It has officially transitioned to Phase II of the odyssey. We can call Alexa officially done with school and now has taken on the role of mover. Sandra, Karen and I were able to expeditiously exit Athens at 9:30am. I've never seen them so attuned to leaving on time; only to find out tickets were purchased in Asheville for a tour of the Vanderbilt mansion and garden. There was a deadline of 2pm to arrive or miss our appointment. I trust their calculations. My initial thought was "It's doable. If nothing goes wrong".
The drive took us through North Georgia, into South Carolina. At some point it was decided to visit Clemson as it was on our way, and we did defeat the Tigers in 2022. Thus, it was proper to drop in for the "In your face" taunt. Just kidding. No, maybe not. Not sure.
What we did not expect getting there was a graduation was taking place. We happened to hit campus when the event was finishing, and all the folks were heading to their cars. Yikes! Out timing was bad. We spent a half hour seeing three buildings and a bathroom. Then we were off with not much fanfare or remembrance of what we had seen.
Getting back on the highway was really troublesome. No matter what road or turn we took, it was delayed. South Carolina was under construction and detours were everywhere. Ultimately, we hit the train tracks at the precise moment a locomotive was to pass by. We sat there in the intersection for 10 minutes maybe. Hard to tell, as time was slipping into oblivion at this point. When the train finally passed by, we were again on our way to North Carolina, but with the caveat that a lot of time was consumed by the various obstacles.
We were behind the curve in getting to our scheduled appointment at the Vanderbilt estate. Hmm, that somewhat rolls off the tongue quite nicely. "The Vanderbilts are expecting us, yo!".
One thing about the rich, they really know how to establish a presence up to their home. The driveway was 2.5 miles going in through lush, manicured fields. It felt like driving through Yellowstone with a Disney flair. We were LATE. We parked and grabbed a shuttle to the Mansion, and we were 10 minutes past our two o'clock. Sandra said we have until 2:15 before our tickets are void...so, it was a bit of a sprint.
Luckily, we got in just in time! Along with about 100 other people. So it wasn't exactly a personalized tour. We picked up some auditory devices; we could punch codes into predestination rooms. This house was 178,000 sqft to give it some perspective. It took us about 2 hours to go through the entire building. I'll I can say is WOW. Won't even attempt to regale the incredible rooms that the Vanderbilts lived in. But it was some goooood livin' they's had.
After the mansion we walked through the gardens. Not my choice, but it was two against one, so I followed where I could, and sat on benches where I must; until the two girls were satiated by all the shrubbery.
When we exited the premises out across their 80,000 acres driveway at about 6:30pm. We were now starting to get to my favorite part of the trip "BBQ"! We drove into the heart of brewery central and hit an awesome BBQ joint, and of course, the mandatory beer recovery drink from the day's road-trip and tour.
We were running late to our B&B check-in, but the owner left the keys in the mailbox so we could navigate our way to the bedrooms (3rd floor). The good thing about the top floor is you don't hear the squeaking ceiling from folks above. We were those folks above. Every time I take a step, I can only think of the imaginative swear words from the room below us (Never too old to learn some choice goodies). I probably shouldn't have had those hushpuppies at dinner; it added an extra squeak when I shuffled. Fortunately, we didn't have a lot of steps before passing out for the night.