Mad Dash for Asheville – A Christmas Road Trip Series, Day Four
Day four, Saturday, started at a pretty leisurely pace, but we eventually made our way downstairs to the main dining room for breakfast. And what a breakfast it was – panoramic windows around the tables provided amazing views of the estate below the Inn, and of the cloud-haloed mountains beyond. We were treated to fresh-squeezed orange juice and organic fair-trade coffee before we got to the real deal: a trip to the breakfast buffet.
A more-than-capable chef was on hand to prepare omelets and waffles to order. The omelet he made for me (bacon, mushroom, and spinach) was perfectly cooked and expertly flipped, and the waffles were like crisp puffs of sweet air – golden-brown and crispy on the outside yet fluffy on the inside. There were grits, hash browns, bacon (the same applewood-smoked that I’d eaten on my burger the night before, likely made from a pig raised on the estate), cheese blintzes, and all manner of fresh pastries and fruits to choose from as well.
It was our strategy to load up during breakfast so we’d be fueled and able to make it the whole day until dinner time (more on that in a bit). With such a huge spread available in the morning, I was happy to go right along with the plan. Once we finished breakfast, we hopped on another shuttle that went elsewhere on the estate, down to Antler Hill Village. The village is home to the Biltmore winery, the farm, and an exhibit of Tiffany lamps that were made around the time that the Vanderbilts lived on the estate.
The first stop was the outdoor adventure center, where Emily signed up for a trail ride on a horse. The remaining four of us wandered over to the winery. That building had originally been the estate’s dairy, but when that business moved off the estate, current owner William Cecil (George Vanderbilt’s grandson) converted it into a winery, a process that was completed in 1985. In the basement of the building, we saw some of the old creamery equipment as well as a sampling of George Vanderbilt’s wine library.
Before touring the winery itself, we stopped to sample a few of the wines on offer in the tasting room. Biltmore winery has a pretty wide selection of wines, many of which have won awards in national and international competitions. Once we’d tried several from across the spectrum of flavors, we decided that we’d take at least one of them back to Texas with us. A tour guide led a large group of visitors (including us) through the winery to see how Biltmore’s still and sparkling wines were made. The sparkling wine process was particularly fascinating, because it’s the same labor-intensive, traditional French process that’s used to make champagne – they just can’t call it champagne because they don’t use grapes from the Champagne region of France to make it.
After getting our fill of the wine and the winemaking process, we walked through the Tiffany lamp exhibit (absolutely gorgeous; I wish I’d been allowed to take some pictures) and then made our way to the creamery, where all the ice cream is hand-made using milk from cows on the estate. I was the lone taker on vanilla (traditional recipe used since 1900) and the others went with the flavor-of-the-month: peppermint. Both flavors were delicious, though we felt a little guilty eating ice cream without Emily.
She finished her trail ride shortly after that, so we got back on the shuttle headed for the Inn, which happened to make a stop at the stables as well. With Emily back in our party, we were ready to make another stop by the house to see the extensive gardens on the grounds beside it. Before heading down to the walled garden area, we explored some of the “lawn” on the side of the house that overlooked the land stretching beyond into the mountains. I imagine that this yard must have been used to play a game of stickball at some point.
The “walled garden” itself wasn’t as impressive in the winter time as it must be during the spring when the azaleas are blooming, but the great Conservatory garden held a breathtaking array of diverse and colorful plants. Carefully climate-controlled so that every kind of plant might be seen all year round, the greenhouse Conservatory contained everything from orchids and plumeria to pineapple and cactus plants!
Once we were all plant-ed out (we had to drag mom away), we took the shuttle back to the Inn to get ready for dinner. Our Christmas package included a buffet Christmas dinner in the Vanderbilt dining room, so we took the opportunity to dress ourselves up a little for the occasion.
When we were seated at our table for dinner, we were informed that there were not one, but two, buffet rooms – one for cold food/appetizers and desserts, and one for the hot food. The selection was once again enormous. I started with shrimp cocktail, crab bisque, and fruit salad, and then entered the second buffet room to pick up some roast beef tenderloin, wild rice, roast potatoes, and a well-toasted ciabatta roll. We all went back for seconds because everything was too good to eat just once! Mike and I wrapped up our pre-dessert eating with a meat tour plate – seared salmon, grilled chicken, beef tenderloin, and cured ham.
Fully stuffed and satisfied, we managed to make our way back up to our room before collapsing on our beds in a food coma. And, as if the evening couldn’t get any better, we got to lay out our stockings in anticipation of a visit from Santa while we slept.
