Tag Archives: Biltmore Estate

Spring’s a-springin’ in Western North Carolina

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They may not look like much yet, but the tips of the daffodil leaves poking out of the mulch are a sight for frozen eyes. At Inn on Main Street bed and breakfast in Weaverville, we are SO ready for porch breakfast weather. The Asheville area has had a tremendous amount of snow and cold, but the past couple weekends have been gorgeous.

The Biltmore Estate is ramping up for flower madness, too.  “Take a tropical break from winter with a visit to the Orchid Room in Biltmore’s Conservatory,” says their latest online newsletter.  “More than 70 colorful orchids are in peak bloom, now through March.  The Orchid Room features bromeliads and orchids, some of which are epiphytes, which gain moisture and nutrients through aerial roots”

I’m an epiphyte neophyte, but it all sounds great to me. And thanks to our discount winter tickets, it should be especially great for our guests.

Romance at the B&B

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We’re nothing if not romantic at Inn on Main Street bed and breakfast.

We’re blessed to host hundreds of honeymooners, folks on anniversaries and just plain lovers on a getaway to Weaverville and the Asheville area.

That’s why we’re surprised to still have openings for Valentine’s Day weekend. Could be the weather; could be that the Super Bowl kept guys’ minds on a different playing field. In any case, we decided to sweeten the pot and extend our Winter Savings deal to this weekend. Stay two nights in a premium room, and get half off the second night, or a pair of two-day tickets to the Biltmore Estate, or a third night free. Stay in a non-premium room for two nights and get either our Valentine offer of a free soak at Hot Springs Spa or a third night free.

Nothing says “I love you” like cuddling by the fire in a romantic B&B.

Our B&B Valentine Special

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Here at Inn on Main Street, one of our favorite Top 10 cheap thrills is an hour soak in a private Jacuzzi in the woods at Hot Springs Spa.

It’s even more of an indulgence during the winter, when icicles can form on a wet mustache while the body brews at a comfortable 100-plus degrees. The challenge is getting covered up before the numb wears off when you leave the tub.

To help celebrate this distinctly Western North Carolina mountain getaway, we’re offering a Good Clean Fun special for Valentine’s weekend this year. Any couples who book two or more nights that include Feb. 11 or 12 will get a free soak, our treat. And we’ll also provide a complementary two-toast bottle of bubbly to sip amid the bubbles. Just book directly with us at innonmain.com, and we’ll add the extras.

And if you intend to visit the Asheville area before March 31, but not Valentine’s weekend, you can get half off your second night or free tickets to the Biltmore Estate if you stay two nights in a premium room. Romance knows no season, so it’s a great time to come cuddle up in Weaverville.

Christmas takes a holiday in Weaverville

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Snowcapped mountains rise above our garden walkway

Seems like Christmas has been put on hold here in the mountains and Asheville area in particular. We’ve had three days of bitter cold and a beautiful snowfall at Inn on Main Street. It seems to have scared all our bed and breakfast guests back to Florida. But warmer days are forecast, and we’ve still got a deal on Biltmore Estate candlelight Christmas tours. For $75 per person, our guests get two days of admission to the Estate and all its attractions, plus a reserved evening tour amid the sights and sounds of Christmas entertainment.

Make plans to visit the Grove Park Inn gingerbread house entries during your stay here. The displays are open to the public only on weekdays, so take advantage of our three-night midweek specials.

Christmas comes to the Biltmore Estate

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Each year, Inn on Main Street partners with the Biltmore Estate to obtain Candlelight Christmas Evening tickets for our guests. It’s gotten much easier the past couple of years because the reserved-time Christmas Candlelight tour tickets are simply an upgrade added to our regular two-day tickets. For only $20, visitors can add the mystical evening tour, complete with live music and special lighting, to the fact-filled daytime visits, which cost $55.  And several of our guests have done so already. We pick up the tickets and have them waiting in guests’ rooms so they don’t get bogged down at the ticket center.

This year, the Biltmore has added several attractions, particularly highlighting new additions at the farm and Antler Hill Village. They offer daily seminars on making Christmas wreaths at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., and candle rings at 1 and 3 p.m. at A Gardener’s Place.  At the barn, see live music at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 p.m. Santa will be hanging out there from 12:30 to 4:30. In the Legacy Theater nearby, storytellers entertain at 4 and 6 p.m. On weekends, hear live music at the winery from 3:30 to 7 p.m.  At the conservatory this month will be a special display of Christmas plants.

