A Few Days Away
Gosh, take a few days without blogging and all sorts of things rush in to fill the void. One of those things is that I've been getting some of 2009's photographs processed and posted. The "few days away" was a little day trip we made. The two combine in this one post!
Thomas Jefferson's Monticello
Isaac wisely thought we could use a little get-away, so the Sunday after Christmas we drove, with friends Richard, HelenJean, and Scotty, to Charlottesville, Virginia. Part of the plan was to spend some restful time at the Hilton Garden Inn there, where Isaac had some preferred-customer bonus points to use so we could do it cheaply. The other part of the plan was to visit Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home.
We visited Monticello on Monday, spending a leisurely 3 or 4 hours there, taking the tour of the house, wandering the grounds, looking in at the Jefferson Graveyard, looking at exhibits in the new visitor's center, shopping at the gift shop, and taking a couple of photo-ops with the life-sized bronze of TJ himself.
Here's the link to the Flickr photo set. In addition to all the wonders at the house, we saw some things that captured my attention. A big, gnarly mulberry tree, windows in the cellar, tree silhouettes, the aforementioned cemetery, the biggest English Ivy I've ever seen (by far), and the first time I'd ever seen a "Body Fluid Clean-Up Kit".
The day was cold but sunny and we had a delightful time looking around and being near all that history. The house itself, by modern standards, was rather small but very cozy and filled with interesting features. Now I'm wanting an octagonal room or two of my own.
The next day, Tuesday, we headed back towards DC, but happily got sidetracked on the way and stopped in for a tour of Montpelier, James Madison's home.
James Madison's Montpelier
The contrast was striking. Clearly the Madisons were a wealthier family than the Jeffersons. On the other hand, it seemed that the foundation that takes care of Monticello has significantly more money than the Montpelier group.
Again, we braved some significant cold and enjoyed the house tour and our stroll through the cellars and the grounds. Here's the link for that Flickr set.
In the early 20th century Montpelier was bought by the duPont family, who made extensive additions to the house. Recently, equally extensive restoration recovered the original scope and style of the Madison house. However, two rooms from the duPont time were kept and reconstructed as part of the visitor's center: a ballroom and the red, "Art Deco room" that Marion duPont Scott decorated c. 1928. It was a nice surprise at the end of our visit.
Marion duPont Scott's Art Deco Room
2 Responses
Subscribe to comments via RSS
Subscribe to comments via RSS
Leave a Reply
To thwart spam, comments by new people are held for moderation; give me a bit of time and your comment will show up.
I welcome comments -- even dissent -- but I will delete without notice irrelevant, rude, psychotic, or incomprehensible comments, particularly those that I deem homophobic, unless they are amusing. The same goes for commercial comments and trackbacks. Sorry, but it's my blog and my decisions are final.
on Thursday, 7 January 2010 at 22.15
Permalink
I love Mr. Jefferson's little mountain.
on Thursday, 7 January 2010 at 23.47
Permalink
I didn't even think to mention that this was the first time that I'd been to the little mountain of Jefferson. It was a very nice place to visit, a placid place to be, and I also felt the extra little thrill of being in Jefferson's home.