Monticello

From Williamsburg we are traveling to west central Virginia...we will be staying at a resort near the small town of Gordonsville. My mom checked the map, saw that we were going to be near Charlottesville which is the town where Thomas Jefferson was from....so we decided to stop and visit his home, which he named Monticello.

But first, lunch. We found the Historic Downtown region of Charlottesville. It's a few blocks long with a wide brick plaza that isn't opened to traffic. A pretty, peaceful setting.

There were restaurants and funky art stores. Everyone needs their own metal giraffe don't you think?

We ate at a quaint little pizza place with a weird assortment of pizza...the boys ordered cheese pizza....no weird stuff for them. I liked the sunflower in the window.

Then it was on to Monticello. There is a brand new visitor center there. We were treated to an air conditioned theater (it's still hot here) to watch a short video about Jefferson's life. A quick picture of Brian with one of his favorite presidents. I think it was a life size statue. Mr. Jefferson appeared to be a long, lean man.

We took a short bus ride up to the home. The views were beautiful. Mr. Jefferson chose this spot on what had been his father's land because it was where he played as a boy. It reminded me of home...and it reminded me of the spot on my folks place where I always wanted to build my house.

I tried to get a couple of pictures...I try to be quick about it....but I almost always get someone wandering into the shot. Hey lady, why would I want a picture of you?? So I wait, and wait some more....

...and sooner or later they wander away and I click as quick as I can. The colors are off on my laptop, so I'll have to wait until I get home to see if it was worth the effort....I hope so.

The gardens were pretty. Wanna know how many people walked between us before I could get this shot? I didn't think so.

On to the house. We weren't allowed to take photos inside, so this is all you get. :-) It was a lovely home, but smaller than I expected. I never liked history very much when I was in school, so I'm learning a few things on the way. Brian, our history lover has been soaking it all in. It's fun to see.

Eric likes history too....he was reading up on something here. Probably reading about the gardens...or not.

Look at the size of this tree trunk! Amazing. The terrace behind Brian served another purpose. It actually covered up buildings that were built into the ground on each side of the home. On the left side there were stables, an ice house, and the laundry area. That led into the basement of the home where there were wine and beer cellars. On the other side there was a smoke house and the kitchen. Jefferson didn't like out buildings....it was a clever way to disguise them.

The grounds were well kept. This is a double hibiscus on the terrace outside of the greenhouse.

The home wasn't huge, but it was stately. Brian is about 6 feet tall and standing in front of the front steps...so you can get an idea of the size of the home.

This little building is where Mr. & Mrs. Jefferson lived before the home was finished. Unfortunately it took 10 years to complete the home and Mrs. Jefferson died before it was done.

It was an informative unplanned stop along our way....

....and I'm glad that we did.

It's good to know a little bit more about that face on the nickel. Makes me wish I had listened a little harder in history class.

We traveled on from Charlottesville to Gordonsville in the Shenandoah Valley. I have to say that one thing I don't like about Virginia is that all the roads are lined with trees...you can't see anything but trees, trees, trees. Oh Shenandoah...I long to see you....but then, when you reach your destination you are treated to views like this. Ahhhh.

It's Virginia horse country. The only things planned for the day are a trail ride and hanging out at the pool.

Eric does a good job of planning trips that have busy days and restful days. I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

At the Gardens

Busch Gardens that is. The day we headed to Busch Gardens was another hot one. Not quite as hot as the day before, but still hot. My mom decided to spend another day at Williamsburg, so we dropped her off, and onto Busch Gardens we went. First ride on the list was the LochNess Monster. Celebrating 30 years of existence. Eric had gone to Busch Gardens with his family when he was 18 years old. We had just started dating. He wrote at least 4 letters to me while he was gone. He brought me home a pair of "I rode the LochNess Monster" socks. Hmmm. It seemed romantic at the time. :-)

I opted not to ride this one, I volunteered to take their picture instead. It's not very clear...but I got them. You'll have to click on it to enlarge it so you can see them. Whee!

Speaking of whee.....sorry, that was bad....we went to see an exhibit and a show with wolves while we were at the park. The minute the Alpha male came out into the display he went and marked his territory. They told us that the males mark their territory every 4 minutes....even if they are in your house. Another fine reason not to own a wolf. Ewwww.

They sure were pretty though. This is the alpha female...so beautiful.

After the wolves we went on a 3D ride. Don't the boys look cool? I did too, but you'll just have to use your imagination for that.

And then...it was time for the highlight of the trip to Busch Gardens for me. Eric bought me a behind the scenes tour of the Budweiser Clydesdale exhibit!

The best part....I was the only one signed up for that particular tour! I got to hear some cool facts about the horses. I got to go out in the pen with big ole Dan here....and I got to pet him and scratch him and hold onto his halter...and best of all....

...I got to give this big boy a kiss! He was so sweet. And I have to say....his kisses were much sweeter than the taste of their beer.

After some horse lovin', I met back up with the boys to find out they were headed for this crazy ride with a 90 degree inclined drop. 90, as in straight down. Again...I volunteered to take their picture.

...ready, set....weeeeeeeeeeeeee! Better them than me.

A hot but fun day...and the good news was that my Mom figured out her way back to the motel all on her own! Whew.

And since I'm still in Virginia I can say....

I B Pat

Historic Williamsburg

We ventured to Historic Williamsburg on one of the hottest, most humid days of the summer. The heat index was around 110 degrees with the humidity. It seemed crowded on top of it...but I think that everyone was just trying to find air conditioned buildings to stand in!

There are re-enactments of history going on here and there throughout the day. When we arrived we saw some people making bricks....slowly in the heat.

And some basket weavers sitting in the shade. Baskets weren't being woven very quickly.

And costumed characters roamed the streets explaining things or just visiting.

I was hoping to see men on horseback...not a one....

...and hoped to see horses pulling carriages....none of those either. I think that it was just plain too hot. I don't think that it would have been very fun to be in costume that day either!

There were performers on the stage...

...Billy learned the proper way to bow properly. :-)

More costumed folks wandered about sweating no doubt.

Some girls danced and sweated and danced some more.

This man was in a skit that was pretty interesting about when black men first were allowed to be preachers.

We wandered around, looked at buildings, stepped inside the ones that were open...sometimes to learn, sometimes just to cool off a little bit.

Even the sheep were feeling lazy. "Hey lady, you try wearing a wool coat all summer, see how much you feel like doing!" Did you know that the sheep could talk way back then? Bah.

We walked some more. My mom looks short next to Billy!

One fun stop was the yarn making house. The demonstration was interesting, the colors of the yarn were fun to see.

They had spinning wheels and weaving looms there. She explained different fibers like cotton, wool and flax...and told how the fibers were shipped to England or Scotland, made into yarn, then shipped somewhere else to be woven into cloth, then shipped back...and how they were taxed each step of the way. Seemed like a crazy way to do things.

Brian found a house named after him...sort of.

I found a daisy in a garden when we were waiting for the bus back to our car. The wonderfully air conditioned bus. Ahhh.........

After spending a whole day without seeing a horse, Billy and I had to wander over to say hi to the boys in the pasture next to our motel. A little boy offered some popcorn to me to feed the horses....popcorn to horses?? Sure enough they ate it!

But from the looks of them, I don't think they turned down any snack very often! After the horses had their snacks and we had our supper, the boys wanted to go mini golfing. Pirates Cove.

Aye Matey...this mini golfing with Pirates is serious stuff....

...you don't want to mess with Pirates you know!

Next up, Busch Gardens.

I B Pat.