The Ultimate Biltmore Estate Guide: What to Know Before You Go

I have wanted to go to the Biltmore Estate since I was a kid, so when we were planning our Smoky Mountains road trip, a stop in Asheville was on the top of my list. I’ve always loved history, beautiful architecture, and extravagant homes, so I knew I would love the largest privately owned house in the United States! I’ve been wanting to write a guide to the Biltmore Estate since we visited, so I’m super excited to share this stunning home with y’all today.

Before You Go

Buy Your Tickets
Tickets to the Biltmore Estate can be purchased here (https://www.biltmore.com/visit/plan-your-visit/buy-tickets/daytime). Not only do you save $10 per ticket by buying it online more than a week in advance, but you also skip the usually long line once you get to the reception & ticketing sales center. Keep in mind that if you are going to the property during a busy time (holidays, school breaks, and most weekends), you will be required to make a reservation. With your reservation, you will receive a specific time to enter the Biltmore House.

Purchase Your Tour Tickets
Unfortunately, the price of admission to the Biltmore Estate does not include a tour. You are welcome to take a self-guided tour, but in this case, I would strongly encourage taking a guided tour. I’m usually a big fan of audio tours, but due to the size of the house and the amount of people visiting at the same time, I think a guided tour is the way to go.

Tour Options
We did two tours while visiting the mansion, so I wanted to share what I liked about each one.

Guided Biltmore House Tour
This was the standard 90-minute tour of the house, which provides a very detailed overview over many rooms. I loved learning interesting facts such as the most guests that were at the house at one time was 38. If you only have time for one tour, you will receive a fantastic overview of the house with this one.

Rooftop Tour
I absolutely loved this tour. If you are interested in stunning views and amazing architecture, this tour is a must. The rooftop tour explains all the little details about the intricate architecture. For example, the two gargoyles are different because the tail broke off on one of them (so they added a butt). Plus, the views from the balcony were absolutely stunning! I personally preferred the rooftop tour to the house tour, but I would still do the house tour to see more of the rooms.

Plan to Get to the House Early
Plan to get to the Biltmore Estate as early as you can, even if you have a reservation. The drive to the entrance can get really backed up. The Biltmore Estate recommends getting there at least 45 minutes before your reservation time, so you have enough time to park and take the shuttle to the house. We got to the house around 8:30 a.m., and I noticed that it was already getting crowded by 10 a.m.

Once You Get There

Go on a Tour
I’ve already shared about the two tours we did, but I think a guided tour is the best way to experience Biltmore. We learned so much about the Vanderbilts and everything that went into building the estate.

Visit the Gardens
The gardens are a must! I really enjoyed the beautiful mixture of flowers and plants, and I could have walked around the area for hours. I especially loved the Rose Garden and Conservatory.

Visit the Antler Hill Village and Winery
A wine tasting is included with your ticket to the Biltmore Estate, and it’s worth checking out! The Antler Hill Village also includes temporary exhibits, a farm with a historic barn, trails and outdoor adventures, and several places to shop and dine.

Eat Lunch at Stable Café
The food at the Biltmore Estate was surprisingly good! I really enjoyed my burger, and I’m still dreaming about that peanut butter cake with raspberry jam.

When Should You Visit?

The Biltmore Estate is beautiful throughout the year. We went to the Biltmore during the fall, and the fall color was spectacular (though it would have been even better if we had gone a few weeks later). They had already started to set up for Christmas while we were there in October because it takes them that long to decorate the whole house, and I would love to visit during Christmas someday to see all of the gorgeous decorations. The gardens are also stunning to see in the spring, but if you go during the spring, try to avoid Spring Break weeks to minimize the crowds.

Where to Stay

I honestly wouldn’t stay at any of the hotels on property. The prices are really high, and they don’t add anything to the experience. If you are looking for a luxury stay in Asheville, I would pick the Omni Park Grove Inn, which has a fantastic spa and stunning views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Other Smoky Mountains Road Trip Posts:

Quick Thoughts

Little River Canyon National Preserve in Fort Payne, Alabama
Five Reasons You Should Visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Stunning Views at Chimney Rock, North Carolina

Have you ever been to the Biltmore Estate? Tell me about your visit!

