Things to do in the Western Carolina Mountains

Biltmore Estate and Gardens

Attraction | "America's Castle Estate"

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At 250 rooms, the Biltmore Estate boasts as the largest single family dwelling in the United States. Built in the late 1800's by George Vanderbilt, the Biltmore Estate exudes opulence and lavishness. Most people do the self tour which includes roughly 50 rooms in the public areas of the home. For an additional $10 you may add the audio headset tour to accompany your walk through the house.When we first arrived at the house via the shuttles from the parking lot, I was in awe of the sheer size of this home. It was massive with its long driveway and open green lawn. The architecture was unique and consistent throughout the building. Inside they did not permit photos, which was very disap...Read More

At 250 rooms, the Biltmore Estate boasts as the largest single family dwelling in the United States. Built in the late 1800's by George Vanderbilt, the Biltmore Estate exudes opulence and lavishness. Most people do the self tour which includes roughly 50 rooms in the public areas of the home. For an additional $10 you may add the audio headset tour to accompany your walk through the house.

When we first arrived at the house via the shuttles from the parking lot, I was in awe of the sheer size of this home. It was massive with its long driveway and open green lawn. The architecture was unique and consistent throughout the building. Inside they did not permit photos, which was very disappointing.

Some of the rooms where visitors could tour included Vanderbilt's library with more than 10,000 of his collection of over 23,000; the tapestry room with beautiful wall coverings original and genuine to the original estate; the Louis XV hall that included four exquisite guest rooms and one of the 43 bathrooms in the house. (Yes I said 43!) Most of the furnishings in the estate are originals and restorations. They employ a large staff of conservationists who work on the preservation of the estate and her contents.

The dining areas including the breakfast room were equally impressive, set as if prepared to host high dignitaries from across the Atlantic Ocean. The food storage and preparation areas are in the basement and also part of the walking tour. In the basement were the swimming pool, two bowling alleys, a fitness center and dressing quarters. The servants' quarters were also on this level and included no bathrooms, only bedchamber pots.

Beyond the actual house are over 8,000 acres of rolling mountain view countryside with lakes, streams and farmland. The gardens are adjacent to the home and worth a stroll as well.

Heirs of George & Edith Vanderbilt currently keep the Biltmore Estate open to the public in order to continue the spirit of friendship and hospitality to visitors from around the world . . . just as George & Edith did prior to his death in 1914.

During your visit, be sure to go to Antler Village which is part of the estate and your admission ticket. There you can find dining options, along with the Biltmore Legacy containing heirlooms from the estate along with a short video telling more of the Biltmore story.

We also did the complimentary wine tasting and tour at their Biltmore Winery. Now it their 27th year, they do grow some varietals on the property with most being shipped in from California, France and other well know wine producing areas. The winery tour was interesting and the wines very nice. We did make a three bottle purchase to replenish the Casa Bennett wine rack.

The admission price is quite steep in my opinion at $59 per person (adults). We did make our purchase online the week of our visit with a $10 per ticket discount. If you buy more than a week out, you can save $15 per ticket. Additionally, Tuesday features a $20 discount for seniors over the age of 65. For the three of us, including the convenience fee for our online tickets, we paid $142 (a $36 savings over regular admission pricing).

If you want to stay on the estate grounds, they do have the Inn on Biltmore Estate which advertises rates starting at $199/night.

All in all, we had a very nice time exploring this slice of American history in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.
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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on May 30, 2025

Biltmore Estate and Gardens
1 Approach Road
Asheville, North Carolina 28806
(828) 274-6333

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Blue Ridge Parkway

Attraction | "Must See! (wish we could)"

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After our week in Lake Lure, our plans included taking the Blue Ridge Parkway from Asheville down to near Cherokee where we would enter the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The weather the night before our departure from Lake Lure was very stormy and with the storms came much cooler temperatures. For the locals and tourists alike, folks were happy to have a break from the 85-90F temps. What we didn't really want or need was the dense fog that would result.We left Lake Lure around 9:30am taking the scenic route out of town. Yes that is a very redundant comment as every route to or from Lake Lure is beautiful, but we chose to take a bit of an out of the way route from Lake Lure to Ch...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on May 30, 2025

Blue Ridge Parkway
199 Hemphill Knob Road
Asheville, North Carolina 28803
(828) 298-0398

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Strawberry Hill USA/The Shed on Cooley Farm

Attraction | "Nice Day Trip for Fresh Fruit (and homemade ice cream)"

