Spring Break 2015 Wednesday March 11, 2015

We got up this morning and had yet another hotel breakfast, which was surprisingly, very good again. Originally the forecast showed an 80% chance of rain but all we got was a little drizzle.  (I can’t believe how lucky we’ve been on this dang trip.) Our hotel was about 1/3 mile from the entrance to the Biltmore so we entered the gates around 9:30 and purchased tickets for Nick and me.  The tickets were $50 for adults and free for kids ages 9 and under.  Good think Ryan is 9!  We drove over to house and did the self-guided tour.  The house truly was incredible – 250 rooms and 178,000+ square feet.   

 

 There happened to be a temporary exhibit featuring the costumes of the television show Downton Abbey.  Ryan was completely taken by the costumes.  I found the “his and her” bedrooms very interesting and the bowling alley, swimming pool and “gym” were a surprise.  There was also a separate kitchen for meat and pastries.  We didn’t spend a lot of time there but we did buy the picture that was taken of us.

We walked through the gardens briefly and through the greenhouse which grew hundreds of orchids.  Grant was grossed out by the smell of the place.  We then got back in our car and drove down to the Antlers Village and had a great lunch at Cedric’s.  

Cedric was the name of George Vanderbilt’s Saint Bernard. We left around 1:30 or so and drove down to Columbus, South Carolina.  The drive was beautiful and pretty short – 160 miles or so.  After driving through downtown (not a whole lot to it) we checked into our Microtel around 4:00 – not the greatest place but definitely close to the next National Park.  The kids immediately hit the vending machine, their favorite thing in the world. I went for a run while the kids and Nick stayed in the room.  Ryan and I played Sorry while the boys played catch then we walked over to the Chick-fil-a next door for dinner.  After a quick shower Grant and I played catch for a bit outside of the hotel then we turned in for the night.  Nick and Ryan played Quirkle while Grant attempted to write a book about Spring Break but after he spelled “break” “brake” he got super mad and ended his book after one sentence and is now crashed out next to me.  Tomorrow we’re off to Congaree, then Hilton Head then Savannah.  I am so excited!  It will really be the last true vacation day of the trip as the last two days will be pretty well chewed up with driving.