2011-April 29-May 1st to the Biltmore Estate for Emily and Brian's wedding:

I didn't just get to attend their wedding, I was also their professional photographer!  Over the years I've had the opportunity to photograph some really fun weddings---everything from one in the back yard of my son and daughter-in-law's house, to one on a Southern California beach, to this one here at the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina---not to mention many church weddings around St. Louis!  No--I don't do weddings for a living, but I've had lots of friends and family and friends of family ask me to take their pictures.  Emily and Brian happen to be friends of my daughter.  She went to college at K-State with Brian and she later met Emily at the Architecture firm she worked for after college.  She even convinced Brian that he wanted to come work there---where she introduced him to Emily. 
So why did they pick the Biltmore for their wedding?  Emily was the architect for much of Antler Village at the Biltmore!  Brian also did the museum there in Antler Village.  They're the architects of many interesting places (like Sea Worlds and other tourist areas), so it was fitting that they had a destination wedding to one of the places they worked at.  With all the time they've spent at the Biltmore, they know everyone and everything about the estate.  I was definitely spoiled!!!  Starting with the trip to the Biltmore in Oct. of 2010 when they were finalizing wedding stuff---like cake tasting, ordering flowers, checking out the venues.   I had never been to the Biltmore before. What a way to see it for the first time---with personal guides.  Emily even took care of getting permission for me to photograph their wedding.   

April 29, 2011:

So in late April, Ken and I drove from St. Louis to Alpharetta, Georgia, where our daughter was living and on the 29th of April, I rode up to the Biltmore with Angie and Josh. 
View of the Biltmore house from the mountains nearby.

I was shocked when I saw the room Emily put me up in for the 2 nights we were there!  It was in the Inn On Biltmore Estate.  One of their 2 luxury accommodations.  I can certainly see why!

Emily even left a bag of goodies there for me.

View from my room!

 

 and another

 AFter unpacking, I took a walk around the area.  The pool looked really inviting, but I imagine it was pretty cold in April. 

 heading back to the Inn

 a lounge inside the Inn.

 Angie and Josh dressed up and ready to start celebrating.

 Since they had to pay for their accommodations, they stayed in the Village Hotel on Biltmore Estate.  It was a couple hundred dollars a night less expensive, but still very nice. 

First order of business was the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner.  The bride and groom had dinner set up for the guests that had arrived already.  It was at Antler Village on the outside area of Cedrics.  There was a carving station, another station for cooked to order pastas, ...

 and even a nice dessert spread.

And, of course, lots of Biltmore beverages.

 It was a fun time.

Cedrics and the outdoor balcony area.

April 30, 2011:

The big day had arrived, with lots of things packed into it: High Tea, wedding photos around the estate, the wedding, and the reception.   
But first, I woke to this amazing view from my bedroom window. 

 a short while later

 Emily (or her folks?) had set up a High Tea for the Grandmothers, mothers, maid of honor, and Angie and me--- in restaurant in the Inn.  I've only been to a couple High Teas, and this one certainly lived up to it's name! 

 made for a great breakfast!

Since the wedding was in the evening, we did pictures around the estate in the afternoon.
Getting ready

 a photo representative of the period of time the house was built.

 It was a small, but beautiful wedding.

Then we were off to Lions Crest where the reception was held.

 The 5 course dinner was delicious!

 The happy couple having the first dance.

The party went on for a few hours.  I don't think any of us left until after 11pm.  It was a long, tiring day---but a beautiful one that I won't ever forget!

May 1, 2011:

We were on our own now.  So we did some touristy things before we left---like tour the house.

 Parked at the upper lot and walked down The Vista --- Angie and Josh leading the way

 The Italian gardens to the SE side of the house

 heading down the steps from the Vista

 almost to the house

 love the exterior of the grand staircase.

 View from the back patio.

 one of the many gargoyles.

 The back patio

 one of the many grotesques.

 The huge patio to the south where concerts are held.

 looking out towards The Vista from the Grand Staircase.

 No pictures of the inside of the house.  I don't think they were allowed---although when I went back with my daughter and daughter-in-law to the Biltmore in 2017, it was allowed. 
AFter touring the house, we wandered the grounds a bit.

 Azaleas were in bloom throughout the property.

 Even checked out some of the other areas of the Estate, like here at Trout lake.

 marveled at the old bridges with their unique character.

 Even got to check out a waterfall on property.

It was a short trip, but we packed a lot into it!  I'm so glad I got to participate in Emily and Brian's wedding.  They certainly are a fantastic couple!
 

