Dear Carolyn and Dave,
Thanks so much for your hospitality. I can't tell you how much we needed some time away together.
The house is beautiful and your recommendations on places to eat were spot on! We will definitely be back . Next time I won't plan on going some crazy race up Mt. Mitchell.
PS. She came is 4th over all for the women racers!
The Swannanao Valley Museum offered a Saturday hike today to a local waterfall less than 15 minutes for our B&B. You can get to the lower falls hiking in a trail by a creek for almost a mile and if you are up to a climp you can go to the upper falls. In the spring the falls are large due to all the snow melt and rain fall.
Do the Catawba falls in the morning and then head to Andrews Gyser to see the local attraction. A great place to have a picnic and watch the trains as they struggle to go either up or down the mountain. After a good lunch then you can hike up old highway 70 with is now a hiking, biking lane or choose a mountain trail Kitsumma Trail [ an old Indian trail on a ridge] which is a mountain bike trail / hiking trail. If you don't want to bring you mountain or road bike Epic Bikes in Black Mountain rents bikes.
Any of the three could be done alone and then head back to Black Mountain for lunch and check out the shops. Some new shops , eateries and an ale house have opened. Still have energy left for the evening check out some local music in Black Mountain.
Not sure about hiking alone, check with me and I can hook you with one of the many hiking groups and I
maps and plenty of suggestions of safe trail hiking near us.
With all the rains we have been having the spring flowers are just waiting for a little sunshine so they can bloom. Hopefully the Biltmore flowers will be right on cue and my guests can enjoy a day at the park. Arbor House will be offering a free ticket through May and another ticket can be bought at my price.
The gardens here are Arbor House and getting a face lift. I have someone come in , a first, to help me do spring clean up and to do a new set of steps leading down to the garden and the path around the lake.
We put in the small stepping stones seven years ago and now need something a little bigger. Will post a before and after picture.
Oh boy, it's March already and the blog has sat idle most of the winter. Glad to say I'm back.
We have lot of good news. A new grand daughter has arrived and the snow has melted.
This spring we are offering a special stay two nights at regular price and receive a Biltmore ticket for free. You can purchase another ticket from us at our price. Call to check on available dates and go to the Biltmore.com web site to see about the spring flowering blooming dates. Our special will last through the month of May.
Hope to see you soon.
Hard to believe it is November and the leaves are now falling on the ground waiting to go in the mulch pile. My goal this year is to grind them all up to use in the flower beds. The flower beds still have blooms since we have not had a frost to kill off the plants. Hard to believe that the same plants have produced flowers most of the summer into the fall. This past weekend I bet I cut my last flowers to bring in the house. It will not make me sad to put the garden to bed for the winter. I will try to wait until the warm spring weather to get out there again . Each year I rush it and end up spending hours and hours working in the flower beds. It was worth all that work this year with all the beautiful plants and flowers. Hopefully I can dust off my paints this winter in the studio and work on some paintings either in WC or oils. Running a B&B is never boring so I am sure I will have plenty to keep me busy.
