For one long weekend in July, I had the oh-so-cherished family time that every one needs. Its like medicine- you take some now and you will be ok for a while but slowly the medicine fades and you are quickly in need of more. I was ready for some good ole family bonding time. Asheville was the perfect place for it. All of this was a surprise for my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. Long talk has occurred for years that they wanted something special for the 10 of us to do on this occasion. My mom and Aunt Debbie spent endless hours deliberately planning every aspect of the trip, only HOPING that everything would fall in place. And of course, IT DID! I had a blast spending time with all my family and especially my cousins. With them in college, we rarely all get together! The time we to spend with each other are always precious moments. Asheville was a surreal place for a celebratory vacation. I felt like someone of wealth and value... maybe a King or Queen. It was fun to be pampered, even if it only was for 2 1/2 days.
On Friday we got up early to travel the 3.5 hours across the state. We arrived by lunch time for a quick tour of the Bed & Breakfast (which was remarkable- I'll get to that later) and then my mom, Camille, and I went to lunch. Dad stayed back in Raleigh to be the guest of honors' chauffeur. This lunch was the BEST THING I HAD EVER EATEN!!! Usually I am not a big supporter that organic food is better. I really don't care. But this restuarant served all organic food- and I don't know if that was the trick- but it was delicious. I ordered the Grilled Cheese of the day- which consisted of cheese, pesto sauce, tomatos, garlic seasoning or something, and maybe a few other secret ingredients like EVOO. It was cooked on some amazing bread but I have no way to describe it, except by saying Yum, Yum!!! It was served with a salad tossed with a SWEET viniagerette dressing. I am not big on viniagerette but this was awesome. I was SO SAD when I consumed my last bite. I would have ate their for the rest of the meals ALL WEEKEND, if I had the say. Gotta Go Back!
Enough about my savory lunch, at which I am horrible at describing.
This blog is kind of going in reverse order. Oh well. On Sunday (our last day there) we all visited the Biltmore Estate. This was my first time going. I thoroughly enjoyed walking through America's Largest Home- secretly pretending that it was mine. Can you imagine living in that house? I was overwhelmed by the beauty of it all. (click to enlarge)
Here is a 2-paged layout I did of the family. I think everyone except Uncle Bob is in these pictures. These were taken Saturday night at the fancy dinner- several other family members joined us- outside of just us 10. It was another luxurious feeling night. I love to feel special.... I only hope that my Nana and Papa felt even more special than I did that night! (click to enlarge)
The B&B brought in this plate with chocolate covered strawberries. I made sure to get pictures of the fun event of sharing the treat. I think this layout turned out quite cute. (click to enlarge)
On Saturday, while the men went out to golf, us ladies went to the....you guessed it.... the SPA! I thoroughly enjoyed another pampering treat. I had a blast drinking my cucumber melon spa water with the robes and all. Relaxing? Yes! For me, at least! (click to zoom)
Ok, here is a few of pictures I took of the Bed and Breakfast we stayed at. We had 2 large rooms in the home, all with bathrooms larger than my room and then we also rented the cottage- which literally was a little home, complete with full kitchen, hot tub, living room, etc. Camille and I shared a bedroom in the main house. We had a king sized bed with silk sheets. I fell asleep as soon as I layed my head upon the pillow and I DID NOT wake up or even lighten my sleeping till I was woken by my dad each morning. Amazing, I tell you! The cottage even came with a complimentary little cat. She was so cute and would come right up to us and let us pet her. She even felt comfortable enough to just walk right in the cottage. These pictures don't do the house any justice but I tried to capture what I could. Click Here for more pictures, including an outside view. (again, click page to zoom)
I also quickly wanted to throw a page together of 3 generations of the ladies from this trip. My Nana, My Mom, then me! I thought this turned out quite cute! We all looked beautiful, especially my Nana!
I have a few more pictures that I will post in a seperate blog post tomorrow that didn't make a scrapbook page.
Good Night!
Kelsey
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