There’s much to be said for making a schedule and sticking to it. After all, life is full of “to-do” lists, meeting to attend, work to do, and families to take care of. But sometimes, we want to step out of our little world. We want to escape our ordinary lives of daily commitments and responsibilities. We want to try out a different life in a different place and see what it’s like. It’s nice to drop everything and do something fun and impulsive.
Not too long ago, my husband and I decided to take a break from the known of everyday life and venture out into the unknown. On a whim, one morning, around 11 am, we decided to jump into the car and head north!
We took the road less traveled and stopped at some hidden gems along the way. We stopped at antique stores, country gas stations and just to take a picture of the sunset in the North Georgia mountains. We arrived in Asheville, North Carolina just after dark. We were tired as we checked into our hotel, but it had been a fun day of living out our dreams. It’s a good thing we still like each other after nearly 30 years of raising kids who are now dreaming their own dreams.
This was our first time in Asheville and it did not disappoint. It’s a city where the old world of the Vanderbilt family meets the eclectic hipster culture of today. The night was cool as we drove through the funky downtown. We were tired from our long drive and decided to go to bed early so we could explore Asheville the next day.
The next day as we drove through town, we were determined to get a taste of what the locals like. When we came upon Rocky’s Hot Chicken Shack, we knew we had come to the right place. Even though it was before noon, the parking lot was already full which was a very good sign! Our mouths were watering and we could hardly wait to get inside.
We joined the line and quickly glanced over the menu on the wall as we prepared to place our order. One of the menu items was “Yo’ Mama’s Big Fat Booty Plate” I wasn’t daring enough to order this one on my first visit. Instead, I chose the Rocky’s Chicken Sandwich which came with pimento cheese generously slabbed on the bun. Cavin ordered the hot chicken biscuits. The order taker offended Cavin by questioning if he could handle the heat. He held his head high and did not back down on ordering the hot chicken. His mouth might have been on fire, but he was committed to eating every bite! We both enjoyed Rocky’s Zippy Ranch. It was the dipping sauce we’ve been searching for all of our lives, and just didn’t know it!
As we waddled out of the restaurant, it was time to shift gears from being locals at Rocky’s to being tourists at the Biltmore House. As we drove onto the grounds of the beautiful Biltmore Estate, we were taken back to the early 1900s as we encountered the life of the wealthy Vanderbilt family of days gone by. The beauty of the mountains and the magical house and gardens were the escape route we were looking for!
It was not hard to understand how George Vanderbilt had fallen in love with these mountains and this beautiful area of the country many years ago when he visited the resort town of Asheville with his mother. He found the area to be a retreat and began investing in land on which he would later enlist a well know architect Richard Morris Hunt to design and build his beloved 250-room chateau now known as The Biltmore Estate. A well-known landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted was also contracted to create the beautiful gardens.
The tour of the home sucked us into the life of the Vanderbilt family. We could almost hear men telling tall tales in the billiard room and could imagine summer nights with beautiful melodies being played in the music room. Life must have been full of activity in this massive mansion. There were many meals that had to be prepared in the kitchen located in the basement. I imagine meals like roast beef and homegrown vegetables, chicken and dumplings, or steak and potatoes.
Can you imagine the daily chores at the Biltmore estate? With all of the activity there, it must have been like a small community. So many chores had to be done in a day and age lacking the modern conveniences and technology we take for granted today. We may say it was a “simpler time” in the world, but was it really? Many of the modern conveniences that even middle-class families have today were not yet invented one-hundred-plus years ago. In some ways, we have more luxuries than the wealthiest of the wealthy had at that time.
I couldn’t help but wonder how George Vanderbilt would have reacted to Rocky’s Hot Chicken Shack. I doubt if “Yo’ Mama’s Big Fat Booty Plate” was on the menu at The Biltmore Estate. Who knows…. maybe George and Rocky would have been friends, even though they come from different worlds. Sometimes we have to experience those different worlds to really appreciate them.
As we drove away from Asheville that day, I was glad we had the opportunity to visit some “different worlds”. We had experienced life as locals in Asheville and we had experienced life as tourists at the Baltimore House. We had even tried to imagine a life of wealth that had been lived in this magnificent home over 100 years ago.
Now, It was time to get back to our own world. Even though our lives may not be perfect, we are blessed. We sometimes try to imagine the lives of others, in the past, present, or future. But let’s not forget the value of thankfulness and contentment found in living life where we are, each in our own little world.