Biltmore and More

I know that I haven't written anything for a while, so I thought that I would take this opportunity to not only post but to update everyone on what's happening right now. This week is my fall break from school, and I'm very excited that the semesters halfway over. I have a C in English, a B in Educ., an A in Hist. and an A in Math. I think I'm going to become a history/math major. I haven't gotten on the ball with all the work I need to do over the break but I plan on starting today. The first day of break I worked and Tues. and Wed. were "ME" days.
On Tues. Emily and I woke up bright and early to drive to Asheville to see the Biltmore. It was beautiful, but I had for gotten how commercial the whole thing is. I know that they are privately owned and not government funded, but the sheer amount of crap made me cringe the whole time. There was a remarkable lack of true history involved in the tour. I really wanted to learn something besides how much crap cost that the Vanderbilts owned. Everyone seemed to get into the spirit of it, but for some reason I just could not stand it. Everything from the $3 drinks, and $8 ham sandwiches to the photos taken inside the museum (where I couldn't take photos since flashes prematurely age the artifacts). The photos the staff were taking photos that you could buy with cameras that had miniature suns for flashes. Once we were able to get outside the house things were much better. The conservatory and the gardens were gorgeous and I wish that I could publish all of the picture I took. The flowers and the greenhouses were simply amazing. I put out one picture of a rose and another of a "chinese lantern." After we left the flower gardens we explored further out. We walked the 30 minute walk to the bass pond only to find that the waterfall bridge was closed. But being outside on such a beautiful day made it all worthwhile. There definately weren't as many people outside, even though the true wonder of the Biltmore Estate is the surrounding areas. The farm and the animals were definitely a high point of the tour. They even had a miniature donkeys and a blind chicken with a wooden leg! (Okay okay, the leg was in a cast, but it looked like a fake leg!) I was further saddened by the fact that the Biltmore has off-roading tours in land rovers that you can sign up for. I want to know who the hell goes to the Biltmore to off road?
On Wed. I slept until noon (ha ha ha!) and then woke up and went to lunch with Emily. We had food from our across the street Thai restaurant and then went and played all day long. I got to go to the comic shop, and E got to look at sweaters at Target. Then we had delicious homemade burritos for supper. Emily can make a mean burrito!
Here's a review of one of my favorite restaurants by a great guy named Ian. I'm the one that said "you have to try the chicken soup!" His blog is listed in my sites to got to area, and is MUCH more interesting than mine. Anyhoo, here's the site:

http://media.www.guilfordian.com/media/storage/paper281/news/2007/10/05/Features/Pho-Hien.Vuong-3016664.shtml

I posted a few pictures of the Biltmore that you all can enjoy. Make sure to leave a comment so that we can communicate! This doesn't have to be one sided you know.