Poutres' Visit

Last week, our great friends Chris and Maia came to visit! Chris and I went to ISU together....we had classes and honors seminars together, even road tripped to Vegas our senior year. Maia was a frequent weekend visitor to ISU back then - I can't believe they've now been married 5 years! They have two adorable little boys (one is my godson, Cole), but the boys stayed at home and C&M took a couples-only anniversary trip to NC. The four of us enjoyed each other's company and great food and wine. What could be better?

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They arrived Wednesday night - we went out to Fourth St Filling Station for some southern shrimp & grits and sweet tea. Yum!

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On Thursday, Mark had to work. The three of us walked around Reynolda Village and enjoyed lunch at The Village Tavern. Then to Sweetie's for some truffles......

Thursday night, we went to A Taste of the South downtown. Lots of our favorite W-S restaurants were represented - Noma, Mozelle's, Dewey's, Foothills - but everyone was hungry and food ran out early. Thankfully, the wines from 6 local vineyards were plentiful. :-)

On Friday, we took our first ever trip to the Biltmore Estate (built by the Vanderbilt family in the late 1800s) for their Candlelight Christmas event. We arrived in the afternoon to tour the grounds during daylight hours. Here is the Inn on the grounds....

It sits on the hill above the village of shops and restaurants.

We enjoyed lunch at the winery's Bistro, then went to a tasting at the winery. They had 22 wines to sample....I think we made it through 7 or 8 at best.

We then drove to the Bilmore House itself for our tour. Here is a pic from the internet - we couldn't capture it all from the front lawn!

Outside view of the grand central staircase.......

We strolled along the gardens while waiting for our tour to start.

I imagine this porch is beautiful in the spring....it was still lovely this time of year.

Sunset over the mountains

These next few pics are also from the internet - we weren't allowed to take pictures inside. It is an incredibly impressive home any time of year - 200+ rooms, gorgeous architecture. But at Christmas time, everything is decorated with wreaths and trees.....the entire tour was lit by only candlelight, Christmas lights, and fireplaces. They had carolers and harp players - it was lots of fun!

The grand staircase - this chandelier spans the entire 4 stories.

The library

Front hallway

The dining room, which is 7 stories tall. That tree was probably 4 stories.

The fountain and tree display on the front lawn....

After our long day in Asheville, Saturday was a lazy day. We satisfied Chris's craving for Dunkin Donuts (again), and went to the new Harry Potter movie. That night, we grilled out (the weather was so nice while they were here!) and played games while enjoying one of our purchases from the Biltmore winery.


On Sunday morning, we made crepes. We had yummy strawberries, blueberries, and banana + nutella filling. We even tried some of the sweet potato butter than mom and dad sent for Thanksgiving - thanks, M&D!

The last of the crepe batter didn't quite fill the pan - in fact, it formed this penguin shape all on its own! Chris, having accidentally created it, decided to have a little fun....

The master, hard at work. Nutella for feathers, powdered sugar belly, sweet potato butter feet and beak. :-)

The finished product! (Chris said he was delicious.)

After breakfast, we headed to the airport. Thanks for a great visit, Chris and Maia! We miss you already!