Biltmore Candlelight Christmas

Hi folks -- Happy Friday to you!  I'm seeing some really pretty Christmas decorations on your blog posts.  I'm still putting ours out, and I've a ways to go before I can share any of mine here.  I'm almost through with our tree, and I hope to finish the living room later today.  In the meantime, I'm sharing some pics from the Biltmore House back in January of this year.  Hal, my mom, and I went to the Christmas Candlelight tour on January 4th, and I told Hal later that it was one of our best visits, in my opinion.  We had a delicious meal at the Stable Cafe, and it snowed while we were there.  Not the icy kind that makes driving so risky, but just a soft, white snow.  Talk about atmosphere!       This trip made our fourth time to do the Christmas Candlelight tour.  They do things a bit differently each year, and I thought the decorations were especially pretty on this day.  I hope you enjoy the pictures.   

  Looking away from the house down through the alleé.     

      

     

  There was a gorgeous sunset in progress when we arrived at the top of the mountain.   

Some of these pictures are a little grainy because of the low light.   

     

  You can click on any of these photos to enlarge the image.   

   These two pics were taken in the main entryway of the house.          

Now we're in the Banquet Hall.

      

               

     

   
The pictures in the first part of the post were taken by Hal.  The next group of pics (starting with this table) were taken by me.  This is the long table in the banquet hall.  Tapestries hang on the wall in the background.  The table gets decorated differently each year; I like the lemon topiaries they've done here.      

            

            

This is the main Christmas tree with the family gifts underneath.  

   

   

I think these book shelves are beautiful, but they always look too empty to me.  They would look so much better with some objets d'art displayed there, don't you think so?  

   

Do you see the wooden sled with wooden runners in the right side of the picture?  I love these old-fashioned toys.

   

Some architectural details in the room.  This carved frieze is pretty impressive; above that are pipes for a pipe organ.

   

Here's the other end of the banquet hall, seen from a different doorway.

   

   

A full view of that spectacular fireplace. 

   

   

I mentioned at the beginning of this post that we had a delicious meal at the Stable Cafe.  I wish I could remember what kind of soup this was, but I can't.  I remember I enjoyed it, but forgot what kind it was.  It sure looks good though, huh?  I don't doubt that it was.

   

This was my mom's salad.  It had roasted beets and goat cheese on it.  Not exactly my cup of tea, but my mom said it was delicious.  I just cannot abide any of the stinky, crumbly cheeses.  Most people seem to like them, but not me.  😏 

   

I had the shrimp and grits for my entree, and they were delish.  We all had a wonderful chocolate mousse for dessert.  The price of each meal includes an entree, appetizer, bread, and dessert, so it's actually a pretty good deal.  

   

   

On this occasion we all enjoyed a glass of wine from the Biltmore Winery.  My mom is still talking about that meal; she just loved it.  😊  The next installment will be the Tapestry Hall and the Library.  Thanks so much for your visit today and have a great weekend!  

   

Blessings,