Sorry for my absence.  But art wise up until a couple of days ago, I’ve been doing technical boring stuff in trying to get acquainted with my colored pencils.  I do have a piece started, that I’m fairly excited about, but so far I have only the background completed.

This year we were able to take a family vacation for the first time in years.  I can’t say it was relaxing and we were always on the go, but it was jam-packed with site seeing….I love trips like that.  It was extra special because the three of us got to spend time with each other without worrying about work or talking about school, or household chores 🙂

The first couple of days we went to Asheville so we could tour Biltmore Estate. This mansion was built by George Washington Vanderbilt and is the largest private residence in the nation.   The mansion is  178,926 square feet featuring 250 rooms representing the Gilded Age.  Today, it is still owned by the Vanderbilt descendants.  I think they or at least some of the family live on the property.

You talk about stupid money!… I love that place and this is was our third time visiting, but this was Alana’s first visit.

And she actually enjoyed it too.  She’s a photography buff, so there was no shortage of interesting things to capture on camera.   If you live in the area and planning a wedding, this is the perfect place.  It has such a romantic setting.  Maybe one day I can talk Alana into getting married here…One day, a long way away, in the very,  very distant future, lol…

After touring the house we toured the gardens.  They were beautiful, but it was a tad bit too hot to go traipsing around, but we sucked it up.

The  coy fish in the picture below loved Alana.  It was the strangest thing.  The white coy would follow her around the pond, it would face her and also jump out of the water toward her.  I don’t know if it was her clothes or her camera but something drew this fish to her like a moth to a flame.

After touring the house and the gardens we toured the winery.  It was pretty interesting.  I’m not a wine enthusiast and not one to be able to appreciate a dry red wine so I found the taste pretty bitter. I did like the white sweeter wines though.  Poor Alana was bored to tears watching us drink, but she was a good sport about it.

Well, That’s it for Part 1 of our vacation.  Stayed tuned for Part 2:  ” The Ottaway’s Go To Washington.” hahaha

Be Well and Happy!