Charlotte, North Carolina

The Amtrak Train leaves quite early from New Orleans, headed for Charlotte.  First the run is almost due north, across Lake Pontchartrain, then across the cypress swamps, and through the lowlands of Mississippi.  There is then a long curve through Birmingham, Atlanta, Clemson, Greenville, and on to Charlotte.   The problem is that the train arrives in Charlotte at about 1:30 am.  Not exactly the time to sit and catch up on old times, so as Melissa picked us up we were nodding; sge took us home to her large comfortable house.  As we regained consciousness sometime in the late morning, we had our coffee, and some bites of breakfast.  Melissa had planned a surprise for us, which meant we had to get our bodies with a couple day's luggage into her car by noon.  Kids!  don't they know we are old?

Melissa had rented a marvelous cabin in the woods, in the mountains near Asheville.  The setting was idyllic.  She could have just let us sit there for a couple of days and we'd have been very happy.  A wonderful, well maintained area with a dozen or so cabins.  Quiet and very peaceful.  Morning coffee, a delivered paper, and I was in heaven.
The next morning we headed off to Biltmore.

"Biltmore is the largest house in America".  After the very long earphone guided tour, I cannot argue.  What a marvelous, beautiful place.  George Vanderbilt pissed his money away on a gorgeous creature, but as most homeowners know, you have to set a budget, but he kept spending .  He died early to have his wife find ways to save the place.  Hmmm that historically sounds familiar.  My regrets are that we didn't spend more time on the fabulous grounds.  The entire area of Biltmore is well worth the experience of a visit.

Following Asheville, we headed up the Blue Ridge Parkway for a hundred miles or so.  Every visit brings on the love for slow traffic, artistic curves, and elegant stonework. There are several of these types of parkways in America, there should be many more.  The non-hurried pace is incredibly restful.  Along the way we stopped at a rest area that had a large gathering of local artisans crafting their work.  Weavers, spinners, painters, even a gentleman that made lace.   
Melissa had a special soap store she wanted to visit.  The soaps are all hand made on the premises, and have been fashioned by a chemistry teacher turned soap seller.  We shipped a large box of various scents and purposes home for trial.
We then continued to Melissa's home for a few days of rest.  Sunday was Mother's day.  We were off early the next week.
Next Washington, DC