We decided on a relaxing but still fun celebration this year and spent the first part of our days away at Lake Lure. Kevin's brother, David, has a house there that we stayed in. Lake Lure's claim to fame is that the movie Dirty Dancing was filmed there. Don't worry, we didn't do a re-enactment. The first morning (after searching HIGH and LOW for a coffee shop, any coffee shop) we went down to the lake and decided to sign up for one of their Pontoon Tours. They told us they thought they had room but had a senior group coming first thing and needed to get them loaded first. We shortly decided to rent our own Pontoon boat. It was so peaceful driving all around the lake and there were lots of big houses to look at. It reminded me a lot of Cour D'Alene. We also did some hiking at Chimney Rock. Our hope was to go to the Rock itself, but they had some elevator issues and so it was closed off. While that was disappointing, we found a nice hike with a waterfall. We spent the next day doing a whole lot of nothing, which we both needed at the time.
A few days later we drove to Asheville to continue the celebration at the Biltmore. Kevin has a high school friend who had connections at the Grove Park Inn and we were able to stay there for two nights. The land the hotel sits on is simply gorgeous. We checked in and had lunch out on the porch and you just couldn't ask for a prettier setting.
The Biltmore House was what I think we were both most excited about and it did not disappoint. I had been once, shortly after we moved to North Carolina and Mom and Dad took us there around Christmas Time. We got parked, made haste into the house where we rented our self-guided-tour headphones and were off. It is such a beautiful and fascinating home, and the history of the family only makes it more so. The big treat on this day was two-fold: It was some kind of special promotion so we got to see the basement and another floor that are not normally on the standard tour; we also purchased a Roof Top Tour pass for that afternoon.
The Roof Top tour was I think my favorite part. I am fascinated by anything 'behind the scenes' or that is off limits or left in its original state. We started the tour by seeing several guest rooms that were currently being used as storage. We couldn't take any pictures but it was amazing. At one point we saw a suit of armor from Japan. But the best view was from the top, and when they say roof top, they literally mean you are going to stand on the roof. We were allowed to take pictures here and it was a beautiful view. I think both of us enjoyed the extra history during this special tour almost as much as the tour itself.
On a mushier note, I can hardly believe it's been 10 years that Kevin and I have been married. I'm married to a man who accepts me just as I am (not an easy task), has exceeded my expectations as a husband and a father to our kids, has roped me into country music (and I love it), likes to travel and have and have fun, and is still the guy singing on stage that made me swoon 10 years ago. What better way to celebrate than with cake? So I had one made up, and we DID re-enact a little wedding tradition.
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