2011 Feb. 10-25 Kauai---trip #10 to Kauai! Year of the Shark!: vog; Hanapepe gallery night; Waimea Canyon; Na Aina Kai garden; Kanikapila Kakou concert;

2011 Kauai---trip #10 to Kauai!  

Feb. 10-25 Year of the Shark!: vog; Hanapepe gallery night; Waimea Canyon; Na Aina Kai garden; Kanikapila Kakou concert

On about our 5th trip to Kauai, we had read in one of the visitor booklets that if you vacation to Kauai 10 times, you'll have a good chance of eventually moving there. I wonder if that'll hold true for us, too!?  Unfortunately, with this being our 10th trip to Kauai, there's still no plans for that move as of yet.

I imagine if this had been our 1st trip to Kauai, I still would have been blown away by it's beauty, but since this was our 10th, the weather made this trip ever so slightly disappointing. We had Kona winds for the whole time, which I have mixed feelings about. I like the warmer more humid weather it brings, but dislike the vog it can also bring. This year the vog was really bad because the volcano on the Big Island was being especially active. Our crisp vibrant colors of the distant hills weren't there for the whole 2 weeks of our visit. The first several days we didn't even get to see the brilliant blue/green ocean colors due to constant cloud cover. We did have quite a bit of rain, too, but that in itself doesn't bother me that much. It's the constant cloud cover and vog that were disappointing this year. Our usual routine of snorkeling all day then finding a sunset didn't work out well this year. We still snorkeled quite a bit, but by sunset, the clouds were usually too heavy to produce a pretty sunset, so most evenings we ended up just going out for an early dinner instead.

The past 2 years I've booked our flights to arrive a day or 2 before our timeshare stay started and left a day before our stay ended in order to get AA award tickets. This works out pretty well especially since we've had ocean view rooms the last 2 years and it was nice checking in when we could enjoy the view, instead of after 9pm and a long day of flying. It's also nice having the condo all day on the last day until we had to catch our red eye flight.

2011-Feb 10---Travel day:  STL-DFW-LAX-LIH

2011-Feb 10-12: Plantation Hale

2011-Feb 11: South Kauai

2011-Feb. 12: Wyndham Kauai Beach Villas, Lihue

2011-Feb. 13: Lawai, Poipu, Hanapepe

 2011-Feb. 14: Waimea Canyon

2011-Feb. 15: Anini, Kee, Tunnels

2011-Feb. 16: Kee, Tunnels

2011-Feb. 17: Na' Aina Kai

2011-Feb. 18: Anini, Hanalei

2011-Feb. 19: KBV Oceanview, Poipu, Lawai

2011-Feb. 20: Lawai

2011-Feb. 21: Anini

2011-Feb. 22: Salt Pond, Waimea pier

2011-FEb. 23: Lawai

2011-Feb. 24: East Kauai, Kee, Tunnels

2011-Feb. 25 (last day): anini

Flights home were long but uneventful. We were able to fly non-stop from LAX to STL so that cut several hours off our return flight. Arrived home about 1:30 pm from another wonderfull, but too short, Kauai vacation.

Oregon---Willamette Valley

Since we've been vacationing in Oregon for over 35 years, I decided to break up my Oregon blog into sections. Not only do we still vacation here (mostly to visit my family), but I lived here for about 7 years as a child. Most of our vacations, though, are during their fabulous July or August months. Can't beat those nearly 90 degree days with low humidity and almost constant sunshine. This blog is of the area I lived in---the Willamette Valley. Most of our vacations were based out of Dallas, Oregon, about 12 miles west of Salem.

First a little education about the area. The Willamette Valley is a fertile plain on either side of the Willamette River in the northwest area of Oregon. It is bound on the west by the Oregon Coast Range and on the east by the Cascade Range. The Missoula Floods some 13,000-15,000 years ago contributed to the agricultural richness of the valley. The majority of the state's population lives within the basin.

The climate in the Willamette Valley is usually cool wet winters and moderate dry summers. Most valley precipitation arrives as rain, about half of which falls between December and February. Growing seasons are long, averaging 150 to 180 days per year in the lowlands with an average of 40" of rain. Temperatures rarely get below 0 in the winter and only above 90 5-15 days per year in the summer.

A fantastic way to see the Willamette Valley is by Amtrak train on the Coast Starlight. It is widely regarded as one of the most spectacular of all train routes. It starts in LA and ends in Seattle. It goes through Oregon in the Willamette Valley. The scenery along the Coast Starlight route is beautiful. We boarded it a couple times here at the Amtrak station in Salem and rode it to Seattle.

Amtrak

We loved sitting in the 2nd level Sightseer Lounge car that has floor-to-ceiling windows for watching the passing scenery go by. There are other trains along this route, too, but none with this impressive viewing car of the Coast Starlight.

