One of the destination spots for our vacation this year was Asheville, N.C., home of the world-famous Biltmore Mansion. Boasting 250 rooms, it is a house no one would look forward to come spring cleaning time.

Even though it was early fall when we were there, the cleaning crews were hard at work doing – guess what – spring cleaning.

My wife and I were looking forward to touring Biltmore. It seemed everyone we knew had been to the Biltmore Estate at one time or other. Everyone in Asheville or anyone who has been to Asheville has been to the Biltmore Mansion. We were beginning to think we were two of maybe the 10 last people in the United States who hadn’t toured Biltmore.

I was beginning to think Asheville must be an Indian word for “place with huge house.” Even our oldest daughter had been to Biltmore and said, “Dad, you and Mom will love it. It is the most awesome place you can imagine, and it even has its own winery!”

Hearing the part about the winery got me more in the mood to see “the unique survivor of the Gilded Age, Châteauesque-styled mansion on 8,000 acres.”

My wife loved the entire house. At the end of the three-hour self-guided tour, she was almost breathless. I, for one, found at least four of the 250 rooms to be of interest: the library, the billiards room, the gun room and the kitchen.

Exiting the mansion, we ate lunch in the food courtyard and then began our afternoon long tour of the gardens. My wife likes gardens and plants and bushes and flowers, and we have a yard full of that beautiful kind of stuff. I like flowers as well as the next guy, but my imagination with shrubbery and foliage goes about as far as determining which branches would make good camouflage for a deer or turkey blind.

The first plant lover’s look-and-see on the list were the three Italian water gardens. They are huge marble pools with massive lily pads and water plants. The water gardens look a lot like Granny’s “cement pond” from “The Beverly Hillbillies,” with lots of grass and green stuff growing in them.

I admit I did cringe a little when Chris said, “Wouldn’t something like this, only smaller, look good in our side yard?” All I could think is how much digging it would require.

Glancing across the pool, I noticed movement a few feet out near a lily pad the size of a living room carpet. It was a koi, an ornamental carp, and a big one – maybe 14 inches long. It was as big as any we had seen in Taiwan.

Looking across the water garden, I noticed a huge, white, ghostly form cruising several feet under the surface about 50 feet away. Walking to the edge of the pond, I shaded my eyes to get a better look. Much to my surprise, the white apparition began to come toward my side of the pond.

As it came closer, it began to swim closer to the surface, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. I suddenly realized it was a monster-sized white koi close to 30 inches long, heading right toward me.

Holy Herman Melville! It’s the Great White Carp! I thought.

The closer it came, the shallower it got. Within seconds, the fish’s back was out of the water and it was coming at full steam right toward me. It was huge and dwarfed any koi alive. In amazement, I watched as the fish swam up to the edge of the pond and actually stuck its head out of the water, begging to be fed.

I kneeled down, dabbled my fingers in the water … and it swam over to me. As it frolicked on the surface chomping and making fish faces at me, I reached down and petted its head like a dog.

This was the first time I have ever petted a fish. Apparently, the fish are fed by the groundskeepers and have become so accustomed to the process, they equate humans with food. Giving Moby Koi another little rub on the head, I fancied myself the Carp Whisperer or maybe the King of the Koi.

This being what I considered a real National Geographic moment, I proudly said, “Chris, look at me.”

Spinning around, my wife couldn’t believe what see was seeing. I could see by the look on her face, she was stunned. Instead of appreciating the situation and bragging on my piscatorial prowess, I heard her say in her scariest Mom voice ever, “GET UP RIGHT NOW AND LEAVE THE FISH ALONE! I SWEAR, I CAN’T TAKE YOU ANYWHERE! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND YOU CAN’T GRAB THE FISH; YOU’LL GET US THROWN OUT!”

Startled beyond belief, and jumping to my feet, I tried to explain I wasn’t grabbing the fish, I was just petting it. It’s not like I’m some kind of a kook with a fish fetish or some piscatorial pervert. Furthermore, I’m not a common “koi noodler” and I wasn’t about to finger one of Biltmore’s pet fish out of the pond. I even had her look around the water gardens to see there were no signs saying not to pet the fish.

In short, no excuses or rational explanations were being accepted, and I was quickly ushered away to another area of the gardens nowhere near the ponds. Needless to say, the next couple of hours of touring the gardens and greenhouses wasn’t nearly as exciting for me.

Most likely, I will be spending the coming months intercepting the mail before it gets to my wife in hopes of throwing away the aquatic garden catalogs.

A field trip to view Indiana’s largest wildlife spectacle will leave from Indiana Dunes State Park for Jasper-Pulaski Fish & Wildlife Area (FWA), to witness the annual Sand hill crane migration on Nov. 12.

To register, call 219-926-1390. Participants who have registered should meet at the Indiana Dunes Nature Center at 2 p.m. CST.

A short introduction will be given about the history and current status of cranes in Indiana. The group will then bus to Jasper-Pulaski FWA to view up to 20,000 cranes as the birds head for their evening roost. The trip will be led by interpretive naturalist Brad Bumgardner and will finish at the Dunes Nature Center around 6 p.m.

Cost is $20 for adults and $10 for children under 18. Children under age 3 are free. Space is limited and advance registration is required. The trip includes a special program and travel to and from Jasper-Pulaski, the state park entrance fee, as well as snacks and drinks along the way.

Support for this trip comes from the Northwest Indiana Migratory Bird Assoc. The Indiana Dunes State Park is located at 1600 North 25 E., Chesterton, IN 46304.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Jack Spaulding may contact him by e-mail at jackspaulding@hughes.net or by writing to him in care of this publication.