Five Best Coastal Towns to Visit in Maine

If you’ve read my travel posts in the past, you know that Maine is one of my favorite places in the world. Chris and I constantly talk about how much we want to own a summer home there in the future (because we definitely don’t want to deal with those winters!). Now that I’m back to travel blogging, I thought it was only appropriate to kick off my travel posts with more Maine talk! One of my favorite parts of our Maine babymoon was visiting all the of the adorable coastal towns, so today I wanted to share five of my favorite spots with you.

Kennebunkport
Kennebunkport is the town that made me fall in love with the Maine coast. We first visited Kennebunkport on our fall colors cruise in 2014, and I knew we had to go back. Kennebunkport is full of adorable shops, historic mansions, gorgeous views, and amazing lobster rolls at The Clam Shack. If you want to swim, there are also several beautiful beaches to visit.

Bar Harbor
Bar Harbor is the gateway to one of my favorite national parks: Acadia National Park. Like with Kennebunkport, we first visited Acadia on our fall color cruise, and we loved it so much we knew we had to go back! Bar Harbor itself is special too. We loved walking along the water, going on a lobster boat cruise, and dining at the many delicious restaurants. You must stop for ice cream at Mt. Desert Island Ice Cream and grab some wild Maine blueberry muffins at Jordan’s Restaurant.

Camden
Camden is known for gourmet dining and the gorgeous Penobscot Bay. One of my favorite memories from our babymoon was our sunset cruise on the Penobscot Bay: it was absolutely stunning! Camden Hills State Park, a short drive outside the city, is also worth a visit. Mt. Battie (inside the park) offers gorgeous panoramic views of Penobscot Bay.

Boothbay Harbor
Boothbay Harbor stole my heart. It was the cutest little town with the most beautiful, clear water. It might just be a top contender for that vacation home of ours. I loved walking the Footbridge and just exploring all the fun shops along the water. It was absolutely charming and felt a bit like going back in time. I can’t wait to go back!

York
I included York on my list because it’s one of the easiest towns to get to from other states if you are driving. York is located on the southern tip of Maine and is full of fantastic beaches and gorgeous mansions. My favorite part of York, though, was the Cape Neddick Light (most commonly referred to as the Nubble Light)—one of the most photographed lighthouses in Maine.

This is just a taste of some of my favorite places in Maine! I'll be sharing more in-depth guides in the future.
P.S-If you know me, you know why all of the photos I showed y'all today are of the water and not the towns themselves-the water is my favorite part!

Other Maine Babymoon Posts:

Our Trip to Maine: By the Numbers
Five Reasons You Should Visit Maine

Quick Thoughts: Our Maine Babymoon

Other Maine Posts:

Fall Color Cruise: Portland and Kennebunkport, Maine

Fall Color Cruise: Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park

Have you been to Maine? What was your favorite town?

Our Trip to Maine By the Numbers

I’ve always wanted to do a by the numbers post for one of our trips and have just never gotten around to it! Before I get into all my detailed posts about our babymoon, I thought it would be fun to break down our vacation a little bit.

6 full days
When I say full, I mean full. We did so much on this trip, and I can’t wait to share all the details!

9 lighthouses seen
I actually tried to limit going out of the way to see lighthouses because there were so many other things to see, but we still managed to see nine, and I’m not complaining!

3 boat tours
At one point in our planning, I turned to Chris and asked if he would hate it if we ended up doing three boat tours. Thankfully, he agreed because we loved all three of them! They were all different, and I’m super excited to tell y’all about them.

2.5 hours
The amount of time we waited for a lobster roll at Red’s Eats. You’ll have to wait for my post on it to hear all of my feelings on that, but it was an interesting experience!

3 states visited
We flew into Boston and spent some time in Gloucester and Rockport before driving on to Maine. On our way back, we spent the night in Kittery, Maine, which also gave us the chance to explore Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

8 miles hiked
I’m only counting our two big hikes in this number, and boy, were they memorable! I love hiking, but hiking pregnant was a whole new experience. The views were completely worth it, though!

4 celebrations
I sure do love traveling on our Super Week. It’s so fun to celebrate all of our big occasions in a new place! Christopher’s birthday was the day before we left, but we celebrated it along with my birthday and our eighth wedding anniversary on our trip! Of course, we also celebrated our last big trip before baby boy’s arrival!

