Gingerbread, a parade, a castle, tea = Fun Memories

 A few weeks ago Maria and I had the opportunity to go to Asheville, NC on an adventure! Through a series of events we were given tickets to the Biltmore House that someone else could not use and we were the only ones who could go. So off we dashed with our GPS in place and excitement in our hearts .

 Our hotel

We stayed overnight in downtown Asheville and planned our next day's activities with anticipation of the sites we would see the next day! We walked downtown and went to the Asheville Christmas Parade.

We drove to the Grove Park Inn for the annual National Gingerbread Contest. Grove Park Inn is somewhere I have always heard about and wanted to go visit. It did not disappoint! The Inn itself is nestled in the mountains and it has a breathtaking view. The gingerbread houses were beautiful. It was also FREE !

First Place Winner

Grove Park Inn

We still had time so we ventured over to Biltmore Village for some afternoon tea at Chelsea's Tea Room.

Maria enjoying afternoon tea!

Then it was time to head over to the Biltmore House. It was built by George Vanderbilt in  1895 as a wedding present for his wife. I never get tired of visiting this magnificent house. How special it was to see it by candlelight.

The library

Breakfast Room

There are 8,000 acres and over 250 rooms in the house. In the spring and summer the gardens are beautiful.

We had a wonderful 24 hours of laughing, talking about life, getting lost, and bonding as mother and daughter. Sometimes we plan and plan certain events in our lives and other times we just have to be spontaneous so we do not miss out on the blessings God has planned for us. I am so thankful for the wonderful memories of  our little adventure in Asheville.