Elvis' living room. You can see a grand piano behind some custom-made stained glass.

Graceland, Little Rock, Texarkana

We got up nice and early to prepare ourselves for the visit to Graceland. We arrived right before 9:00, and found a parking spot right up front (who else is crazy enough to see this place right when it opens???). There are 3 different ticket options, and we chose the middle one which allowed us to tour the house, the car museum, another museum that housed several rhinestone laden outfits, and Elvis’ plane. Just so you don’t consider us total whackos for visiting this place, we opted not to purchase the VIP tickets for $68 per person (we do have a little integrity).

The house itself was the most interesting, and slightly eerie if you ask me. Only the two lower floors are available to be toured, as the upstairs is off limits to tourists. If there is one word that comes to mind from our visit to the house, it would have to be mirrors.

Elvis' grave. He was originally buried in a cemetery, but moved to Graceland for security reasons.

There were mirrored walls, stairways, a fireplace, really mirrors were just everywhere. Not sure what exactly that was all about (other than sheer vanity), but it was slightly unnerving. Oh – and just so you know, there are 24 karat seat belt buckles on the plane.

So after getting our fill of Graceland, we headed off to make the 2 hour trip to Little Rock so that we could stop somewhere to watch the #1 Texas vs. #6 Oklahoma State game. We stopped at a pseudo sports bar once we arrived in Little Rock, and watched the game in its entirety. After catching our breath from a very close game (Texas pulled it out, of course), we drove further west to Texarkana where we planned to stay for the night. The next day was a relatively short 5 hour trip that would lead us right into our garage, and more importantly, home.

« Day 6

The sixth day of our trip was spent mostly in the car. We packed up some on Thursday evening, and then finished getting ALL of our stuff together on Friday morning. We took off from our Cabin at Willow Winds just shortly before the required check-out time, and headed west towards Memphis. Nicholas and I both dreaded making Eisley sit in the car seat for another long stint, but she was amazing and made the trip very smooth. We traveled for about 4 hours, and then stopped off in Monterey, Tennessee for lunch at The Cup and Saucer Diner. The food was mediocre, but it was food, and the people there were very hospitable. After lunch we made the last part of the drive to Memphis and found a hotel.

We unpacked the car yet again, and rested for just a bit before doing some research on our dinner options. We found Leonard’s Pit Barbecue, a local restaurant that has been around since the 20’s. The food was pretty good, and we got our fill of the whole Memphis barbecue scene. After dinner we went back to the hotel and settled in for the night, arming ourselves with a 6:00 am wake-up call in order to make it to Graceland by 9:00 the next morning.

« Day 5 | Day 7 »

Eisley got to face outward for the first time on our morning hike.

So day 5 of our Asheville adventure started out with another hike on the Mountains to Sea Trail.  We hiked for a couple of hours, and this time Eisley faced outward in the carrier for awhile.  It may not sound like too big of a deal, but it was to us because this meant that she had grown big enough (and stable enough) to support herself a little bit, and she was quite happy being able to have the same view as her parents.  While on our hike we saw a rafter of wild turkeys (that’s a group in case you are curious – I googled) which was pretty exciting, and took a few more pictures.

After hiking, we got ready and made it down to the Tupelo Honey Cafe for lunch.  The food was great and lived up to the ratings we had seen online.  We finished eating and wandered around the downtown area just a little bit more before heading back to the Biltmore property to check out the winery.  We completed a short self-guided tour of the winery and did a tasting (but not before letting Eisley have her own bottle tasting).  There was quite a selection of wines and some of them were pretty tasty.

We posed in front of some flower gardens outside of the Biltmore Winery.

Once we made some purchases at the winery, we loaded up again and headed off to dinner.  We were able to go to the Native American restaurant that Nicholas had wanted to try for his birthday and we enjoyed a nice meal that completed a great day and our last night in Asheville.

Our plan for tomorrow is to head towards Memphis, spend the night, and make it to Graceland first thing Saturday morning.  From there we are moving on to Little Rock to eat somewhere and watch some of the Texas game.  It is certain that we will have lots to report after Saturday’s events.  I mean come on, Graceland AND Little Rock???  Keep your eyes peeled…

« Day 4 | Day 6 »

We enjoyed the view outside the Biltmore House. Those are the Blue Ridge mountains in the background.

The Biltmore Estate

Asheville is famous for the Biltmore Estate, which contains the largest home in the world: a 175,000 square foot castle built by George Washington Vanderbilt in 1895. It’s now open to the public. We had bought our tickets the day before and arrived at the Biltmore around 11:00 am. We spent a few hours touring the house, which contains 4 floors that include a library, an indoor swimming pool, a bowling alley and a 4-story chandelier. It was all very state of the art for the 19th century.

After touring the house we had a cranky baby on our hands. We stopped at a bench to feed her, then went walking. We toured the gardens, which were just a short distance from the mansion. The flowers probably weren’t as pretty as the are in the spring, but they were still beautiful. There was so much more to see on the estate, but we were getting hungry. We decided to save the rest of it for another day and went to find some lunch.

Eisley enjoyed the hammock near the pond outside our cabin.

We made our way to Biltmore Villiage, an area of Asheville constructed for the workers who helped build Mr. Vanderbilt’s house. Now the area is full of chic retail establishments and restaurants. We found a place called La Paz that looked child-friendly. It was standard Mexican fare and was surprisingly good for being so far from the border. After our late lunch, we walked around the villiage, venturing into some of the stores. As the sun started to set, we headed back to our cabin.

