My BEST Thanksgiving Meal ... Twice

The Best Thanksgiving Meal ...... Twice

Our Thanksgiving tradition may be different from others. Instead of staying home and inviting family over or going to someone’s home, we have a tendency to take a trip or vacation. Over the years, we’ve had Thanksgiving in Disney World a couple times, a cruise, the mountains, the beach. Anyway, you get the picture. Thanksgiving is always different. I guess our tradition is to be untraditional.


This year, we spent Thanksgiving Day at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. What a magnificent place. America’s largest house was originally built in 1895 by George Vanderbilt. The entire estate is surrounded by 8,000 acres of breathtaking gardens, views and restaurants.

The tour was amazing. We enjoyed the grand scale, architecture and décor in each room. The Biltmore should be on your list of places to visit soon.

Enough with the commercial and on with the story. We chose to eat dinner at 3 pm at the Deer Park Restaurant. It was originally the dairy farm for the Vanderbilt’s. Great food. Let me add that what you are about to read is Delaney’s fault. In order to set the stage I’ll have to take you back in time. It all started on August 23, 1995 – the day she was born. It was a small hospital in Port Arthur, TX. Wait, wait, wait … that’s too far back. It all started on August 8, 1997 – the day Ashlyn was born in New Orleans. No, that’s seems too far back, also.


It all started before we left for the Biltmore at 10 am Thursday morning. Do any of you suffer from migraines? I do. If you’ve ever had one you know how debilitating they can be. I take Imitrex and it works great. I never leave home without one – just in case. Well, I can’t say always. I thought about it but decided I wouldn’t need one. Have you ever made a mistake, known it was a mistake but done it anyway? I hate that.

The drive through the mountains was really fun. We laughed about our ears popping with the altitude change, made a few jokes about what we each chose to wear and fix our hair … the usual Grizzle humor. We stopped at a gas station just before the Estate and grabbed a little snack. Not sure about your migraine’s but mine are sometimes triggered by not eating at regular times. 3 o’clock is too late.


We loved he tour. Especially the basement that looked more like a dungeon. We were all disappointed with the Halloween room, though. I was expecting monsters … oh well. So the tour went on and my head started to hurt a little. Uh oh – migraine time. We moved throughout the house, had our annual Thanksgiving photo made and loved every minute – except the head throbbing. We shopped at a couple souvenir traps and bought a few of you something nice. Don’t worry; we got you the same thing we got you last year.

Pound, pound, pound. Do your migraine’s cause sensitivity to light, sound or nausea? Close to 3, we arrived at the restaurant – ready to dive into some down home Thanksgiving turkey, dressing, potatoes and pecan pie. Four hungry Grizzle’s stormed the buffet line – that’s right, I said buffet. The food was awesome – some of the best I’ve eaten twice. Sometimes a migraine will subside a little after eating. Not this one.


After one plate full I was in full blown pain and panic. The freight train is rolling and can’t stop. Delaney picked up her crystal glass to take a sip …. And that’s when it happened. The bottom stem of her glass fell off – it just fell off. She dropped her glass after the bottom fell into her plate. Turkey, dressing, potatoes and other food don’t mix well with Mr. Pibb. I’ve always wondered why Mr. Pibb is the substitute for Dr. Pepper. They taste nothing alike. So there she was with broken glass and Pibb soaking her food. Our waitress was excited to help clean it up. She recovered after we made fun of her as only Grizzle’s can do in one’s time of need. Ouch, my head really hurts.
Ashlyn ate her usual loaf of bread and decided she hated apple pie after two pieces. I’m not sure where her elf-sized body holds all that food. I’m on my second plate … and that’s when it happened … again. My migraine’s trigger nausea … that’s right, sports fans, nausea. Did you know the Biltmore hickory trees are big enough to hide behind and puke? There’s a nice one close to where they park the catering trucks. Anyway, after puking, I made my way back to the table hoping for dessert. After all, it is Thanksgiving. Nope, it didn’t happen. Outside to puke again.
Did I mention it was about an hour drive back to the camper? That’s where we were when I left my Imitrex. Shirley drove. Before we got on the interstate we stopped twice to puke – once at a CVS (where I bought Emetrol) and a gas station. Pain, pain, pain, puke, puke, puke. It’ hard to puke on the side of the interstate with hundreds of onlookers wondering what’s wrong with the idiot.
Did you know plastic Wal-Mart bags are handy to keep in your car? They can double as puke catchers in emergencies. I filled up three of them on the way home. The last gas station bathroom was the nicest. It was in North Greenville and I must say I’d stop again if I knew which one it was.
Imitrex works wonders and about an hour after taking one, everything was back to normal. Whatever normal is for us …

The Biltmore is nice and I’ll always remember this as the Thanksgiving meal I ate … twice. It tasted better on the way down.


How’s this Delaney or Ashlyn’s fault … not sure but I’m blaming it on them.

Welcome to the Christmas season.