We walked nearly 12 miles on our last day in Richmond. Because of that we don’t have many photos!

We started out touring the Governor’s mansion. It’s the oldest still-lived-in Governor’s mansion in the US and is on the grounds of the state capitol. We also took a tour of the capitol, which was designed by Thomas Jefferson.

After lunch downtown, we walked ~3.5 miles along the river to Maymont, “a 100-acre Victorian estate and public park in Richmond, Virginia. It contains Maymont Mansion, now a historic house museum, an arboretum, formal gardens, a carriage collection, native wildlife exhibits, a nature center, and Children’s Farm.”

The home was incredible and our tour guide was great. The Dooleys, who built the house, were childless so they donated the home, furnishings, outbuildings and grounds to the city for the public to enjoy. It’s a great resource for the city.

We also found a dinosaur:

After dinner and a movie to kill some time before our midnight bus to Charlotte, NC, we hung out in the always-classy Greyhound terminal:

By 7am we were in Charlotte!

But then we immediately got in the rental car and drove to Asheville.

First stop? A bike-themed brewery!

The New Belgium tour is great (and free, by the way). We got to see most parts of the production process:

…and sample lots of beer:

Today we visited the Gilded Age estate of Biltmore. Formerly 125,000 acres (the size of Maui), the property is now a paltry 8,000 after most of it was sold to make Pisgah National Park.

We opted into the Roof Top tour which provided unique views of the 178,926sq ft house.

The amount of detailing was incredible. Even the rooftop caps are embossed in George Vanderbilt’s initials and originally gilded in 24k gold, some of which is still partially visible on the cross below and to the left of the VG:

We also did a tasting at the winery but, more importantly to Charly, got to visit with 4 day old goats!

Tonight we have reservations at a swanky vegan restaurant. Tomorrow it’s back to Charlotte to visit with mom and Nanny!