WEEKEND IN NC

Last weekend I went to NC to visit Chrissy and Ryan. It was nice to see them and good to get away. We started the day slowly with the elliptical, lunch at an organic café, and then off to the Biltmore.

The Biltmore is an enormous 4 acre house built by the Vanderbilts basically as a guest house. Originally it was over 100000 acres of land (most of that has been sold and designates Pisgah National Park, and only 800 acres remain… only 8000.) In that time period, rich people built grand houses mostly for the comfort of the guests that might be coming to stay for weeks at a time. The house had over 250 rooms or something with 43 bathrooms. The Vanderbilt’s themselves really only had 4 rooms designed for them – the separate bedrooms and the library. I am sure that they enjoyed all the comforts of the estate, but most of the extravagance was both for impressing the guests, but also making them comfortable. How awesome it must have been to go visit someone for six weeks.

I think of millionaires now and the palaces and grand houses that they live in. They have huge home with lots of comforts – only for themselves. No guests come to visit them for extended periods time. It makes today’s wealthy people look like snobs and greedy. Even today’s rich people live in houses way larger than they need – not for guests, but for things. I think we need to shift back. Plus if people are together visiting, then there is less time in front of the tv.

After the Biltmore we went in search of whoopee pies (Chrissy’s favorite), a walk around downtown, and then dinner at a restaurant that promotes local agriculture and meats. It was delicious. To finish the evening, Chrissy and I watched “Life in Cold Blood” a BBC production delving into the mysteries of reptiles and amphibians. It has an amazing infrared sequence showing marine iguanas warming themselves on the rocks before plunging into the cool waters encircling the Galapagos and then their cool bodies emerging and slowly warming back up as the iguanas bask on the rocks. I also learned a lot of other new information. Animals and their adaptations are so amazing. My fascination is why I should be teaching a life science class. 2 hours later, there was more to watch, but we were ready for bed.

The next morning it was all-you-can-eat pancakes and a local wildlife center. Because of the cool weather, all of the animals were out – foxes, coyotes, wolves, otter, etc. Only the bear was out of site. I do not think I have ever seen a wolf that was not smeared across the highway. The otter was hilarious. He was grooming and then scratching himself on every log in his enclosure. I captured a video and will try to post it if possible. And then goodbyes and the long drive home. I should plan more weekend trips.