Back at Willow Winds, we decided to walk down to the pond behind our cabin. We got a few good pictures of Eisley as the sun was going down. It was chilly though, so we didn’t stay out long. We spent the rest of the evening indoors.

« Day 3 | Day 5 »

Courtney posing by the trail during our hike

We started the third day of our vacation by celebrating Nicholas’ 31st birthday.  What could be more fitting than a birthday hike?  Nicholas and I headed out with Eisley in tow in the Baby Bjorn carrier.  We started out on the Blue Ridge trail that connects up with the Mountains to the Sea trail, a 935 mile long trail that spans, well…you can probably guess the route.  Our hike lasted a couple of hours, long enough for Eisley to get in a bit of a nap, and for us to take some pictures and admire the landscape.  The entire hike was quiet with the exception of the wind blowing through the trees.  We only passed one other person on the trail.  Eisley did a great job and hung in for the duration of our walk, and we made it back to the cabin in time for lunch and a little bit of rest.

After regrouping we headed to a slightly different area downtown in Asheville and walked around to check out the shops.  At some point during our outing, we realized that we had left the diapers and

Eisley sacked out in the Baby Bjorn well into the hike

wipes in the hiking backpack.  It can be a scary feeling to be on the tightrope that is clean baby clothes without the safety net of diapering reinforcement.  Back to the cabin we went to get the necessary items, and then we planned to go to dinner.  Nicholas found a local restaurant that serves Native American food, and so for his birthday we were going to try it out.  The restaurant has some very strange hours and it turned out that they are only open on a few days out of the week, Tuesday not being one of them.  Luckily extra research had been done and we went to eat at an Italian/Greek place called Pommodoro’s.  Our meal was nice and Eisley once again was great.  We went back to the cabin and put Eisley to sleep (this took a couple of tries) and then Nicholas and I tried to use the hot tub.  The hot tub itself was great, but we could never get the temperature very hot, and we equated the experience to sitting in a lukewarm bath tub.  Not the best time when it is around 40 degrees outside.  We had a good laugh about it and called it a night.

Happy Birthday Nicholas!

« Day 2 | Day 4 »

We posed for the camera at Havana, a Cuban restaurant we found in downtown Asheville

Nashville to Asheville

Day 2 of our vacation started with sleeping in at the hotel until the last possible minute until check out.  We packed up the car and headed off for the last 4 hours of our journey to Asheville.  Being super determined to get to our final destination, we made sandwiches and got a bottle ready before we took off so that we could eat on the go.

The drive east from Nashville got progressively more beautiful as we started to see the various colors of the landscape.  With each bend in the road we were able to see more mountainous terrain and all of the scenery made the drive pass by fairly quickly.  When we finally arrived at the cabin we were greeted by the nicest woman, who asked us if we had brought Eisley as payment for our stay.  We got all of the information needed and then anxiously unloaded our car.  The cabin structure itself is quite rustic, but we have modern day appliances and plumbing.  There is no central heat or air, but we have a big fireplace and plenty of gas heaters to stay warm.  We even have our very own hot tub on the back deck.

Bonnie showing Eisley off to other restaurant patrons. When did Eisley get to be this big!!!???

After getting settled, we decided to head to the downtown area to eat some dinner.  It seemed like there wasn’t a great deal open, but we did find a Cuban restaurant that seemed to be ‘child friendly’.  The whole ‘child friendly’ concept is a new one for us – one that we are learning about with each passing moment.  The restaurant was quite colorful, and the owner was quite gracious, and possibly a little obsessed with our child.  Bonnie (the owner) had some bright red glasses, and a thick Carolina accent.  She ended up being the one to seat us and take our order.  When our food was brought out, she asked if she could hold Eisley.  We let her, but kept a close eye on the location of our child.  Eisley made the rounds to all of the tables and it seemed as if all the patrons were really enjoying her company.  We did get her back (don’t worry) and all was well.

After dinner and coffee, we left the Cuban place and headed for the car.  We did pause for a minute to look at the wine bar across the street, but then realized that this was a vacation for three, and no longer a trip for two.  We arrived back at the cabin and tried to get a good night’s rest.

« Day 1 | Day 3 »

We rented a cabin for a week-long gettaway in scenic Asheville, North Carolina. It would be Eisley’s first real trip away from home.

We woke up at 3:00 am and were out the door by about 4:00 am. We hadn’t determined a destination for this leg of the trip, so we just started driving north. The fastest route would have been through Dallas, but we’ve all seen that part of Texas at least 1000 times. So in Waco we headed east through Corsicanna and eventually up to Sulphur Springs, where we decided to stop and eat breakfast.

After driving around downtown Sulphur Springs looking for a spot, we eventually headed back out to the highway and wound up at the “Pit Grill,” a classic diner. I don’t think this restaurant had a non-smoking section. Or at least we were the only ones without cigarettes dangling from our lips. I guess the indoor smoking ban hasn’t quite made it to Sulphur Springs, Texas. The food wasn’t bad through, so we came out smelling of smoke but with our bellies full and got back on the road.

We traveled north-east through Arkansas, eventually making it to Memphis, Tennessee. Our plan was to try and spend a couple hours at Graceland, but with frequent stops to address the needs of a particular baby, we didn’t make it before they closed. Instead, we searched for the best BBQ in Memphis and found a place called Corky’s. It was good. We had pulled pork, ribs and banana pudding for desert. After dinner we had a brief scare when I couldn’t find my wallet. We searched all around the car and even called the restaurant before locating it underneath the driver’s seat. From Memphis it was roughly 3 hours to Nasheville. Although we were tired, we hung on and made it to the Hampton Inn at about 10:00 pm.

Day 2 »