Biltmore and more

I thought about going up to Blowing Rock,NC for the night but then checked the weather and it seemed icey with snow conditions so decided to stay here one more day and do some exploring.I got in too late yesterday to see Asheville. It made more sense to stay put here today and head for Staunton,VA tomorrow.

I went to Folk Art museum here in Asheville.It was a small museum with a really
fine collection of Craft.Some of the older work was the museum's permanent collection
of quilts,carving,and pottery and the other part was more contemporary work. I also stopped at the Southern Highland craft guild which is a store for a lot of the same
contemporary artists and I got some artists information from the women there. I think
they'd be a really good fit at Sea Hag.

After that I went over to see the Biltmore Estate. It claims to be the biggest house in the US,certainly from another era- It's on par with castles in Europe.The construction took 6 years working around the clock. I was a little surprised at the admission ticket price of $40,which I thought seemed pretty steep at the time but after my tour I understood better what it must take to maintain the estate. I can't imagine it really.The details in the ironwork, the curved doors for the circular rooms,the carvings,masonry,stonework,woodwork,furniture,wallpapers,fabrics,
tapestries...
even just keeping the windows clean!I just read that the estate employs 1,800 people.I guess the $40 isn't too bad to be dazzled.
Maybe I'll start charging people to shop at Sea Hag!What do ya think?

After the Biltmore I check out the Arcade(group of upscale shops in an older building under one roof) and other shops in downtown Asheville.A lot of the
galleries and restaurants were closed (because today is Monday)and I didn't find any good prospects for my soaps so I headed to a local park for a walk with Grace.It was nice to let her off lead. She'll be back running free with her buddies in a few more days.

Heading out Staunton,Va tomorrow and hopefully the snow that they got today will be
gone. Thanks for stopping by.