by Julianna Squicciarini

I have been asked quite a few times recently what our family did for Mother’s Day.  In a nutshell, we honored our dear mother with scones/tea/devonshire cream/gifts/etc.  But the real story starts when you ask what we did ON Mother’s Day.

Actually, Christine and I took a little roadtrip over to Asheville to visit the beautiful Biltmore Estate.  Last time Christine was there was for my 15th birthday (2004, for those who are counting), when we took a special rooftop tour and a wasp landed on the bridge of her sunglasses, causing her to tear them off and scratch about 3 layers of skin off of her nose.  There was a long red stripe down it for the rest of the day…and week…and…

Anyway, all that to say that Christine has not seemed interested in returning.  Not, that is, until I received my coveted 12-Month Daypass for my graduation.  I promised her we would stay out of the house – she is not a big mansion fan – and only tour the gardens and grounds.  So we did.

We got there at around 10:15am, and it was cold and rainy.  What kept going through my mind was, “One misty, moisty morning, when cloudy was the weather…”  But we didn’t meet any old men dressed in leather, so that’s where my mind finished the poem.
We were so cold that we knew we wouldn’t be able to survive walking around outside all day.  So Christine had the brilliant idea to buy matching Biltmore sweatshirts.  Although they were exorbitantly priced, we did so and immediately felt better :-)

The gardens were lovely, the weather took a turn for the better (thank goodness), and all in all, our time was not only safe, but peaceful and friendly.

We made reservations for dinner at The Bistro in person; when they asked for our name, we said, “Bond.” (“Squicciarini” just gets a blank look) They said, “As in James?”  We said, “Of course.”  At the appropriate time, we strode confidently in and told the hostess we had reservations for two – under the name “Bond.”  She smirked, and said, “We have no power.”  It took a moment to sink in, but the bottom line was that, due to the high winds and tornado watch, the entire estate had lost power and could no long cook their food or turn on the lights (I thought the dim lighting was supposed to be romantic…).

We ended up at the Arbor Grill, next door to The Bistro, eating cold cheese and chicken salad.  Not quite the classy ending I was looking for, but it was still delicious (and we were starving).

This was my first roadtrip, driving-wise, and I have to say it was a smashing success!  Anyone up for another trip to Biltmore?  My pass doesn’t expire until March ;-)