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During my planning for our trip to Lake Lure, NC I had read several reports on the great ice cream and fruit stand about 30-45 minutes away just south of NC/SC state line. Our little afternoon day trip did not disappoint!Known as "Strawberry Hill USA" located in Chesnee, SC is the Cooley Farm and The Shed on Cooley Farm. The farm stand is on one side of Hwy 11 with the shed on the opposite side. At the fruit stand we purchased a "bucket" of freshly picked strawberries right from the fields earlier that morning. For $12 we figured we got about four to five pounds of large, juicy ripe berries. We also purchased a small bag of early season peaches which were also very delicious....Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on May 30, 2025

Strawberry Hill USA/The Shed on Cooley Farm
3097 Highway 11
West Chesnee, South Carolina 29323
8644614000

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Hiddenite Gems Emerald Hollow Mine

Attraction | "Fun Time - Lots of Gems too"

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Hiddenite Gems Mine is located about two hours from Lake Lure. We planned for it to be a full day and it was. With the temperatures hovering around 90F, we enjoyed splashing in the sluice water in the cool breeze that swirled through the sluice box area.For your $5 per person admission, you will get one free pail (approximately 1 gallon) to sluice for gems. In our three buckets, we did get a decent assortment of stones, but no emeralds. I did find a nice sized clear smoky topaz that David's mom loved. We are having it set into a ring for her. Cutting the stone is $60 and the ring setting (sterling silver) added another $40. With $8 shipping, she will have a very pretty reminder of o...Read More

Hiddenite Gems Mine is located about two hours from Lake Lure. We planned for it to be a full day and it was. With the temperatures hovering around 90F, we enjoyed splashing in the sluice water in the cool breeze that swirled through the sluice box area.

For your $5 per person admission, you will get one free pail (approximately 1 gallon) to sluice for gems. In our three buckets, we did get a decent assortment of stones, but no emeralds. I did find a nice sized clear smoky topaz that David's mom loved. We are having it set into a ring for her. Cutting the stone is $60 and the ring setting (sterling silver) added another $40. With $8 shipping, she will have a very pretty reminder of our time mining for gems.

In addition to our "free" buckets, we thought that it might be best to go to the "dig area" where visitors can pay an additional $15 for the day to dig up and haul dirt back to the sluice box. We were prepared with shovels and a five gallon bucket for David to dig for the group of us. Unfortunately, the dig area was about 400 yards (uphill) from the main entrance to an area you cannot drive to. David did it once, bringing down a full bucket that they estimated would weigh about 70-80 pounds. In the heat, and with no real finds in the huge bucket, we felt that was not a wise game plan.

Instead, we ended up buying "enriched" buckets that contained pre-dug dirt which came from areas in the mine known to produce gemstones. We paid $25 for what seemed to be a two or three gallon pail with "emeralds" . . . and another five gallon bucket also for $25 with blue star sapphires and rubies. This bucket did not produce very much in the way of stones. I think David's Mom got three or four average sized blue sapphires, but neither of us got any rubies.

David sluiced the emerald bucket and got a ton of "stuff" (raw emeralds) but probably only four or five that were clear enough for setting into jewelry. I did have one pulled from his bounty to set into a ring, which cost the same $108 as his mom's ring.

We brought home a lot of other nice gems mostly from the original three buckets that we got for our $5 admission fee. I had several beautiful citrines, which also happens to be my birthstone. I may have them set into earrings when the price of gold comes down. The price for cutting and setting was going to be nearly $350 and that was more than I was prepared to spend.

I also had a couple of very nice amethysts and some other pretty colored stones. Mostly nice to look at but who knows? Maybe I will do something with them someday.

There was one couple there who bought the mega tub (probably 15-20 gallons) for $250. In it, they had already pulled out an emerald the size of two fists together and a beautiful eight to ten inch geode wedge with beautiful deep purple amethysts on the inside. Lucky them. The amethyst geode was probably worth more than the $250 they paid for the bucket!

All in all, we spent just under $300 for the gem mining experience and two rings, plus the collection of stones taken home.
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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on May 30, 2025

Hiddenite Gems Emerald Hollow Mine
Sulphur Springs Road
Hiddenite, North Carolina 28636
828 632 3394 or

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Province 620

Restaurant | "Very Nice Dining Experience"

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As we arrived into North Carolina on our drive to Lake Lure, hunger was setting in around dinnertime so we stopped in Asheville to scope out somewhere to eat. After driving into town, we opted to head back out to the other side of I40. That was where we found Province 620 (exit 50 off I40 east).This restaurant was a bit of a mix of Italian/Greek diner plus seafood and steak choices. It was a large open space with a small bar area in the back area of the main dining area. Our server was very prompt on stopping by to offer beverages. Oh to be in the south . . . Coca-Cola products and wonder freshly brewed iced tea.For dinner, I had a craving for fried shrimp which were prepa...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on May 30, 2025

Province 620
620 Hendersonville Rd
Asheville, North Carolina 28803-2849
8282770355

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