RoamingGecko

I went Asheville this past weekend for a little mini-getaway. It was my 4th trip down to Asheville and the Biltmore Estate. You would think I would be pretty bored with the place at this point but then again this visit proved to be another first.

Saturday was spent just walking around downtown. Asheville has lots of little shops to stop in and browse through. Eclectic and at the same time very interesting. I think you could literally spend days visiting them all.

The next day we drove out to the Biltmore Estate. As soon as we got out of the car I noticed something odd. There was this overwhelming hum, almost mechanical in nature but too consistent to be man made. I couldn’t quite place it. To be honest, the din from the countryside was a bit annoying. Just the right frequency to drill into your head. Once we got up to the “big house” it was all too apparent what was causing the noise. Cicadas. Billions of them. Ok, realistically it probably only numbered somewhere in the tens of millions but there had to be an insane number for them to be able to produce that loud, constant hum. There were more insects flying around than I had ever seen in my life. They were every where. In the car later that day I was hitting one every 4 or 5 seconds. It was almost as amazing a sight as the Biltmore itself. As always, the Biltmore was spectacular. American excess to the extreme to be sure, but still fascinating. If you haven’t paid a visit to Asheville, it certainly is a must see.

If you would like to see the pictures I took while on my trip, click the cicada below to view them over on Flickr.