There is no ‘keeping up with the Vanderbilts’

Saturday morning we had breakfast at the hotel, and we headed out to Biltmore. It was very crowded, but we avoided some holdups by buying our tickets online. We also saved $6, so I recommend that for sure.

We were able to get tickets to go into the main house right away, so we jumped in line. Once inside, Jon noticed a roof top tour that sounded pretty cool ($15). We toured the first floor on our own where we saw an incredible banquet hall, complete with pipe organ and two seats built into the wall that were very throne like. There were also several moose and elk mounts up on the walls, but we were told George Vanderbilt wasn’t actually a hunter, and he ordered the taxidermied beauties through mail order. One of my favorite rooms was on the first floor, the winter garden. An open room just off the main entrance, the winter garden room is open to the sky by a huge sky light, and citrus trees grow there inside all winter. Our roof top tour took us out onto the ledges with the gargoyles, onto balconies, and even into the attic. The views of the changing leaves were incredible. On the balcony just outside G. Vanderbilt’s bedroom our tour guide told us that when the property was purchased, Vanderbilt literally owned everything he saw from his bedroom window, as well as one-mile on the other side of Mt. Pisgah. Just after his death, his widow sold a lot of the land to the federal government in order to create Pisgah national forest, thus the view is actually better today than it was at the time it was bought when much of it was barren, used farm land.

Our tour dropped us off on the second floor right where we had left off in our self-guided exploration. There were just so many rooms and closets, servants’ quarters, a bowling alley, an indoor pool, multiple pantries, walk-in refrigerators, changing rooms, and more. There are 65 fireplaces but only 16 chimneys, giving testimony to the intricate flu system within the house. There is a contra postal staircase, an architectural technique that is actually used a lot in sculpture to counter balance heavy materials so that they support themselves. The indulgence in wealth and opulence was grotesque, but the use of natural materials, unique and antique furnishings, the plumbing, electrical work, and feats of engineering and planning were nothing short of amazing.


Photo 1: Gargoyle with human tushie.
Photo 2: Jon and I in the walled garden@Biltmore.

Wow.

Thanks to Esbee for this. I owe you one, g.
Check out this video: One Semester of Spanish - Love Song



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Uncle Tupelo Honey Café

So we’re spending the weekend in Asheville, and we are one great meal and one great show into the weekend. We arrived Friday evening at the Days Inn West (nothing special, a bed, breakfast, etc.). A real highlight was the Tupelo Honey Café in downtown Asheville. We started the meal with an appetizer of pickled onion rings with a jalapeño aioli. This was a dish more quickly inhaled than eaten. We plowed through these unusually sweet snacks just before our entrees arrived. J ordered an omelet with ham, cheddar, and tomatoes. The order came with home fries made with rosemary. I had the tomato soup and grilled cheese made-to-order with cheddar and gorgonzola cheeses. The sandwich made a delicious melty, creamy bite when dipped into the soup. For dessert, two biscuits topped with blackberry jam and/or tupelo honey from Texas. The honey was delicious, and the biscuits were fantastic, buttery, dense, and soft. Service at the restaurant was quick but not overly friendly. The value at Tupelo Honey is unmatched. We had two entrees and an appetizer for $24, and the meal featured local, organic, and natural ingredients.

After our meal we headed to the Orange Peel to J’s 8th Guster show and my 6th. We enjoy seeing shows there because the crowd is usually really good and the venue is smoke-free. Guster was awesome. We heard a lot of old favorites. What was interesting about this show was seeing the band take new shapes. What used to be 3 guys, 2 guitars, and one huge set of drums has turned into a full on rock band that has up to 6 people on stage at one time or another and utilizes keyboards, trumpet (though just a touch), and cow bell. While Brian has definitly toned down his "Thundergod" ways of the past, he's becoming a very solid kit drummer and Ryan sings maybe better than he ever has. It's really neat to hear them finally growing into the sound they've been shooting for. They've increased some audience interaction with influences from touring with the Barenaked Ladies. At one point Ryan made up a song on the fly while the band joined in with an improvised beat, and at the end of the show the band rotated to different instruments while Brian stepped out and sang the theme from "Cheers."

Pictures and more to come.

Fair footage

This was my pick to win the wreath contest at the Dixie Classic Fair. It got second, which may have been because no door would shut with this thing on it. But dang! It's a 3-D turkey wreath! I love it. It's first in my book.
Thanks for the peach cobbler Palmyra Methodist!

They will be driving soon

My middle school darlings made the following errors this week.
1. Within one paper the word, "octubre" went through the following transformations:
octubre
octure
octurede
ocurede
ocureded
ocureded

2. The question was, "What would the pros and cons be if you were no longer allowed to use your lockers?"
Answer: "You would half to carry your boobs everywhere you go."
(It was a 6th grade boy. Poor thing--puberty is not kind.)

Photos of the band!

Grandma's Genius will be playing at the Royal Bean in Raleigh this weekend. Check 'em out! They'll be playing in Kernersville, we hope, soon, so stay tuned!



Photo 1: Jon "rehearsing"
Photo 2: GG at the Borders in Raleigh
Photo 3: GG at Borders in Winston

Mouth full of chiclets

It's 9:30 a.m. The students are filed in their rows, writing their answers to the focus question on the board. I see a boy in the front row making an odd face. He asks for a tissue. It's not long before I notice the tissue is bloody, and he is making an even weirder face.
"I pulled out my tooth; can I get a drink of water?" said the boy.
"Yes, and would you like an envelope for your tooth?" said the teacher.
"I guess..." he said.
I was delivering the envelope to his desk while he was out of the room when I noticed the tooth as it sat still bloody on page 11 of the boy's Spanish book.
It was the first time I've ever thought I was going to vomit while teaching.

Turn onto the dirt road...

We had dinner a couple weeks ago at a barbecue restaurant in Dudley Shoals, NC. We were invited by a fella I work with who plays guitar and sings as a part of the band, Bluegrass Blend.

We knew we were in for a down home experience when we got off I-40 and it still took us another 20 minutes and several turns before we finally reached Sim's Country Barbecue. We were in a rural area--you can tell because all the street names are people's full names (Charlie Little, etc.). We drove down the long and winding dirt road, and at the end we saw a log lodge reminiscent of the chow hall at a summer camp. For $9.95 a person you get all-you-can-eat beef, pork, or chicken barbecue, slaw, beans, rolls, and corn cakes. A pitcher of ice tea for two is $1.50, and you can buy a small homemade cake for $2 for dessert.

Perhaps the most interesting fact about the place is their sponsorship of their clogging studio and teams. Preserving the mountain tradition of clogging, Sim's Country barbecue becomes a place where the young and old, professionally trained and amateur, and the "I've never done this befores" all clog together throughout the dinner hours.

This place was family oriented, and a great place to let the kids play with each other and dance. there is plenty of seating for groups and it is apparently a popular place for church groups to go to. We hope to take others to this hideaway because it is such a different atmosphere for listening to music, eating, and preserving Appalachian culture.

How does your garden grow?

Here are some pics as requested by G-ma :) Zinnias and my lone geranium. The zinnias are about 3.5 ft. tall.

Babies!

We are Aunt Manda and Uncle Jon once again:
Jarius Noriel Clarkson
b. 9-5-07
7lbs. Head full of hair.