South Carolina State Fair!

This weekend Adam and I went to the state fair with a few friends. It was good weather, traffic was a bitch though, this was the first year that I was unable to find parking in the fair parking lot. It probably took us and hour to wrap around the fair and to park on the side of the road for $5. This year they featured fried butter balls, a doughnut burger, and an 18in. corndog. Also they stepped it up with a new ride, the zipper I think, that spun you all around in every direction. I rode on the ferris wheel, which was a huge accomplishment as I am scared to death of heights.

First Post

I would like to start this blog with a wonderful trip my love took me on in the first week of October.  He drove us the two and a half hour journey from Columbia to the beautiful city of Asheville to see the famed Biltmore House. I've always heard of the Biltmore and I have finally seen it. We arrived on the grounds and had to walk backwards a bit just so we could get a full view because the house is so large! We went inside to tour the home, and I was amazed at how well the wood was carved. There was so much artistry in the wood and stone that the actual artwork was just icing on the cake. The tapestries were so big its hard to imagine they were made by hand. The beds were a little tiny, I can't visualize how small people must have been back when this furniture was brought in. My favorite room was the library. There were thousands of books, the origional owner was said to have read atleast 3000 of them. The library was two stories of wall to wall books shelves. After seeing the interior of the house we travelled down to the basement where there was an indoor pool which was neat too. Next we went out on the grounds and down to the conservatory. There were so many plants to see, and the structure of the greenhouse was pretty all on its own. They were setting up the area for a wedding, which I didn't know people could get married there, but we saw five different wedding parties that saturday so it must be so. From the gardens we drove to a little village on the property where we went to the Biltmore estates winery for a tasting. We started with a champagne and then moved to a table where we picked what we wanted to taste off of a list. I stuck with the fruity juice category, while Dearest leaned more toward the reds. Hes so sophisticated with his broad fancypants palette. Next we went to the wine shop where we picked up my favorite bottle, a light zinfandel, which turned out to be the absolute cheapest. Basically I like to keep it classy. But more importantly I tasted my first sip of Wassail. And my life is forever changed. Now I have no idea why it has taken 21 years to get wassail into my life, because its so freaking good. Apple cider with yummy spices on a crisp October day. Since returning I have had a glass every morning. But anyways, after wine and wassail we had pretzles and vanilla ice cream from the family creamery. The ice cream was made from the origional recipe the Vanderbilts used.  After our snack we walked down to the farm where I made two new friends, a pair of horses named Chester and Bert. After my new friends went to pasture we wrapped up out day at the Biltmore and made our way out of the property. I got so many great pictures because Adam drove extremely slow and held my camera out his window while I kept repeating, "Get it. GET IT!" We drove across the street to the Red Stag grill a neat bohemian restaurant Adam went to with his parents previously.

At the Red Stag after valet parked the car we went in and sat at the bar as we were an hour early and we couldn't move our reservation up. There was a pianist and the menus had led lighting at the room was dark to set the tavern/hunting lodge mood. After a bit of people watching we went to our table, I ordered crabcakes, asparagus and a twice baked potato and it was delicious. Adam ordered orange duck which was also good. After dinner we got in the car and make the long trek homeward. The weather was beautiful and its no secret I love Asheville, I would rate that weekend an A plus. I think next Asheville trip we'll have to get a hotel and eat at the fancy Biltmore McDonalds, across from the Red Stag which also features a piano suprisingly. This weekend I unfortunatly had to cancel my trip to St. Marys, and in stead will be attending the South Carolina State fair. Looking forwards to some fried butter!

Absolutely Amazing!