3 days spent at Acadia National Park 
I must say I love that you have buy a seven-day pass for Acadia because it gave us a chance to split up our time there and see as much as possible!

2 blueberry lemonades ordered
This is where I made a mistake, friends. I didn’t discover blueberry lemonade until nearly the end of our trip, so I missed out on several days of having this amazing drink. It’s one of the best lemonade combinations I’ve ever had, and I sure wouldn’t mind getting a few gallons shipped to me in Texas!

Countless amounts of lobster eaten
I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I will usually eat crab over lobster any day. Of course, that’s not the case with fresh Maine lobster. At the restaurant we went to for my birthday, I had lobster and corn chowder, lobster cakes, and lobster fettucine alfredo all in one meal. It’s just that good.

Other Maine Babymoon Posts:

Five Reasons You Should Visit Maine

Quick Thoughts: Our Maine Babymoon

Other Maine Posts:

Fall Color Cruise: Portland and Kennebunkport, Maine

Fall Color Cruise: Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park

Five Reasons You Should Visit Maine

Our trip to Maine was a dream. I loved every moment of exploring the coast, and I could have been happy spending another month in the area. Before I get into all the details of our trip, I wanted to share five reasons why I think everyone should visit Maine.

Lobster
Let me let y’all in on a little secret: I’m usually not the biggest fan of lobster. I prefer crab to lobster any day, and I think lobster tastes like whatever sauce is made with it (most of the time butter). That’s not the case with East Coast lobster, especially Maine lobster. It’s sweet and absolutely delicious. For one meal, I had lobster cakes, lobster fettuccini alfredo, and lobster and corn clam chowder. I still prefer warm lobster to cold lobster, so lobster rolls are hit or miss for me, but lobster is definitely a must when you’re in Maine!

Rocky Coastline
We spent most of the time heading up to Bar Harbor on Coastal Highway 1, and it was simply breathtaking. I might have convinced Chris we had to do three boat tours just so I could see the coastline from the water. It’s just that beautiful.

Maine Blueberries
I feel the same way about blueberries as I do lobster. I don’t hate them, but they are by far my least favorite berry. I also don’t like anything made with them (blueberry muffins, blueberry pancakes, etc). Maine blueberries are a completely different variety, and boy are they good! I even liked the blueberry muffins I tried, but my absolute favorite was fresh Maine blueberry lemonade! Even Chris, who is not the biggest lemonade fan, loved it (though his favorite was the Maine blueberry soda). Now I just need to figure out a way for them to ship some to Texas!

All the Cute Small Towns
There is nothing cuter than coastal towns, and Maine is full of them! When I was working on my list of towns to visit, I had such a hard time narrowing down where to go. We had so much fun walking (and driving) through all the adorable downtowns and stopping at all the interesting little shops.

Lighthouses
If you’ve read any of the posts from our Lake Michigan Circle Tour, you know Chris and I love lighthouses. I thought we wouldn’t be able to see many lighthouses on this trip, but there were so many great ones, we ended up seeing more than we planned! I’ll be sharing exactly how many in my Maine by the numbers post next week, but I must say those beautiful lighthouses made the trip even more special for us!

Have you been to Maine? What was your favorite part?

Stunning Views at Chimney Rock, North Carolina

I’ve always wanted to visit North Carolina, so I was excited we could fit in a few days of exploring the state during our Smoky Mountains road trip last October. The trip was important to me for a lot of reasons, but the biggest need was to relax after many difficult months before and after my surgery. For that reason, our itinerary was a little less packed than usual: we spent more time driving and stopping at lookouts than climbing rocks and going on strenuous hikes. The day we hiked to Chimney Rock was one of the exceptions to that rule.

We spent the morning and early afternoon driving all over the area exploring waterfalls (post to come!), so by the time we headed to Chimney Rock State Park, we were exhausted. I knew it was the only day we would be able to fit in the hike, so I was determined to make it happen.

Usually, there is an elevator that will take you to the top of Chimney Rock, but we knew it was broken (and it’s still broken to this day), so our only option was to climb over 500 steps to get to the overlook. I’m not going to lie: it wasn’t easy for me. There were a few times I wanted to quit because I just wasn’t sure how far I could push my body in one day. Thankfully, there are several lookouts on the way where you can rest and see plenty of gorgeous views.

