If you want to enjoy
your vacation, don't do
what I did at the Biltmore.

No where in the advertising for the Biltmore Estate did I see where it told me that I would not be allowed to take photographs of my visit.  Not in the brochures.  Not at the tourist information center. Not in the lobby.  Not during the movie. Not when I bought the tickets.

And if you miss the single ‘no photos allowed’ sign just inside the entrance to the home -- as many seem to -- the Biltmore Estate’s crack White House-like security team who seems to be secretly watching every move you make -- will snuff out your memory-capturing activity quicker than Secret Service throws itself between speeding bullets and the President.

So there I stood.  A camera-criminal. Humiliated and embarrassed at the hands of the Biltmore Security team. If you ever wanted to be made to feel like a tourist criminal, taking a camera into the Biltmore is the right way to do it.

Biltmore security explained to me that they have the no-photo policy because of their “copyright”.   I assured security that I had no plans to build a competing castle or of airing pictures of their home during the Super Bowl for all to see for free, and that all I wanted to do was take a few private photos of the Biltmore for my photo album and vacation video. But it made no difference. I also asked who they felt gave them the right to copyright my own vision. No names were given.  

Then they claimed the policy was for security purposes. Granted, with the home's many fine furnishings and art objects, security must be a top concern for the owners, and rightfully so. But I still don't understand how my little vacation pictures could possibly have jeopardized security at the biggest home in America.

As I stood there on the stone floor with my feet aching and all the other good tourists staring at me, the security person was sure to point out that although I couldn't take my own pictures, photos would be available in the gift shop, at additional cost, of course.

I told my security person (the one I could see, anyway) that I felt it was deceptive and unfair not to disclose the no-photo policy to guests before they purchase their tickets, but again, my arguments were to no avail.  Embarrassed, humiliated and unable to take photographs, I no longer wished to take the tour.

But despite the fact that I hadn't taken the tour yet and I no longer wanted to take the tour, the owners of the biggest home in America wouldn't give me my money back. Although I no longer wanted to see the house even once, I was given comp tickets so I could come back some time in the future and see it again.

Maybe the term "tourist trap" was coined at the Biltmore Estate.

If you go to the Biltmore, assume that every move you make is being watched very carefully. Assume that you probably won't get your money back if you change your mind, and whatever you do, be a good little tourist and don't expect to take pictures of what you paid a pretty fair sum of money to see.