Asheville, North Carolina to Charleston, South Carolina

We were both very sad to leave Asheville and promised ourselves we would come back! The Inn on Biltmore Estate is definitely one of the best hotels we have stayed in on this drive.

We had a drive of over 400kms to Charleston and decided to take the quickest route so that we would have time to see Charleston this afternoon. It was a very good drive through some beautiful Carolinian countryside.

After about an hour we reached our fourteenth state, South Carolina.

We have seen several of these road work warning signs and this was the first one Wendy managed to photograph. We liked the phrase 'let 'em work, let 'em live'.

These two motorcyclists drove past us and then the one behind caught up with his buddy, who gave him the thumbs up.

We had seen signs on the freeway to an antiques mall in a small town called Little Mountain.  So, when we came to the exit, we turned off and drove a couple of miles to a really excellent antiques place. I bought a large print of General Lee to remind me of our visit to Gettysburg. Wendy bought a very pretty sugar bowl made in Buffalo in 1919. It was a fun stop and I also was able to get my daily dose of caffeine from the coffee pot available for customers.

We continued our drive south and just before we reached the outskirts of Charleston, we passed the 6,000kms mark of the drive. Another milestone reached!

We drove up to our hotel, Charleston Place, at exactly 2.30pm, five hours after we left Asheville. The entrance lobby of the hotel with its giant chandelier and curving staircase.

Our hotel courtyard.

We unpacked quickly and then walked the streets of old Charleston. We both liked this art deco cinema, The Riviera, just around the corner from the hotel.

Next, we went to the Market Place and had a snack lunch. Wendy did some shopping before we walked down to the waterfront.

On the waterfront was this impressive fountain, another one where children were running through the jets of water.

We walked out on to a jetty to look across Charleston Harbour. To the left of us was the magnificent Arthur Ravenel Jr cable-stayed bridge.

As we admired the wonderful vista, a large cruise ship pulled away from the quay and headed out of the harbour, in front of the bridge.

On the other side of the harbour I saw this aircraft carrier. I asked one of the people on the jetty if they knew what it was and they said it is the USS Yorktown, which is now a floating museum.

We left the jetty and walked through the waterfront gardens where we saw this impressive pineapple-shaped water fountain.

I walked round the fountain and Wendy took this photo of me. It was only when I was looking through her photos that I noticed the girl lying sunbathing on the fountain surround. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!

A furry creature in one of the trees.

Close to the waterfront is the area of old Charleston known as Rainbow Row. These are renovated houses which are painted in lovely pastel colours.

We walked down some lovely tree-lined streets.

Who would have thought we would see a London taxi parked in one of the driveways?

We ended our walk going along Meeting Street, which went past Washington Park, so named for its statue to George Washington in recognition of his visit to Charleston after American Independence.

It was just a five minute walk back to our hotel to meet up with Bob and Thelma, who took a different route from us today. We are eating out in Charleston this evening and then tomorrow we have our last day of driving when we head for Savannah. Our great drive down the eastern seaboard is very nearly over.

The Biltmore Estate, Asheville, North Carolina

I said I would be posting more photos of this wonderful place. Well, here goes.

We had a late breakfast overlooking the beautiful North Carolina hills. The hotel is in a wonderful spot with 360 degree views of the countryside. We were told the hotel was built about ten years ago, in the style of George Vanderbilt's mansion.

 

One of the advantages of staying at the Inn was that we had free shuttle transport to and from the mansion, which is about two miles from the hotel. It is a vast estate, that was originally 125,000 acres but much of the land was sold back to the state of North Carolina after George Vanderbilt's death.

As we drove to the mansion, I saw this maple turning a beautiful red.

Our first view of the mansion after we arrived in the shuttle.

We entered the house to take the guided audio tour, which goes through the main rooms of the house, as well as some of the bedrooms and the servants quarters. There are 33 bedrooms and 250 rooms in all!!

The tour, which took about an hour and half, was well worthwhile. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take photos inside the house, so it is not easy trying to describe how vast and impressive the interior of the mansion is. For example, the banquet hall is 70 feet in height! No expense was spared in building the house, which took ten years to construct and was completed in 1895. It is the largest house in the US and is still privately owned by George Vanderbilt's grandson, William Cecil Jr.

The huge foundation walls at the rear of the house.

Looking towards the southern elevation of the house, across the south terrace.

The house with a wonderful wisteria-clad pergola in the foreground.

This giant purple-leaved European Beech tree was one of the many planted at the end of the 19th century.

We walked through the gardens into the beautiful walled garden with its very colourful flower beds and borders.

A giant hibiscus flower, which was about six inches across.

This flower bed had just been planted and was based upon a pattern of a Tiffany  lamp.

Wonderful borders.

 

Next, we walked back to the house to look at the Italian Garden with its three pools, each one filled with different varieties of water lily.

 

I liked these giant floating lilies.

One of the ponds was teaming with Koi carp.

We then walked back to the house and I took this final photo. I felt it was a fitting way to end a wonderful visit and one we would both thoroughly recommend to anyone who is thinking of visiting North Carolina. George Vanderbilt has left a truly remarkable legacy.

We took the shuttle back to the hotel and, later on in the afternoon, we drove down into Asheville to try and find the art deco buildings the town is famous for.

The drive only took us about twenty minutes and we parked in the centre and were immediately impressed by some wonderful art deco architecture. In central Pack Square are two large buildings which turned out to be the Buncombe County Court House, on the left in the photo below, and the amazing City Hall.

In front of the City Hall was a fountain through which children were running and trying to dodge the jets of water that were randomly squirting into the air. It was very enjoyable to watch them having so much fun.

Close up of the top of City Hall with its pink and green tiled roof.

Just in front of the County Court House was a memorial to the Veterans of North Carolina. In the centre of the memorial was a statue of a seated woman holding a book in her hands. The significance of the lady escaped me.

The third major art deco building on the edge of Pack Square is the extraordinary Jackson skyscraper. Built in 1923 on an incredibly small 27ft x 60ft plot, it has an upper section that looks like a church tower which has been planted on top of the building.

A close-up of the extraordinary top section of this art deco skyscraper.

A rather beautiful fountain where the water flowed over a smooth circular stone, from the centre outwards and then to the ground.

As we walked through the centre of Asheville, we saw a legacy from the past, an FW Woolworth store, with a lovely art deco facade.

A close-up of the Woolworth facade.

Another impressive art deco building in the centre of Asheville.

We had a lovely meal in a Spanish restaurant before driving back to our hotel. What a surprise Asheville has turned out be. None of us ever expected that this North Carolina town would have so much to offer. Yet another place we would like to come back to.

After returning to the hotel, we went out on to the terrace and saw a new moon in the beautiful evening light above the hills. What a perfect way to end an incredible day.