4-20-22 ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA: We came down here, partly on the advice of John, Carol and Gardner for a visit and vacay. We escaped the cold and rain of NJ only to find cold weather here, but plenty of sun. We’re staying at a B&B called The Sweet Biscuit Inn in the Kenilworth section of Asheville. It’s a lovely old house. They served a grit soufflé with bacon this morning.
Yesterday afternoon we poked around the business district and had a nice lunch at Early Girl, I assume named for the tomato variety. After a nap, dinner was at Corner Kitchen in the Biltmore neighborhood. We split the fried green tomatoes and each had trout and then bread pudding—excellent.
Today we did a tour of the Biltmore Estate. It’s 8000 acres of parkland that surround the chateau-like house and gardens of G. W. Vanderbilt, located just south of Asheville. The house, monstrously huge and filled with art treasures, is made of stone and has 46 bathrooms, when, 1890’s, most houses had none. In the gardens, the tulips are finishing and the bulbs, acres worth, are being pulled up and thrown away. The daffodil bulbs are replanted in the fall.
Today the estate is run by the Biltmore Company, owned by descendants of G.W.V. It is the biggest employer in the Asheville area. Personally I was over-whelmed and appalled by the size and scope and concept of Biltmore, and I probably feel about it the same way Bernie Sanders does.
Dinner tonight was at Tupelo Honey, more fried green tomatoes plus fried chicken and waffles and pecan pie—excellent again.
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