Our World Tuesday: History Buffs on the Loose

Nothing makes a history buff happier than being on the loose with another history buff at a historical site. So it was with me and my nephew Alex a few weeks ago, when we spent several hours at the Biltmore in Asheville, North Carolina. This is the largest privately owned-residence in the U.S. The Vanderbilts are responsible for the tax bill of this cozy country estate. It took about three hours to tour the house before we were let loose on the grounds. My nephew and I took the audio tour, and we were geeky enough to listen to every last word of the recording along with the footnotes and the footnotes on the footnotes. It's amazing what you find out about people when you press that pound key. (We did not end with the people we started out with. So it goes.) After the house tour, we had lunch so that we would have the energy for the gardens. After our hot dogs and pretzels, we had a look around the grounds, where we were free to take pictures. I thought these two l