer Antler Village.

We ride along the

French Broad River.

Eric stops this massive
boulder from sliding into
the road.

It settled into place &

the bus drove by, safely.

(Wink, wink...)

There's a sea of yellow

flowers in the middle

of the field.

Back to our ride

along the river.

We found geese and goslings

out for a morning swim.

This is our last view of

the river.

Just past these fields
is Deer Antler Village.

The Biltmore Estate: The Mansion and Gardens

This is our second SKP ACRE Rally. Last year, as we did this year, we purchased tickets at an additional fee to visit the Biltmore Estate. These photos are from our 2012 visit. Touring the mansion and the gardens takes up a large part of the day. Get ready for opulent splendor in America's largest home...

George Washington Vanderbilt
commissioned Richard Morris Hunt
to design this Renaissance style mansion
in the 1890's.

It was fully plumbed & wired.

Guests were welcomed on
December 24, 1895.

Photography is not allowed inside the mansion. I found an article in Southeastern Antiquing and Collecting Magazine on the the antiques in the rooms that are
on the tour.

I admired the ornamented

staircases.

Eric tamed this
lion.

Richard Morrow Hunt based the
design of the Biltmore Mansion
on three 16th century
French chateaus.

Ahhh.... The gardens! These gardens were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. His designs integrate the grandeur of the mansion with the natural beauty of the estate's mountain setting.

The greenhouse presides over

a sea of colorful tulips.

Eric lets me get a

snap of him next to

the azaleas.

The gardens are extensive.
We spent hours here.

We didn't have time to visit Antler Hill Village and Winery and the Farm. We plan to visit these parts of the estate in 2013 and to ride bikes on the bike trails we had discovered during our first visit to the Biltmore Estate.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

TJ's Cafe and Tom Johnson Camping Center Campground

TJ's Cafe is open for breakfast Monday through Friday from 7 am to 10 am and for lunch from 11 am to 2 pm. During the winter season, TJ's is closed on Saturdays.