Birthday Bash!!

This almost concludes the vacation fun... thanks for hanging in there with me while I told you about my trip!!

After Lynnette and I went on our Blue Ridge Parkway drive, we spent the afternoon shopping in Biltmore Village and then...time for the birthday fun!!

I had this in the weekly recap a couple of weeks ago as my Pinterest inspiration, but here's more elaboration. I'd seen this idea to wrap up a bunch of gifts and have the recipient open one every hour. That was my plan, but since we were out and about all day, that was harder to do than I anticipated, so instead, I had her open them all at one time. Each gift was marked with a number so she could open them in a specific order.

As she unwrapped...she found everything she needed for a luau party!

Ta daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! Balloons, candles, decorations, outfits, and party supplies!!

We waited to have the actual party, because....look what we went to see!

She found (in her handy dandy research) that the Montford Park Players were doing a play in an outdoor amphitheater in Asheville! Shakespeare, no less. She loves Shakespeare, so she asked if that would be okay for us to do, and I said sure! (I always need some culture in my life.)

The amphitheater was REALLY cool. It was built into the side of a hill like this:

We could bring lawn chairs or blankets or whatever...and picnics, even!!! We brought a blanket and a picnic, which was SUPER exciting to me because you know...picnics were on my summer livin' list! CHECK!!!!

The people in front of us were hard core. They brought a table and everything!!  Here is Lynnette with the stage behind her.

Our picnic!! We just went to a grocery store and got little sammiches and took chips and no-bake cookies we brought with us from home. :)

The play??? Well it was none other than the story of my life: Much Ado About Nothing!

The play lasted about 3 hours and was REALLY well done. The actors were funny and engaging. (They even mingled in the audience some.) Here was the final bow....

Our fuzzy self-photogrpahy during intermission. (No flash allowed, so we couldn't do better.)

By the time we got back to our hotel, it was almost 11:00. We still had to pack so we could leave early Sunday morning. But no time for that....we had a party to attend!! I'd brought sparkling grape juice (which had been attempting to chill in the ice bucket) and I went out to buy iced brownies for our snack. We donned our matching flip flops and leis and grass skirts and decorated the room...minus lighting the candles because I LOST THE MATCHES I BROUGHT FROM 500 MILES AWAY - which we found about 10 minutes AFTER the party. Good grief.

She said it was an amazing birthday...and I'm so glad! I had so much fun with her and hope we can road trip again! FUN!!!!!!!

Blue Ridge Parkway Tour

The last full day of our vacation was Lynnette's birthday, so we spent the day celebrating her! After we visited the Farmer's Market, we went driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We started out at a Visitor's Center, so we could get an idea of where we were going. On our way into the center from the parking lot, we passed several tents set up...kind of a little information fair of different kinds park/hiking stuff. Lynnette casually said, "Oh look! A snake!!" And I was stupid enough to look.

One of the information booth people was indeed holding an honest to goodness snake. I about died.

So much so that on the way back OUT of the center, I was so mentally focused on ignoring that stupid snake, I got in the wrong car!!!!

Oh yes.

I did.

I quickly got out of the random stranger's car and INTO Lynnette's car where we began a very long trek up a gorgeous, winding NARROW two-lane wooded road....

...which was occasionally filled with rock walls....

...and little overlook places where we could pull to the side and get out to see the gorgeous sites. Please make note of the increase in elevation....

Interesting Bekah fact: I have a love/fear of heights. I love heights. I love being able to be up there and able to see what's going on. I am scared to death of the EDGE of heights. Like I love sitting in a balcony, but I'm petrified to walk the stairway of a balcony because I am afraid I'll trip and snowball my way down. So I LOVED this sight....but I was totally sweating to be standing this close to the edge.

And we're climbing!!!!

At this point I began having a (semi-honest) panic attack that I would run out of oxygen. No ceiling for little mask to fall out for me!! This sign says that this was the location of the last known buffalo in the area, which was killed in the late 1700s. I told Lynnette that we should be good to go on the winding road...no surprise buffalo.

I thought this said LAKE Pinnacle, so it took me a while to figure out why I didn't have a lake in my view. GOOD GRIEF.

And finally - our destination!! This was about the top of the line for this road. It was blissfully cool up at this elevation and though it was a sunny day, we were in the clouds!

This was 7/10ths of a mile away from us and we'd been told we could walk up (you can see people standing just above the brown spot on the picture) but um....we didn't realize it would be an honest to goodness hike...and guess who wore flip flops???

So rather than hiking it....we watched these people milling about at the top. (I would have passed right out that close to the edge, I'm sure of it.)

Here we are!!! (We were self-portraiting and some nice people offered to take our picture for us.)

The birthday girl and the spectacular Blue Ridge Mountain view....

