Christmas at Biltmore

Immediately after my last final, the BF and I went to Biltmore to see the Christmas extravaganza. It was nice, although not as done up as I had hoped. And still...no pictures allowed inside. No wonder it's not an Asian tour stop. The big tree in the dining room was a sight to see though. It had to be over 20 feet tall, and unlike mall trees, it was actually one tree, not 30 perfectly put together. The Estate had to buy two of them because each only lasts about two weeks. So when its time to change the tree, they only have one night to remove all Christmas ornaments, take down the tree, put up the new one, and get all the ornaments back on. Once again, too bad I couldn't take a picture of it.
This is a pic of the front of the house. I really thought that the house would be outlined with Christmas lights. Obviously that wasn't the case...maybe my tastes are tacky or something.
Here's a pic of the house from the road that leads to the garden, winery, and outdoor center.

The next day we took the Segway tour. It was way better than riding on a regular Segway because these were off-roading Segways. The tires were super fat and seemed all-terrain like. Here's us in front of the reflection pond. The pond is crazy because it had to be far back enough so that the whole reflection of the house fit.


At first I was scared shitless of hoping on the Segway. Even though we had an instructor, it wasn't like he had the ability to stop me if I went careening off course. We started off in Turtle mode, where the fastest is 6 mph. That was practice mode. When it came time to go on the course we got upped to Rabbit, where the fastest is 12 mph. That rocked. By the end I was a Segway fiend, but it took a while to get there. At first it was hard for me to balance. The machine is pretty big, and I had a hard time controlling it in the beginning. To go forward, you lean forward. To go back, you lean back. So when I was going forward and tried to stop, I would lean back a little to far and start going backwards. It took me a minute to realize it, and then another minute to figure out that I had to lean forward slightly to stop. By the time my instructor told me I was going backwards and I actually stopped, a good 30 feet were between us. Good thing quick thinking and reflexes weren't required to operate this bad boy. Either that, or good thing no one else was on the trial at the same time we were... Although I think the Segway rocks, I can see why it never really caught on as the new travel medium. The ones we rode cost $5,500! Ouch if we broke it!

After the Segway, we did the Landrover Experience Driving School. This is my second time, and luckily I got the same instructor (he remembered me!). Since it had been raining the few days and hours beforehand, we had to take a different route. Why the instructor didn't want to use the winch was beyond me.
I've told the BF many times that I 'need' a Range Rover. And he always rolled his eyes at me. But this time...wah la!!! He loved it! (Even the heated steering wheel).


I got the last ten minutes of the lesson and ended up in Superbowl sized mud pit. It took around 8 tries to get out of it.


We've decided that when we make enough money (or win the lottery), we're getting a Range Rover. Our dog would look fantastic with her head sticking out the window. I guess this will happen after I finish school, get a job, and bank out the ying yang.