Monday: Final packing done by 8:45. We set the trip odometer to 0 and headed out for some biking, quilting and a long journey south of the Mason-Dixon Line. It was a beautiful day, brisk (1 C.) and sunny when we set out. It was 17C. at the stop on the New Jersey Turnpike. A long but uneventful 435-mile (700 Km) drive to Tysons Corner, VA.
Our hotel is walking distance to a Metro station so this would be a good base camp for marching around with angry signs in DC if that needs to happen again. Sadly, I’m sure it will. It’s also walking distance to a B.Good so we strolled over and had a nice healthy dinner. We’re saving it up for biscuits…
Tuesday we headed to Charlottesville under rainy skies. Our first stop was Montpelier, James Madison’s home. We were a bit baffled by this sign at the entrance
Then we remembered the “Virginia is for Lovers” tourism campaign. I guess they take that seriously here! We will have to be extra nice to each other in Virginia!
The drive from the road into Montpelier was quite impressive. Lined with stately trees, split rail fences, manicured grounds and even a steeplechase course! That was our first sign of the DuPont era of Montpelier. Thankfully the mansion has been restored to its Madison days as the Duponts had plastered yellow stucco all over the front of it!
We had an excellent tour of the mansion and spent quite a bit of time in their exhibits about slavery in Virginia and on the Madison plantation.
James and Dolley loved to entertain and provoke debate. They used home furnishings and their dinner table configuration to stimulate discussion. As an example, here are two pictures hung across from each other in the dining room; one clearly pagan and one the ultimate Christian painting.
James was a great supporter of religious freedom but he never revealed his own religious beliefs.
And speaking of freedom, the grounds included restored slave cabins and other buildings from the very large plantation. The Madisons owned over 100 slaves and brought several of them to the White House. Dolley was raised a Quaker but saw her father financially ruined when he renounced slavery and lost his estate without benefit of the free slave labor. James didn’t especially like slavery but viewed it as an economic and therefore a political necessity. So many stories we could share from the tour and exhibits but we’ll leave it at a strong recommendation to visit Montpelier!
We had a great lunch at the cafe including a reproduction Dolley Madison soup
On our way out we stopped at the train depot that the DuPont family, who purchased Montpelier in 1901, had built. It has been restored with the separate colored and white waiting rooms of those times. There is a small post office in the back where we sent off Grandma and Grandpa’s first postcard to Maggie.
We got to our AirBnB in Charlottesville about 4:30 after stopping for groceries. It’s a very nice basement apartment. We went out for a walk down a greenway at the end of the block and were happy to see this guy right at the end of the block
The greenway led to a park with a very moving, personable memorial to the local men killed in the War in Vietnam – with photos and information about their lives.
Back at the apartment we had our own little debate watch party. South Carolina was definitely not for lovers in that debate!
Wednesday, still in Charlottesville. So nice to wake up to good coffee and steel cut oats. Glad we brought these with us
We got to Monticello this morning right as it opened and signed up for the first tour. I don’t recall seeing signs like this at Boston area museums but I think things are a bit different here…
The grounds at Monticello are beautiful even though it’s still very much a winter landscape here with just a few hints of spring. I loved this tree and wish I could see it in summer
The mansion tour was interesting but nothing remarkable. We decided to go on a slavery at Monticello tour that’s held twice a day and that really was remarkable. The tour took place around some reconstructed slave cabins.
Our guide sure didn’t spin or sugarcoat any aspect of slavery and did a beautiful job of tying it into the systemic racism that we experience today. No apologies or justification for Jefferson’s ownership of over 600 slaves in his lifetime. She said it’s only in the past 5 years that Monticello has included a discussion of slavery in its tours and exhibits. Their exhibit on Sally Hemmings and her descendants is also very well done and thought provoking. Well done Monticello!
Our next stop was Monroe’s home, about 2 miles from Monticello. It’s a much smaller estate and we were the only people on the tour.
Another really good story teller for our tour guide so we learned quite a bit about Monroe and enjoyed our time there.