Absolutely stunning.

On the way back down, we were passed by TWO vehicles. Stupid drivers. Who passes on a 2 lane curvy mountain???? Just because you drive a sports car doesn't mean you can put people's lives at risk. HELLO!!!!!!!

That, of course, made me wonder how in the world emergency crews got on any scene quickly that high up...I wonder what my blood pressure was by the time we got back on level ground? LOL!!!

Loved the drive (seriously!) and would 100% do it again - in regular shoes this time, so I could go up that last bit of the way!!! (And hold tightly to someone's hand - even if it's a perfect stranger - so I could get as near to the edge as possible!)

Just Some Miscellany

Here are some random moments from vacation....

There are times when the phone just isn't reliable for weather. Please note the forecast on the phone....and the weather outside the window.

We had a couple of ice cream treats along the way! In this one we were huddled under a ginormous umbrella in the 2 tiny dry seats following the above "mostly sunny" rainstorm.

So one morning, I opened the hotel door to find a USA Today outside in the hallway. Not being a big fan of news reading, I tossed it on Lynnette's bed, and she read it while she ate breakfast. I heard her say, "Marion, Indiana??" I said, "Oh great. Did someone get shot?" Turns out...not so much....just an update on the 4H fair. Seriously? I go five states away and the 4H fair follows me????

We may or may not have done a little shopping while we were gone. :) Among our stops....A FARMER'S MARKET!!!!!!! I was so excited! My second time this year - and it was on my summer livin' list. I guess I'm REALLY livin'! This one was much more of a permanent establishment than the one I went to in Granville. Multiple buildings and open every day.

The "ice cream garden." Could anything be more lovely? Ahhhh the garden of ice cream.

We ended up shopping at Belks (we don't have those here - but maybe some of you know what I'm talking about) and I got a SUPER cute dress...which I'm sure you'll see soon. And we made our way around the Biltmore Village, which was a collection of stores just outside the estate. I didn't buy anything there except lunch. :)

Everyone knows a good girls' weekend out includes SHOPPING!!!!

Outside the Biltmore

The Biltmore is as stunning OUTSIDE as it is INSIDE. So here's a sampling (and only a sampling...you're welcome) of our outdoor tour.

We ate lunch there on the grounds. Just outside the house was the carriage house area...renovated into gift shops and an eatery. We ate at the Courtyard Market which is hiding behind that palm tree looking thing.

We opted to share a pizza (we got the half-serving and it was PLENTY enough) - kind of a chicken florentine sort of thing. We ate outside, and the weather was just perfect!!

Okay you all know I'm a dork, so this picture won't surprise you. :) Found me a man:

He's quiet and sits very still. :) And apparently I wouldn't have to spend much time doing laundry!

When we were done eating and looking around the area immediately outside the house, we ventured over into the gardens. BEAUTIFUL rose gardens...even though rose season is largely over:

This was the hot house. Had my picture taken with the sign in honor of my broken internal thermostat, which makes EVERY house a hot house for this girl. (The thermometer in here registered 105. Yep. That's hot.)

Always take time to stop and smell the roses.

We stopped to get a bottle of water, because it was REALLY hot outside. THREE DOLLARS AND TWENTY ONE CENTS FOR THAT BOTTLE OF WATER. Did I keep it? As my mother would say, you bet your sweet bippy!! (No idea what a bippy is or why in the world someone would bet it.)

This little creek wandered all through the gardens and finally I could stand it no more. I had to get my toes wet. :)

Gorgeous. Absolutely stunning. (Talking about the scenery, not me. HELLO!)

Loved this bridge. And reflecting pictures. Love those too.

Lynnette standing on this really weird "bridge." It was just two stones sticking up even with the path. No room for error on that one!!

Some really nice guy took our picture in front of this waterfall. It was at this point that the thunder rumbling in the distance was becoming louder and more frequent, so we hurried back to the house after this one!

We paused to take the outside pictures at the house (that you already saw) and then caught the shuttle back to the parking lot. It was SO HOT - and I was desperate for air conditioning. When we got back to Sammy, we just sat there for a while with the air blasting full force. Our faces had completely slid off and our hair had wilted. Good thing we have been friends for a long time and are not offended by that sort of thing.

June: Done

The beginning of June feels like it was 850 years ago. CRAZY. It's been one full and beautiful month!

Started the Experiencing God study with my Sunday School class at church. The daily homework is a discipline to complete, but God is definitely using the study to teach me!

Had the privilege to interview Bruce Marchiano, about his role of portraying Jesus in a few movies...and that interview was an honor!!

Attended my friend Lisa's baby shower and had a blast catching up with friends I made during Olivia's wedding!

Spent an afternoon with my buddies James and Liam - which was fun unbridled...and also exhausting! Two boys wear a person out!

