Reflecting Jenn... my life at Calvin College

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

north carolina! part one: mountains

I’m back!! Safely sitting in Illinois again, with my suitcase unpacked, postcards spread out, etc. etc. It’s great to be home—somehow the trip felt longer than it actually was. But Mom and I had a really great time. We saw all kinds of new places, and we got a lot of writing done, too.

We started out by going to Asheville, North Carolina. It’s perched in the mountains, and it’s right by the Biltmore—an absolutely gorgeous home of the Vanderbilts. We went early the day after we got in, and spent the whole day touring the house and gardens. It was amazing! My favorite parts in the house were the basement and the top floor: in their basement, they have a huge swimming pool, a gym, dressing rooms, and a bowling alley. How cool is that? That’s also where all their kitchens, canning rooms, and laundry rooms were. (I like seeing how these immense houses run... what were the normal people (maids, etc.) doing?)

The middle of the house was incredible too, of course. It reminded me a lot of touring great houses and palaces in England. Tapestries, formal dining areas, fireplaces everywhere…

I also loved the Italian garden, which was at the side of the house. It was fairly simple: ponds with lilies and classical statues.

Anyway, after Mom and I wore ourselves out at the Biltmore, we crashed in our hotel. Spent the next day writing for about seven hours, first at a coffeehouse in Asheville, and then in our room at the hotel. It was fun to focus just on writing (and drinking sumatran coffee, woo hoo!) for a day. I played around with some poems, and I also started deepening some thoughts I’ve had about a novel.

Well, with a trip this cool, pictures are a given! So, here’s the front of the Biltmore:

And these are from the Italian gardens… Mom was laughing at me—I kept taking pictures here! (I have many more than these!!) But it’s just so peaceful here.

Lastly, here is Mom on our favorite terrace. The house isn’t air conditioned, and it was a muggy day. But if we sat out here—in comfy wicker chairs, looking out over a woodsy, mountainy view—we had a shot at feeling the breezes as they came by.