Located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River is the capital of Oregon, Salem. A 2009 estimate placed the metropolitan population at 396,103, the state's second largest metropolitan area, first being Portland by far.

This is the third and current Oregon State Capitol building which was completed in 1938 and is the fourth-newest capitol in the United States. It is adorned by a gold leaf Oregon Pioneer statue atop the capitol dome. The capitol grounds cover three city blocks and include Willson and Capitol parks. Although we've never been in the capital building we've driven by it hundreds of times.

Oregon State Capitol building

Las Vegas

In our early days of vacationing as a couple without the kids (the late 90's), we discovered the trick of going to time share presentations and getting certificates for a free trip to Vegas, or Orlando. With those certificates, we took 3 free trips to Vegas (or nearly free---on 2 of the trips we upgraded for $100/person, that included our airfare from the Midwest and accommodations in a large casino on the strip.)



Seeing Vegas by night was as exciting as seeing it by day. I love all the neon lights.

Most of the casinos had unique attractions to draw customers to them. The downtown casinos had the Fremont Experience. It's a fantastic light show on a canopy that is about 4 blocks long and a block wide---really is neat!



In Circus Circus there are circus acts done about every half hour or so. We saw an act with 2 guys doing acrobatics high in the air on ropes---not trapeze, but more like gymnastics. They were very good! I understand there are several different kinds of acts, but this is the only one we managed to catch. I believe the last performance is around 12:30 am.




These big statues are of Siegfreid and Roy and one of their tiger that's in their act. I understand there are 4 known white tigers and they have 3 of them. Since our trips to Vegas, I believe the show was cancelled after one of the performers got mauled by one of their tigers.




Another brightly lit casino on the Strip--the Riviera.



Monte Carlo casino by night.

The Bellegio water show is another impressive free show. It'll also be a cool place to be on a very hot day since all the water flying around cools off the surrounding area by about 5 degrees. Also, way inside the Bellagio is an impressive floral display, complete with gazebo. The ceiling in that area is made to look like different colored flower petals---colored stained glass.

Here is New York New York. For roller coaster enthusiasts, note the coaster in front of the building. I understand it was fashioned after the old Coney Island coaster--except that this one isn't wooden.

We had a couple favorite restaurants, the first one is the buffet at the Mirage. It was recommended to us by some gamblers who heard us trying to decide where to eat on our first trip. It was so good, we've been back there twice. I love the lush tropical forest design inside the Mirage, too.I asked for the recipe of the macaroons and the server actually went and got it for me!

Another favorite dinner/lunch buffet is in the Luxor. Interesting decor---like in a pyramid, or at an archeological dig.

We went to the brunch buffet at the Sahara a couple of times and have been very impressed. It's nicely set out. Nothing fancy, but plentifull and good. It is also just about as cheap as ordering breakfast in a diner. Cost was only about $6.95@.

On our 3rd promotional 'free' trip, we ended up upgrading again for a small fee (couldn't cheaply change the flight times on the airline--United-- this time) and they put us in Circus, Circus. It was very family friendly with carnival booths and rides for kids. But not bad for adults, either. THe room we stayed in was very nice----large and nicely furnished. This is one of the cheapest casinos on the strip, a good value for the money.

Would have been nice to take a gondola ride at the Venitian. The gondolas inside run along a shopping area made to look like a Venice shopping area. It's really neat. Even if you don't ride the gondolas, you'll be able to hear the gondola 'driver' seranading the riders. The ones we heard sang very well. I believe the ride is about 10 minutes long and cost about $15 per person (when we were there in 2000).

At Caesars Palace there was a performance in the forum shops area with large animatronic figures. In the performance, siblings were battling it out over who will take their father's place (the King). The audience even got to determine who won. Also in the center of the forum shops was a huge aquarium. A very tranquil place to rest up!

Located far inside Ceasars are the Forum Shops. Shopping in Vegas is pretty nice, too.

THere's even an M and M world along the Strip.

The first time we took the 'free trip', we did upgrade for a couple hundred dollars and stayed at the Stratosphere. They gave us a complimentary upgrade to a room with a fridge and microwave and seating area with couch, chair, and coffee table. It was very nice.I had checked on the prices for our next trip and could have gotten a room for $49/night---including a buffet meal for 2 and ride up to the lookout for 2.

Top of the Tower has a great view of the city lights. There's also a couple rides up there---a rollercoaster that goes in circles and a straight up ride called the Big Shot. It was storming when we were up there, so only the inside observation deck was open.

Stratosphere show--- Superstars. The actors and actresses in this show were VERY good. I especially liked the fiddler impersonator of Charlie Daniels, he played the violin superbly! Even the chorus line dancers were very well choreographed. Some of the other superstars impersonated were Elvis, Ricky Martin, and Michael Jackson.

