We knew when we planned our wedding that our ideal honeymoon was not going to be in our immediate future. But that was certainly not about to stop us from simply getting away for a weekend. A Red Hot Chili Peppers's concert in April, a month after the wedding, had Charlotte, NC calling our name.
Having never been to Charlotte, I was completely blown away by its beauty and its hospitality.
We pulled up to our hotel and I had a moment of uncertainty. I'm a natural-born bargain hunter and budget conscious spender, so walking into a hotel with marble floors and doormen made me feel a bit like a celebrity, only without the paparazzi and dark, over-sized sunglasses. I was pretty certain I hadn't spent nearly enough money to receive this type of treatment, but I was not about to complain.
The second day of our trip, while coming down off our amazing evening at the concert, we took the drive up to Asheville to see the Biltmore Estate. Those Vanderbilts really knew what they were doing when it came to building a massive and elaborate chateau-styled estate. Why not build a house that is 135,000 square feet and sprawls across 8 acres of land? And heck, while you're at it, go ahead and put in 43 bathrooms. I'm pretty sure their dining room was larger than my entire house....times two.
And the gardens... I could go on and on about the gardens. If only I could have 1/16 of the amount of green thumbs that go into these gardens! Though I'm sure Home Depot would really begin to miss my frequent trips.
The photo on the right was intended to show the small sprig of wisteria, but I'm secretly excited that I got a shot of Jason's hand with his awesome wedding ring on. Yep, that's my husband's hand. I'll say that as often as I want simply BECAUSE I CAN.
Jason showed off his photographer skills...
We wrapped up our trip back in Charlotte. Walking into the hotel after the drive from Asheville we were (not surprisingly) hungry. We're always hungry. The awesome gentleman working behind the front desk was delighted to recommend Aria, a Tuscan grill. Oh.em.gee. I went in fully expecting to order pasta, but as soon as our waiter recommended their special, pan-seared salmon, I started drooling. I can't even put into words how delicious their food was.
Now, I'm not saying that this weekend will top our planned honeymoon in Italy next year, but it was by far exactly what we needed and precisely when we needed it.
Labels: Personal, Travel
