Archive for the ‘Nature’ Category
Monday, February 22nd, 2010
Book a 3-night reservation at 1847 Blake House Inn Bed & Breakfast for travel dates between April 3 – May 16 (that’s Biltmore’s Festival of Flowers) and be entered into a drawing for either 2 FREE tickets or 1 FREE Annual Pass.
Reservation must be booked between February 22 – March 23 to qualify for the drawing. Winner will be notified via email and will be featured on our Facebook Fan Page. No other specials or discounts may be applied to the winning reservation.
If you have been to Biltmore before, there is exciting news this year. The Estate will be opening the new Antler Hill Village, adjacent to the Winery and River Bend Farm. The Antler Hill Village will include a new exhibition space, village green with live entertainment, dining, shopping, and a new outdoor adventure center. As part of this project, Biltmore Winery will be enhanced to offer a newly-designed tour and tasting areas.
Because of the extraordinarily cold and snowy winter this year, we are all awaiting Spring and the massive flower display at Biltmore with excitement and anticipation. Winning free tickets/annual pass is just the perfect excuse to come to Asheville and enjoy it all with us.
Thursday, February 11th, 2010
For a city with a small population of about 75,000, there is still a lot to learn about Asheville. I have lived in South Asheville for just over four years and I am always picking up interesting tidbits of information about this great city.
For example, Asheville has four nicknames. The two most commonly known are “Land of the Sky” and “Paris of the South.” But did you also know that Asheville has been called “San Francisco of the East” and “New Age Mecca?” In addition, over the years, the city has picked up the following titles: “America’s New Freak Capital” (Rolling Stone Magazine), one of the “Best Places to Retire” (Money Magazine), “America’s Happiest City” (Self Magazine), and “America’s Best Vegetarian-Friendly Small City” (PETA). All of these titles and nicknames demonstrate that Asheville has a lot to offer and that we are not just a city of hippies and street musicians.
Architecturally, Asheville has one of the largest collections of Art-Deco buildings in the country. Take one of the historic trolley tours around town and they do an admiral job of pointing out a good portion of these buildings and several architectural details that one might miss otherwise.
The climate around Asheville is considered moderate with normal highs in the summer in the upper 80s and normal lows in the winter in the upper 20s. Part of that is because the city is sandwiched in between the Blue Ridge Mountains (also called the Appalachian Mountains) to the north and east and the Great Smoky Mountains to the west. The 2009/2010 winter has been an anomaly with over a foot of snow and weeks of temperatures in the teens and 20s. I will be more than happy to see the end of this winter. Looking ahead to March, we should start seeing average temperatures from the mid-30s (lows) to upper 50s (highs).
March is also a great time to book a spring vacation because it is that transitional month when there are more activities and stores open, the flowers are starting to bloom, and prices at many places are still low (prime winter sale time). After Easter, you will start to see a jump in room, ticket, and activity rates. So when people ask, when is the best time to come, if you are looking for the best deals and the most bang for your buck, I suggest a March getaway.
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
2010 has already been busy and we’re only a week into the new year.
First off, the weather has been a real downer with temperatures in the teens and single digits for at least a week. And, we’re expecting some more snow this weekend (January 8 – 9). It’s a real challenge keeping this old house warm, but it forces me to be creative. The second floor is no problem since heat rises, but the first floor (thank goodness there’s only one guestroom on the first floor) is another story. The pipes under the original house always seem to do okay, but the pipes under and in the kitchen never fare well. Last winter we had 3 burst pipes. So far this year, I’ve seen one tiny pinprick leak in a pipe that’s been topped off. The next couple of days will see temperatures higher than freezing so it remains to be seen if there are any issues.
While the weather outside has been truly frightful, I’ve been keeping busy, taking down holiday decorations. I pace myself so it takes a good week to get everything down and packed away. Everything outside is finished and all but the Parlor and two guestrooms have been packed away. I hope to get that completed today and tomorrow.
At the same time, I have been making some changes to two guestrooms: the Rose Room & the Magnolia Room. As soon as the changes have been completed, I will update the room photos and descriptions. The main changes involve switching the beds between these two rooms. The king/twin beds that were in the Rose Room have been moved up to the Magnolia Room and the queen bed from that room has been moved downstairs to the Rose Room. The main reasons for the switch are 1) the Rose Room is a handicap accessible room and the king/2 twin beds were just too high for someone in a wheelchair and 2) with a queen bed in the Rose Room, there is more floor space to maneuver around if a guest is in a wheelchair. Also, with a the king bed in the Rose Room, it had to be configured such that is blocked off half of the built-in bookcase and I simply hated that. Now with a queen bed, the bed can be moved to a different position and the bookcase can be used fully. It looks so much better. I’ve also been installing bedside wall sconces on both sides of the bed, changing the curtains into a roller shade on the door and adding a painted window to the transom above the door. Just small adjustments that make a big difference.
I should have photos of the room changes within the next week so check the Rooms Descriptions Page (under Rooms & Rates) to see what I’ve done.
Lastly, I’m working with a previous guest, Angela McKeller, to put together a fabulous culinary weekend during the weekend after Memorial Day. Angela won a recipe contest I had a few years ago and since then, she has written her own cookbook and hosted her own cooking show, among other things. Angela lives in Atlanta so she will be coming to the Inn and working her magic for a few days. We’re still working on the details, but this will be an all-inclusive package with demonstrations, cooking classes, accommodations (if desired), and tie-ins to the Asheville community (possibly Biltmore or Asheville Food Tours). It is shaping up to be a fun time so definitely check back often for more details.