Crashed one of the station's Sticker Stops to hang out with my friends Sheryl, Amy, and Anna. You know you love your job when you voluntarily go see your work buds OFF the clock.

Went to Savannah and Liam's art show and got to see some of their creativity unleashed. Not gonna lie - they did great. Much better than I would have. :)

Went swimming at Rachel's house which reminded me how grateful I am to have A) friends and 2) friends with pools.

Rented a car for the first time in my life for my trip to visit Lynnette in Asheville, North Carolina. Fell in love with little Sammy the Civic and decided I wanted to keep him. (I didn't.)

Drove BY MYSELF to Asheville and back, making it my first ever solo trip of that distance AND my first time in the mountains. Fell in love with those, too!

Visited the Biltmore Estate, traveled on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and attended a Shakespeare play all as part of Lynnette's birthday weekend adventure!

First trip to Lake Webster for the season - resulted in a crazy ridiculous sunburn but so much fun o the side!!

Visited my college roommate and my sister on one of my vacation days! Great to see both of them.

Served dinner at the PARTY PALOOZA winner's party in Fort Wayne - a luau theme! And yes. I wore a grass skirt, thankyouverymuch.

Rounding out the month with a game night with my high school buddies!

Biltmore, Baby!

Lynnette and I declared Friday our Biltmore day. We got up early (read: before noon) and headed to "the big castle." Lynnette had done her research well (this really WAS a vacation for me...she even did the research!) and knew the place wasn't air conditioned. Have mercy. She figured if we went early in the day, we would avoid the bulk of the crowds and the worst of the heat.

GOOD THINKING. This is why we're friends. She's a smart one.

So we drove to the Biltmore and bought our tickets which granted us access to the grounds for the day. We parked Sammy and caught a shuttle over to the house. (We weren't lazy. We were WISE. We did a LOT of walking that day.) This is Lynnette (and Aslan) before we began our tour of the house. 

Real quick factoids for ya, just in case you're not familiar with the Biltmore: it has four acres of floor space, 250 rooms 34 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms and 65 fireplaces. PRAISE THE LORD I'm not preparing THAT house to show.

Anyway. All that to say, this house tour goes a LITTLE longer than than a real estate showing. Lynnette and I bought the audio tour on the good advice of her mother-in-law, and it turned out to be a great decision. The audio tour lets you rent little mp3 players with headphones and as you walk through each room (each ALLOWED room - you don't go to all 250) you enter the number and the narrator gives you some information about what you're seeing and what it signifies. We were able to go at our own pace without keeping up with a tour guide. That was fun.

There aren't any pictures allowed inside the house, so...you're spared! :)

We did get to take pictures on this little porch on the back side of the house. It was off the tapestry gallery, you know. (What? You don't have a porch off YOUR tapestry gallery???)

We were going to ask this lady on the porch to take our picture but she went into a 35 sneeze fit right about then and we thought perhaps we'd just self-photograph. Turned out to be my favorite picture of the whole trip! 

It took about 2 hours to get through our tour, and by the end of it, the crowds had REALLY picked up, and so had the HEAT! So we were glad to be back outside to enjoy sun and breeze for a bit!

My favorite room? Well since you asked...it was the swimming pool. Per the handy dandy guide book, "The 70,000 gallon indoor pool was heated and still has its original underwater lighting. Swimmers could push call buttons, located on the wall near the doors, to order refreshments or to signal they were ready to leave and needed help changing." I would consider that room a luxury in a house NOW. To think they did that in the 1890's...blew my mind.

We did find a nice lady who took our picture outside...this isn't the front. Just over to the side. (Reminded me a lot of "over to the side" outside my own house.) 

The back of the house. (And some wind. Good night nurse.) Right behind  my left shoulder is the porch where we'd had the other pictures taken earlier.

We walked the gardens (more on that another day) and then came back...and by that, I mean RUSHED...to take pictures of the outside of the house before the storm rumbling in the distance showed up. We weren't far ahead of it. Whew!!

Anyway. My official photo with the Biltmore.

 And Lynnette's official photo with the Biltmore.

If you look left of Lynnette in the picture above, you'll see a couple of people walking away from the shuttle and toward us. They were this darling couple who flagged us down and asked us if we'd take their picture. We said no. I'm KIDDING!

We took their picture and then they asked if we'd like them to take ours! Well sure!!!! So they did:

 And then they held hands and walked away...and I heard the girl say "Hey let's run!" so they took off running hand in hand. Like I said. DARLING.

And one more view...for the road!!!!

We took these pictures while dodging some sort of photo shoot involving two 16ish age girls, a LOT of curls and hairspray, lethally high heels, and honest-to-goodness hoop skirts. (And did I mention it was almost a billion degrees outside with equal humidity?)