Pictured above: October 12, 2020 – The Biltmore
Last fall, I spent about six weeks in Washington, D.C. During that time, I really wanted to take advantage of my location and see some of the attractions just outside of D.C. that had been just out of reach as a college student.
As a freelance writer, I had recently completed a blog for a client detailing the Blue Ridge Parkway. While the start of it wasn’t far from D.C. (and I’d even lived close to one of the mile markers when I was little), I’d never driven the Blue Ridge Parkway myself.
Thus, the perfect fall road trip was born. Dan and I planned to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway and visit the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. Here’s how it went.
Our Itinerary
I flew from Phoenix to D.C. on Thursday, October 8. We planned to leave D.C. the next evening and stay in Charlottesville, so we could get an early start on the Blue Ridge Parkway and avoid traffic. We ended up leaving D.C. later than anticipated, and our stay at a cheap motel (yes, motel) was a royal nightmare. That’s a story for another time, but let’s just say that we no longer cheap out on our accommodations. I’m a long-time lover of hostels, but this stay was far worse than any hostel accommodation I’d ever encountered.
The next morning, we were up before 6 AM and ready to depart due to the poor quality of that stay. We planned to drive down to Asheville via the Blue Ridge Parkway, so we could explore the area on Sunday and visit the Biltmore Estate on Monday.
While the weather was fairly overcast, the leaves were gorgeous, and it was an awesome drive. See the pictures below! When we planned this trip, we spend a lot of time discussing how we were going to do it. When you map it on Google Maps, the route is much shorter. It’s only about 6 hours from D.C. to Asheville. However, when you take the Blue Ridge Parkway, it’s significantly longer. It grows from around 6 hours to 10 hours.
Knowing that we didn’t want our weekend to be primarily driving, we didn’t take the Blue Ridge Parkway the entire time. Instead, we hopped on and off the parkway when it made sense from a time perspective, exiting the parkway and returning to the highway to expedite our journey.
We ended up getting off the Blue Ridge Parkway at the Roanoke mile marker. We stopped and got coffee at a local shop, and we also visited the house that my family lived in from 1996 to 1997.
My family’s former Roanoke house
After that, we continued driving down to Asheville to stay the night on Saturday and Sunday. Our Saturday night was fairly uneventful after a long day of driving. Sunday would begin our adventures in Asheville.
My Impressions of Asheville and Visiting the Biltmore
Despite living in North Carolina from 2006 to 2012, I had never been to Asheville or visited the Biltmore Estate. After looking at the ticket prices, this wasn’t altogether surprising. The tickets for the Biltmore are pricey (minimum $60/person and often more expensive when you go during the fall season or holidays). However, I felt strongly that the Biltmore was something I wanted to check off my list if we were going to go to Asheville.
The Biltmore is America’s largest home. It was built by George Vanderbilt in the late 1800s and opened in 1895. It’s located on an 8,000-acre estate in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Asheville, NC.
If you’re looking to visit Asheville, you may consider going a few different routes. People tend to visit for the fall foliage, the hiking, or for the Biltmore Estate. I don’t love hiking and the weather was a bit overcast/rainy the entire time we were there. As a result, Dan couldn’t subject me to any hiking (much to my delight).
On Sunday, we headed off to Downtown Asheville. We enjoyed coffee at the Double D’s Coffee and Desserts. This is a coffee shop nestled in a red bus right on Asheville’s main strip. It’s popular, and as a result, we waited in line for about 20 to 30 minutes. After that, we wandered up and down the main street, checking out the shops, and brewery scene. During the afternoon, we spent some time at the rather crowded breweries and the Antique Tobacco Barn, which has over 77,000 square feet of shopping with over 75 dealers. For dinner, we went to Zambra Tapas, Wine & Bar, which offered various Western Mediterranean flavors.
Overall, I left Asheville with the impression that COVID-19 hadn’t been super kind to it. Shops that looked like they should have been open were closed, and the city was a bit run-down. With everything I had heard from friends about Asheville, I hadn’t expected this.
The next morning, we headed to the Biltmore bright and early as were hoping to get on the road at a reasonable time following our tour. Our admission time was at 11:15 for a self-guided visit (the cheapest option available). We were told to allow 45 minutes of drive time between the admissions gate and the Biltmore House, and we needed to arrive at least 15 minutes prior to our admission time.
Our admission time pertained specifically to the house, but we were able to access the grounds in advance. So, we arrived closer to 10:15, wandered the grounds, and took pictures before our time slot.
A shot of the main Biltmore House
The fall foliage behind the Biltmore House
Dan in front of the fall foliage at the Biltmore
A picture of the Biltmore’s interior (already prepped for Christmas!)
Final Thoughts
After our visit to the Biltmore, we got on the road around noon and had a full day of driving ahead of us. Dan drove the entire way home, and after a mistake with our route, we didn’t get back to his apartment until 10-11 PM. It was a long and exhausting end to the perfect fall road trip, but I’m so glad we have those memories.