The Great Smoky Mountains

Green! That's the best word I can use to describe these gorgeous mountains. It is green for as far as you can see. What a beautiful drive.  As soon as we crossed the border into North Carolina the terrain changed and we were in the mountains.  We wanted to find a place half way between Charleston and Nashville, Tennessee. Asheville, North Carolina was the perfect distance. Knowing it was a small town  with not much there, it was our intention to wander the Historic area some, have dinner and get to sleep so we could leave early for Nashville.  We had no idea how much there was to see in Asheville!

This little community isn't as small as we thought. It has been used in numerous movies: Dirty Dancing and The Hunger Games just to name two.  We wandered the downtown area and found a rooftop bar and the view showed us why these are called the Smoky Mountains.

We had a drink while enjoying the view then found a nice sidewalk restaurant for dinner. I did get bit by a wasp when we first sat down so I was on the look-out for other insects that wanted to ruin our night. Luckily, that was the only varmint that bothered me. He didn't live to tell about it!

 We took a nice walk after dinner. It's a lovely area. We were prepared to leave the next morning but after advice from Lisa Reding decided to go see the Biltmore House before moving on.

So...this morning we headed out to drive by the Biltmore House on our way out of town. Oh My Gosh! We're talking 100's of acres and the largest house I've ever seen! This was the home of George Vanderbilt. Built in the late 1800's it is unbelievable, by far larger than Hearst Castle. Well, we had to take a tour.  Jim had read several books about the Vanderbilt fortune and the family business. He was very interested.

 This is the view off the back balcony. He owned the mountains for as far as we could see. He had the same landscape architect that built Central Park landscape his home. It was incredible.  This little drive by took us over 2 hours! There went our early start to Nashville but Thank you Lisa! We loved it. We'll just add yet one more day to our trip! Just kidding...maybe.

Moving on down the road, yes, it's still green! And dense, and lush. The good news is there is low humidity, Yay! The drive to Nashville was longer than we thought. The road is not a freeway and the speed is reduced. We were so happy to get here just in time for the last tour of the day for the Grand Ole Opry! We really have been so lucky!

If you're a fan of the ABC show "Nashville" you may recognize these items from the show.  They have filmed many scenes here at the studio.  The clothing on the right is Rayna's outfit and on the left is Juliette's dress.

This photo is from the Green Room where all of the stars wait to go on.  We sat in the same chairs they do and visited the dressing rooms. This is a very special place for country music and Jim and I are both fans. We got to walk out on stage because there was no show tonight. We'd have loved to see a show but going backstage was a
treat.



It was another place that we'd wanted to see for the past few years and we weren't disappointed.

We had our time on the special floor that was brought to this building from the old theater. This is wood that all of the past performers had stepped on. This way the new musicians will be standing in the footsteps of the past. We got to stand there too! Very cool!



Dinner time now and we ate at local place that features an upcoming performer.  He was very good. We bought the CD and hope to see his name in lights very soon.  This has been a busy few days and we are exhausted. This traveling is harder work than I thought. There's just so much to see and we are running out of time.  We got a late start here today so we'll stay tomorrow and see the areas we haven't had time for today. Then it's off to Louisvile, Kentucky. Jim had a great idea to see the Louisville Slugger Factory. I must say, I never would have thought of that. But we're here and it's close, so off we go!