Book Now: Wi10’s Biltmore Estate and Historic Asheville Trolley Tours

Winter Institute attendees can kick off and end their stays in Asheville, North Carolina, with customized tours of the Biltmore Estate and historic Asheville. Both tours are being offered on Sunday, February 8, and Thursday, February 12, and each has been tailored to highlight details with special appeal to booksellers. Since the tour operators require a minimum number of passengers, advance ticket purchases are required. If there is an insufficient number of bookings, tours may be canceled.

Book now so you don’t miss out:

• The Biltmore Estate Tour
  On Sunday, February 8, or Thursday, February 12, beginning at 10:00 a.m. and returning to the Grove Park Inn at 3:30 p.m. (Tours will meet in the lobby of the Grove Park Inn’s Vanderbilt Wing Atrium at 9:45 a.m.)

  The Biltmore Estate, the remarkable 255-room chateau built by George Vanderbilt in the late 1800s, is the largest privately owned residence in the U.S. It features an incredible display of furnishings, sculptures, paintings, books, and other treasures from around the world. The tour package includes round-trip transportation with a professional guide; admission to the Biltmore house, gardens, and winery; an all-inclusive lunch; and taxes. The cost is $109 per person.

  To reserve a spot on either the Sunday or Thursday tour, submit the registration form, available here, by January 31, 2015. The form is an editable and printable PDF, which may be completed online and then e-mailed or printed and faxed. The form also includes further information about the tour itself and additional registration information. Questions should be addressed to the tour operator, Accents on Asheville.

• Historic Asheville Trolley Tour
  Sunday, February 8: Tours leave at 3:00 p.m. / 3:30 p.m. / 4:00 p.m. / 4:30 p.m.
  Thursday, February 12: Tours leave at 10:00 a.m. / 10:30 a.m. / 11:00 a.m.  / 11:30 a.m.

  The 35-passenger trolley leaves the Sammons Wing of the Grove Park Inn for a 90-minute tour of Asheville, which includes the Montford Historic District, the stately Grove Park Historic District and Grove Park Inn, the Art Deco-rich downtown, the artsy and edgy River Arts District, and the quaint and historic Biltmore Village. Sunday’s tour will drop guests off at The Venue downtown for Wi10’s Opening Reception; Thursday’s tour will end at the Grove Park Inn.

  The price is $19 per person and is only bookable online. All tour departures are “weather permitting.” Departures canceled due to inclement weather are fully refundable. Each tour departure must have a minimum of 10 passengers in order to operate. Attendees booked on departures with fewer than 10 passengers will be offered the opportunity to rebook on another departure. Tours are run by Gray Line; purchase tickets here.

  Trolleys are heated but are not air-tight, so passengers should dress warmly.

Also on Sunday, February 8, thanks to a donation from ABA, Wi10 attendees will be able to tour the Thomas Wolfe Memorial at no charge and no reservations are required. The Memorial is located across the street from the Renaissance Asheville.

• The Thomas Wolfe Memorial
  Sunday, February 8: 3:15 p.m. / 3:45 p.m. / 4:15 p.m. / 4:45 p.m. / 5:15 p.m. / 5:45 p.m.

  The 45-minute tour of the Thomas Wolfe Memorial, the boarding house that inspired Look Homeward, Angel will leave from the Memorial Visitor Center at 52 North Market Street in downtown Asheville. Each tour is capped at 15 people and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Shuttle buses from the Grove Park Inn to the Memorial Visitor Center will begin at 2:45 p.m. and will run every 15 minutes.

Booksellers are also encouraged to take part in Sunday afternoon’s Downtown Asheville Indie Retail Crawl, from 3:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The full list of stores participating in the self-guided stroll, as well as a Google map, can be found here. Businesses on the tour range from ZaPow! Art Gallery and Malaprop’s Bookstore/Café to Hip Replacements, a funky vintage and contemporary clothing store, and Asheville Bee Charmer, which sells 50 different types of locally produced honey, along with bath and body products, snacks, art, and other bee products.

In their Welcome Bags, booksellers will receive a printed self-guided Grove Park Inn tour itinerary, and extra copies will be at the Ask ABA desk. The hotel also offers a guided tour that covers the history of Grove Park Inn builder E.W. Grove, the construction and early years of the resort, the Arts & Crafts-style furniture, and some of the inn’s most notable guests. The guided tour lasts for approximately 45 minutes and consists of periods of walking and long periods of standing. Wi10 registrants who are interested in the guided tour should visit the Concierge Desk to sign up. There is a $10 per person fee.

For complete details about the Wi10 education program and specials events, visit BookWeb.org/wi2015.

Winter Institute 10 is made possible by the support of Ingram Content Group, the event’s lead sponsor, with additional support from more than 60 publishers large and small.