So much to see, so little time.

Girls Night Out at the Bed and Breakfast

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Anne Wilson and Elizabeth Keck

We get a lot of girls getaway groups here at Inn on Main Street. Mostly they’re best friends, sisters, or even former sorority mates or cheerleaders. The sweetest outings, I think, are the mom-daughter getaways.

Often it’s Mom with a teenage daughter, enjoying one of the last bonding adventures before college and marriage sweep them onto diverging paths. Less often, a grown daughter will join her retired mother for a visit to the Biltmore Estate and the Blue Ridge Mountains. Such was the case with Anne Wilson, who brought her mother, Elizabeth Keck, from the St. Louis area for a visit to our mountains. They were on the go all day, every day, squeezing every sight to be seen from the Biltmore Estate, Weaverville and Asheville. What made their mother-daughter all the more remarkable is that Elizabeth is 94. She credited her aerobics and tai chi classes with keeping her body limber. She keeps her wit limber by using it a lot.

A couple days after Anne and Elizabeth left, another mom and daughter checked in as part of a wedding party. Here to see her granddaughter married was Bernice Patterson, 92, who also entertained us with her energy.

These ladies are proof that life never gets old if we stay active. They’re an inspiration to us.

Our B&B’s moment of fame

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Life at a bed and breakfast isn’t exactly the celebrity spotlight, though on occasion we are interviewed for stories or rub elbows with those who rub elbows with the rich and famous. When publicity calls, we like to answer.

Go magazine, the in-flight magazine for AirTran Airways, is doing an article for the July edition on Asheville, and wants to give our huge bed and breakfast community some recognition in the article. Their representative called me to see if we had any photos of Inn on Main Street bed and breakfast guests enjoying the atmosphere at a local B&B. I sent out a message to all the members of the Asheville Bed and Breakfast Association to see if they could pitch in, then went looking through my own files. Unfortunately, dozens of photos of happy guests disappeared into the void when our computer crashed earlier this year.

Lucky for us, we had a lovely couple staying with us at the time, Bette and Tom Werlin of Houston. They are great sports and agreed to let us shoot them (they aren’t THAT great of sports; we shot them with a camera) for the article. We’re hoping they and we will share a month of celebrity if the photo appears in the magazine. In the meantime, their looks  are too good to waste, so here’s their photo, taken as Nancy poured their juice:

We are hoping the AirTran article succeeds in bringing more folks from Texas and elsewhere to Weaverville and Asheville. So much of what has been written about our area is so two-dimensional, focusing only on the Biltmore Estate and Grove Park Inn. Both are treasures that help make our area exceptional, of course, but the culture, diversity and natural beauty of our area don’t seem to get their due. And, of course, nether does the fact that the Asheville area is a B&B destination. If you want to understand the complexity of what our region offers, and you want an inside track on the best things to see and do, it helps to stay with someone who is a part of the community.

Many of our guests are good sports, and many have become friends. We look forward to meeting many more as nice as the Werlins.

Bed and breakfast for Obama in Asheville

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We’re thrilled that President Obama is coming to Asheville for his personal vacation.

It seems peculiar that he would choose our mountains, when he has all the privacy and beauty of Camp David, or could jet off to some more exotic locale. I like to think that he loved the Asheville vibe while he was campaigning here. He picked up lunch at 12 Bones then and no doubt got a glimpse of our youthful (in attitude, if not always in years), hip, artsy and active culture.

Maybe he’ll drop in on a studio or two at the Weaverville Art Safari, or better yet bid at the silent auction on Friday, while he’s in town. Michelle Obama would look great in some handmade wearable art created by a Weaverville artist.

We can certainly use the exposure. Tourism has taken a hit from the recession. People still visit the Biltmore Estate, but on a budget. Everyone has downsized, so folks we would have gotten as guests here in better times are shaving expenses by staying at chain motels and eating fast food. We like to see the president stay at the Grove Park Inn (if not Inn on Main Street!) just to show there’s no reason to slum it. Bad food and bad beds should be stimulus enough to come back to comfort.

President Obama will be here when the mountains are at their best, full of redbud and dogwood blossoms, as well as delicate mountain orchids, trilliums and fiddleneck ferns. The songbirds are back and harmonizing. The days are sunny and the nights are cool. It’s a time we are thankful for the end of a harsh winter and the promise of a dawning summer. There is hope in the air, and we need our president to nurture that hope. Welcome home to Asheville, Mr. Obama.