The Biltmore

Can you come to Asheville and not visit one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country, one that draws more than a million people every year? Perhaps, but we felt compelled. So, we shelled out the $60 per person admission fee, without purchasing any of the endless add-ons--audio tour, guided tour, special behind-the-scenes tour, exclusive wine tasting experience, carriage ride, horseback riding.

The house is lovely and so are the grounds. More architecturally unified than Hearst Castle, but still possessing all the mystique of the closest thing Americans get to royalty. These are our castles.

One of my colleagues, who happens to be an architectural preservationist geek, told me you could spend a whole day at the site, reveling in the home and garden. We did it in a few hours, anxious to get our money's worth in the free wine tasting at the end. This required us to politely maneuver around hundreds of dazed fellow tourist entranced in their audio wands, selfie sticks and mobile devices.