I took the family to Biltmore last December for the Christmas tour. We really enjoyed it. The winery tour on the estate grounds is nice as well.

 

Thanks Dennis, I'll have to run that by the wife.

RBlythe - I would think so, the pictures are in the morning so that should give you enough time; but we haven't been there yet.

 

I've been to the Biltmore with my Crossfire a couple of years ago, it is an amazing place to see it is like $50 to get in though.. There is a drive along the mountain peaks that we went on around Ashville and beyond. We were on it for 50 or more miles and it was very scenic, my old avatar was taken up there south west of Ashville some where.

 

I think Jane made the run with a few people last fall.

 

Did they keep up with her?

 

HAHA, If I remember right, they got there and had to go back because they didn't have reservations to tour it. (We're talking about the Vanderbilt house right?) lol

 

Not sure how long the tours last but the drive is less than 2 hours from the Lodge.
It might work out for ya....the BBQ will begin around 6pm.
Sunset is at 7:26pm

Link below:
Driving Directions from Fontana Dam, North Carolina to Asheville, North Carolina

 

Ray - I was thinking of doing a Biltmore run on Sunday, but the timing didn't seem to work. My understanding is that Asheville is a good 2 hr drive (one-way) and you need 4-5 hours to really appreciate the estate tour. Also, the tickets are $60 per person unless you buy them in advance at the website.

Jane, Judi and Dennis will have better info.

Let's talk Fri night at the lodge.

 

 

Here's a tentative route (along with directions from I-40W from their website) that according to MS Streets & Trips is the quickest way from Fontana Lodge. I typically use somewhat spirited driving speeds on all road types. You'll see that I allowed until 11 AM at the Fontana Dam photo shoot and then 3 hours at Biltmore. Gets you back to Fontana Dam around 5:30 PM. Within the window, but makes it a little tight to really enjoy the Biltmore House.

Stay off the BRP (Blue Ridge Parkway), which begins in Cherokee and passes near Asheville. Great scenic drive, but posted speed limits never exceed 45. It is strictly a leisurely, scenic drive all the way to the Shenandoah Forest in VA. You won't have the time to enjoy any of it.

Call ahead to check on tour times. During the fall season, the Biltmore House is crowded as it has one of the prettiest gardens anywhere in the world. They've been advertising it steady for about 3 weeks now.

And as mentioned earlier, IT IS PRICEY!

Estimated Self-Guided Tour Times

History of Biltmore House (Interesting trivia about Biltmore House - While the home was built based on a French Chateau in the Loire Vally, the main difference between the 2 homes is the circular staircase. One home has the staircase running CW, the other CCW.)

Hope this helps,

 

if there's enough people wanting to go they give group discounts, I think tickets would be around 35-40 that way.

Biltmore Groups and Meetings

 

Yea and after driving it for an hour in the spring, only to find it closed and have to turn around.

Here we are deciding what to do once we turn around.

 

For those of you still needing a room in the Lodge. I just got off the phone with John Book & he has a MAJOR scheduling conflict for the weekend of the Dragon. Unless he works something else out very soon he will not be joining us Dragon slaying this fall. He said that it really doesn't look very good for his attendance. I promised him that there wouldn't be any issues with getting someone to take his room as we have a shortage right now. I know that his reservation was at the discounted rate & it is a lodge room. Gary can probably chime in with a better idea of how we would work that all out. John promised to post soon - he has just been super swamped lately. I know he told me that the thought of missing the biggest XF gathering EVER was making him sick to his stomach.

https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...tml#post528606

 

Looks like the weather will be good on the weekend but the forecast here in NJ is pretty nasty on the weekdays before the GTG.

I'm hoping that there will be at least one or two good days for me to get the car cleaned.

This is my first Dragon so I'm not familiar with the room layouts. I have a confirmed Lodge Cabana but it is a one-king so I'm not sure if there's a couch or something that someone might be able to crash in.

Veterans that know the rooms please clue me in and I'd be happy to see if it is practical to share.

Anybody passing through NJ??

 

You need to ask the group that went to the Biltmore last Fall. If I remember correctly, they didn't get back until after 11pm that night.

James

 

Kim the lodge has a wait list for rooms, John's room would go into their list next I'd think

 

As of now I don't believe there is currently any waiting list but there might be someone who is currently in a sharing situation that might rather have a room in the lodge for themselves.
There may even be someone that had a cabin or Cabana room outside the lodge that would trade it in for Johns Room.
I'm not gonna write John off yet but in the event he can't make it his room will most likely not be vacant.

 

Great offer....pre order today.

 

It's RAINING!!!! And we need rain real bad!! Hopefully will be gone by mid-week.

Erzer: You're probably getting wet right now.

 

Yep, nice drizzle right now, I woke up to rain about four this morning. Intellicast.com shows some pretty patchy storms coming up from the south/southwest. Forecast for the week has rain through Tues morning and clear the rest of the week with temps during the day in the 70's and 40's at night. Might just get lucky and see some leaves changing.

We're heading out in a little bit for Gatlinburg and driving around.