Grove Park Inn Christmas Eve

This December will be remembered over much of the eastern US as being unusually warm, and in the case of western North Carolina, full of a lot of precipitation.  So we woke on Christmas eve morning to a massive thunderstorm and heavy rains that continued off and on all day, making it a challenge to enjoy the balmy temperatures which reached into the 70's.

Fortunately we had planned the perfect pre-Christmas activity... lunch at the Omni Grove Park Inn!  The GPI is a delight to visit any time of the year, an amazing architectural feat, perched on a mountain with a majestic view of the Asheville skyline, and full of interesting history.  At holiday time it is particularly festive, with gingerbread houses on display from the annual competition, decorated trees too numerous to count, and the bustle of people staying there, dining there, and enjoying the ambiance of the many public spaces.

 There are always unusual interpretations of "gingerbread house" including birds, like this peacock nesting and the cardinals.

And then Santa often makes an appearance...

 along with his sleigh.

But I am somewhat prejudiced and tend to like best the ones that actually are replicas of buildings, even when they are somewhat whimsical.

And that includes the winning entry this year, a very ramshackle place with lots of interesting details.

 It's somewhat difficult to get very good photos, since the lighting is not very even in the areas where that gingerbread houses are on display and they are cordoned off so you can't get too close.  And the winner is in a glass encased and mirrored inset which generally has a cluster of people around it.  But keep in mind that everything on these "houses" is edible.  Also some of the ones that I have photos of were made by adults, but some were made by teens and children.  While trying to sneak in a photo of the winner, I took this shot below where you can see Russ and I reflected in the mirror!

The decorated Christmas trees were also wondrous!  Many in the main hallways were done according to theme.  Like the snowman tree and the tree filled with skis and other winter sports equipment, both of which reminded me of my friend Barb...

And cardinals always remind me of my friend Mickey.

Our lunch was at Edison, one of the many venues where you can eat at this resort.  It is their "pub" and named for Thomas Edison who with his friends Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone stayed at the GPI many years ago.

Here's Russ near the entrance to Edison.

And my friends on Facebook will recognize this photo of me enjoying the first sips of my Bloody Mary.

You can see that we had a window table... I guess a perk of having made reservations ahead of time.

This was our view... usually the sky is a clear NC blue and the skyline of Asheville shows up in color against the green of the mountain slope and you can see layers of mountains beyond.  Not today.  It was somewhat eerie with low fog and some rain at times.

We did have some periods of clearing, but you can see the standing water on the golf course.  No one was playing golf!

But you can see some people enjoying the hot tub at the spa in this photo.

Before I close, I wanted to share two more photos.  This is one of the massive fireplaces in the main hall.  This particular fireplace was reopened when Omni took over the GPI a couple of years ago.  It's twin, which as far as I know was always functional, is on the other side of the massive hall.  As you can see, it's a great place for people to congregate.

 And this temporary concession, selling hot chocolate, cookies and beer (how's that for a combination?) was set up in the main hall near one of the doorways to the Sunset Terrace.  It is made entirely of gingerbread "stones" and smelled wonderful!  There was a placard nearby that told how many pounds of flour and sugar and spices were used to construct it and urging guests not to nibble!

Sorry that this has gotten to be a bit long, but Russ and I really enjoyed our lunch and our visit to the GPI.  We are fortunate to have this local treasure and it was a perfect time to while away a few hours before the Christmas Eve church service.

Happy December Holidays and a Happy New Year to all my followers!