Spring, the Outlaw's Bus, and Biltmore

Spring tulips always remind me of a wonderful trip we took many years ago. I was working with Jerry Bridges, (musician/producer/band leader for Waylon Jennings for 25 years). Our families had become very close, and in the fall of 1992, we decided to take a trip together to the Biltmore Mansion at Christmas time, on Waylon's tour bus! Well, due to an injury to the bus driver, we had to wait until spring 1993 to take our trip.

We all cooked up a bunch of our favorite finger foods, and boarded the bus late in the evening, and drove to Asheville, North Carolina on our little escapade. We talked, laughed, played games, listened to music, talked some more and ate lots of good food all the way down. We "rested" in the musician bunks, and marveled at the coolness of this luxurious home on wheels. Chris and Randi thought we should just get our own tour bus for family vacations. HA!

It took us all night, and when we reached the Mansion, we were running on no sleep, but the adrenaline was pumping, and we really enjoyed the tours.

      

The Biltmore Mansion, built in 1895, is a 250-room French Renaissance Chatteau that displays the extreme wealth of the famous railroad Vanderbilts, even in that era. They were the first home in the town of Hyde Park to have electricity. There were 31 bedrooms, 65 fireplaces, 43 bathrooms, a banquet hall that seats 64 guests, an indoor pool and a long, skinny bowling alley!

They were the first to have hot running water; I remember the showers were TINY, but they had water that poured down on you, and at the time, THAT was luxury! And the servants' quarters were itty-bitty, and I think the people must have been shorter then, because the beds looked about 4 1/2 feet long! Another room that made an impression was the presidential library that had an ornately painted ceiling, floor to ceiling bookcases with over 10,000 books and the little ladder that moves around. Steve wants to have that someday (I think he already has enough books!)

I'm so glad we ended up going in the spring, because the tulips at the Mansion were in bloom, and the grounds were just beautiful!

We're still good friends with the Bridges', and keep saying we're going to go see the Mansion at Christmastime. I hope we do!