The views at the top were worth every single step. Once you reach the rock, you are at 2,280 feet above sea level, so you get incredible panoramic views of Lake Lure and Hickory Nut Gorge. It’s truly breathtaking to see the gorgeous Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance while standing on a 535-million-year-old rock! I honestly could have sat there and enjoyed the view for hours.

Other Smoky Mountains Road Trip Posts:

Quick Thoughts

Little River Canyon National Preserve in Fort Payne, Alabama
Five Reasons You Should Visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

What's the best hike you've ever done?

Where to Eat in Breckenridge, Colorado

One of my favorite things to do on vacation is try new places to eat. I was really impressed by the food we had in Breckenridge, so I decided it deserves its own post! If you ever decide to visit Breckenridge (and here is why I think you should even if you don’t ski!), I hope you enjoy these places.

Breakfast
We mostly ate breakfast at the condo, but on our first day in Breckenridge, we decided to try out a breakfast place.

The Blue Moose
We loved The Blue Moose. I got the Ham Scram, which was a ham and cheese scramble. It was absolutely delicious. Chris got the Alaska Pipe Line omelet, which was seriously incredible. Who knew an omelet with snow crab, avocado, tomatoes, and cream cheese would be so amazing?

Lunch
Like breakfast, the convenience of living in a condo right off a ski slope is you can have lunch there in between runs. We did have a delicious lunch on the day everyone didn’t ski, though!

Blue River Bistro
I really loved the gorgeous modern interior of Blue River Bistro, but the food was even better. I had a spicy tomato chicken pasta they had on special, and Chris enjoyed his chicken walnut sandwich.

Dinner
Dinner was our big meal of each day, and we had fun deciding where to eat. Every single dinner we had was super good!

Salt Creek Steakhouse
Salt Creek has a great variety of items on its menu. We had a calamari appetizer, which was good, though we didn’t like the sauce. Chris got barbecue (a brisket and pulled pork plate), and I had a tasty bourbon-glazed salmon.

Kenosha Steakhouse
Kenosha also has a huge variety on its menu. We split a pretzel appetizer that was so good. I was in the mood for a burger, so I got the Kenosha Style burger, and Chris got some delicious nachos from the appetizer menu.

South Ridge Street Seafood Grill
Yes, we had seafood while in Breckenridge, and it was delicious! I had the seared sea scallops, and Chris loved the butternut squash ravioli. I also had a taste of my father-in-law’s shrimp and cheese grits, which was super delicious!

Bonus: We also had dinner one night in Vail, where we at at Bully Ranch Bar and Restaurant. It’s worth trying if you’re in the area.

Snack/Dessert

Crepes a la Cart 
If you pick one place to visit from my recommendations, I would highly recommend Crepes a la Cart. I had the berry swirl crepe for dessert one night, and it included white chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, blueberries, and raspberries. They also have savory crepes if you are looking for a snack. The crepes can get expensive, but they are huge and worth every penny.

Other Colorado Posts:

Quick Thoughts
Five Reasons You Should Visit Breckenridge

 Have you ever been to Breckenridge? What’s your favorite type of restaurant?

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Five Reasons You Should Visit Breckenridge, Colorado

We recently visited Breckenridge, Colorado, and I fell in love with this adorable ski town in the Rocky Mountains. The best part, though, is Breckenridge isn’t only a ski town. Today, I wanted to share a list of five reasons I think everyone should visit Breckenridge.

Amazing Views
What’s better than a town surrounded by gorgeous mountains? I’m still dreaming of the incredible view from our condo. We were so close the the mountains you could actually ski up to our condo!

Good Food
I never thought I would come back from Breckenridge raving about the food, but I am! We had so much good food on this trip that I’m going to write a whole post about it. Look out for that in the next week or two.

Fun Events
Breckenridge does a great job of hosting small-town events. We happened to be there during the Mardi Gras parade and had a blast, even in the freezing temperatures!

Shopping
The town is full of fun shopping, whether you are looking for cold weather gear or just cute boutique items. I got a cute winter hat to match my coat!

It’s Adorable!
The whole town is full of cute, colorful building that just made me happy. I loved walking around at dusk with all the sparkling lights they turn on at night. The snow falling slowly around us just made Breckenridge a true winter wonderland.

Other Colorado Posts:

Quick Thoughts

Have you visited Breckenridge? Are you interested in going? SaveSave