Since I’ve been a total mope lately, my dad took me to Rhode Island to check out the Gilded Age mansions of the Vanderbilts et al. Being the consummate history nerd, this was right up my ally. (Full nerd disclosure: years ago I played guitar in a barely lived indie pop band called the Gilded Age.)

Despite touring two fully preserved historical houses, I ended up with a bunch of pictures of trees and decaying walls.