Here is the relatively new Desert Inn. I recently heard that they actually put on lightening and thunderstorm inside the shopping area, complete with rain. Although I believe the rain falls into a lake and not on the walkways. Sounds really neat. If I'd known about this before we went, we might have gone to check it out. Maybe next time.

Not on one of our trips, but my mother-in-law even got married in one of the little chapels in Vegas.

When we got tired of all the lights and hustle and bustle, we took a tour of Hoover Dam? It was really awesome.

Another easy day trip from Vegas is Red Rock Canyon. I would have loved to spend more time wandering around the area, but it was really hot when we were there so we mainly stayed in the air conditioned rental car.

Since those days, we started vacationing to our various timeshares that we've picked up since then. I would love to get back to Vegas and stay in some of the resorts we "own" in there. But convincing Ken we should go back hasn't happened yet. Maybe I'll try and convince Angie and Faith we should do a girls trip there sometime!

2010-Dec., Angie and Josh's move to Atlanta

Another 2010 "working" vacation. This time was to help Angie and Josh move to their new place just north of Atlanta, Georgia. Alpharetta, to be exact. Josh went out ahead of us to start working at his new position within Cintas. Angie and I followed about a week later with their 2nd car and the 2 pups.

I was really surprised how good the dogs were! This was at the start of the trip. Molly already seemed to be wondering if we were there yet.

But soon they settled in and spent most of the 9 + hours trip like this.

We lucked out on the timing of the move. The week before and the week after the move were exceptionally cold for this area. But the mountains of Tennessee were still in the freeze and had many icy views for us to enjoy.

Sunset somewhere in Tennessee.

More Tennessee sunset. I think we were entering Chattanooga.

We spent the first night in a studio hotel and left bright and early the next morning to meet the movers at the new place.

Here are some pictures of the before, during, and after unpacking stages.

I guess the move wore out the pups.

Here's our attempt at getting a picture of the pups in front of the gas fireplace. Molly wasn't too cooperative.



Sometimes I think Murphy thought he was in prison.

Molly looking inquisitive.

The pups greeting "Dad" when he finally made it home for the first time from another 12 hour work day.

Angie and I spent 2 long days unpacking and moving stuff up and down 3 levels. On the weekend, Josh joined in the fun of unpacking. We were all pretty exhausted for the next 4 or 5 days. But we did make it out to shop a few of times and to some great dinners. Starting with dinner at Josh's brother Joe and family's house for a fantastic homemade lasagna dinner with home made gingerbread cookies for dessert. Dinner and company were great. Another night we went to Tara Humata for dinner where we had a very tasty Mexican dinner. After another day of some shopping, we brought home a pizza from Mellow Mushroom. I wish we had one of them in St. Louis! And I have to brag about Teds Montana Grill where we had another wonderful dinner. Their specialty is bison meat. The last 2 nights Angie even cooked 2 delicious meals----her home made chili one day and italian sausage with peppers the last night.

Angie and I hit a nearby outlet mall one day. That was also the day the weather turned really foul and Atlanta had the coldest weather it's had since 1976 and it lasted for 5 days. An ice storm even crippled the city and outlaying areas the day before I flew home.

We also made it into towards the city one day to go to the AMC movie theatre Fork and Screen, an interesting concept where you're waited on while you watch a movie. We saw an interesting movie, The Tourist, and ate popcorn and nachos.

The day I flew home, we headed out early to run through the Atlanta Aquarium before I had to catch my 3:37 flight home. It was still very icy when we left the townhome. But I imagine the warmer weather that day and the rain probably melted it by that afternoon. Here we are driving along a road near her townhome.

It was pretty misty as we were entering the city.

Another city attration we hope to see one day is the Coke museum. It happens to be next to the Aquarium, but we didn't have time to hit both that day.

I love aquariums and went wild taking pictures in it. It is a very impressive aquarium!



One of the most impressive things is knowing Angie did a lot of the architecture designing of interior spaces within the Aquarium and the exterior covered walkway. She even came across an employee she knew who is in charge of the cold water aquarium which houses a lot of her work. Here they are in the penguin area.

We spent quite awhile watching the playful penquins. They seemed to be really enjoying their newly designed space. This was even the first time Angie got to see it done and in use.

A penquin hello.

There are even interesting crawl through spaces and pop up windows for kids (and adults).

An overall view of "Angie's" penquin area.

A little anxious about the weather, we left there pretty early and headed off to the airport. Soon I was on a plane back to St. Louis.

Sad to see them move, but I'm excited for them and their new oppurtunities.