Trip to Asheville...

Fasten your seat belts, this past weekend was a whirlwind. I'm gonna recap. Here we go!

Paul took me to Asheville, NC to the Biltmore Estate for our anniversary. It's a great getaway (for all you in the ATL) just about a 4 hr. drive. And, it's pretty inexpensive. We usually stay at a nice hotel for a good deal. Here's what was waiting for me in our room...

Look who we ran into in downtown Asheville  - the Moxey's. (Actually we knew they were going to be there the same weekend, so we planned a dinner date). This restaurant, Tupelo Honey was INCREDIBLE! Quaint and cozy. Inexpensive. I highly recommend the Charleston Chicken sandwich!

After dinner, we were off to the candlelight tour of the Biltmore. It was breathtaking! My pictures hardly capture it...

As we were wrapping up the tour (which ends in the basement) I stopped by the flower potting room and asked the lady working if she just LOVED working there. I told her it would be my dream job...well, other than naming nail polish. Anyway, I told her we'd been there about 6 or 7 times and I loved learning more and more secrets about the place. As I was talking, she waved at a lady in the hallway to come over to meet me. So, the lady introduces herself..."Hi, I'm Dini Pickering." And so I said..."and I'm Angela Richardson." It didn't dawn on me that I was meeting GEORGE VANDERBILT'S GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER! Paul clued me in after we had been chatting for a few minutes. What did I do?

Ummmm, yeah, not cool.

I pretty much told her I thought I would pass out, then I hugged her. She was so kind and gracious enough to let us get our picture with her. If you're still wondering...who is she? Here's the breakdown.

George Vanderbilt had a daughter, Cornelia (born in the Louis 16th room at Biltmore).

She had a son, William Cecil (also born in the Louis 16th room at Biltmore).

William Cecil had Dini.

See that big cheesy grin on my face? These pictures are fuzzy, but they count!

This is the sweet, dear lady who thought enough to flag Dini down for me. When we were leaving, this lady said..."that's my anniversary gift to you." Awh!

The next day Paul and I walked the property for about 4 miles and took lots of fun pictures. The day could not have been more breathtaking. This is one of my favorite pictures. I love having a camera with a timer!

That night I had another huge treat - seeing my best friend from high school, Collyn. In the past 12 years, I had seen her ONCE! I've never met her girls, so I was ecstatic to get to see them!

It seemed like not a day had gone by. Within 5 minutes, we were cracking jokes and howling. I got to read her girls their Bible story before bed. Precious moment!

Whew! What a weekend! Thank you to my mother in law, Carol for watching our boys! They had a blast while we were gone. Here's some more pic's from our trip...(just in case the album you've already seen isn't enough..sheesh!)