October 12, 13, 2013 Monticello and homeward

Monday, Tuesday October 12,13

Parking lot sweeper/cleaner made for an early morning (for Greg - Beth didn't hear it).  Coffee and sandwiches at McDonalds and gas for under $3.00/gal for the first time!   We headed up the mountain for Skyline Drive.  Unfortunately it is part of Shanendoah National Park, so the road is totally blocked.  It was extremely foggy at any rate, so perhaps this was for the best.  Checking the map, we decided to head to Monticello instead, Thomas Jefferson's home near Charlottesville.

Apparently all the tourists who couldn't do things in Washington DC because of the shut-down headed down here, because the place is packed.  It is 10:30AM and we get tickets for a 1:20 house tour.  In the meantime, we watched a short film, did a tour of the gardens, and listened to a guide talk about slavery in Jefferson's time.  The slavery talk was interesting, as it ties in with a book I am reading about Lincoln and slavery. Lincoln was greatly influenced by Jefferson and his enlightenment ideas.

Gardens at Monticello. Below these gardens were orchards and vineyards.

Beautiful Linden Trees

All the services, laundry, kitchen, cooking, etc. were in rooms under the main house.

 Monticello means small mountain, and the house, designed by Jefferson to reflect his fascination with Greek and Roman architecture,  sits in a beautiful spot atop a small mountain.  Jefferson was a pretty amazing person, speaking 7 languages, reading extensively,  traveling worldwide, and dabbling in several sciences. Many of his staff were trained in French cuisine, as he lived there as ambassador for several years and apparently loved French food as well as wine.  He had a wine cellar and also grew grapes for his own wine, as well as wheat for a wheat-based beer.

Monticello

Jefferson's Wine Cellar

Emblem at Jefferson graveyard  

 He extolled the benefits of education and founded and designed much of the University of Virginia.

The house tour was interesting, as it featured many items that were actually used by Jefferson and his family, such as books, dishes, and furniture.   I got a kick out of thinking (as I did at Samuel Clemens' house) that we were walking the stairs and using the railings that these men used.

From Monticello, we headed west and south to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Even though the sun had come out after noon, the mountains were still quite foggy.  Bits of color here and there were mostly obliterated by fog, but the peak color is yet to come in these areas.  The speed limit is 45 and we often went slower than that due to the fog and steep hills, so after about an hour we exited.

We decided to call it a trip and head for home.  We were on Interstate highways the rest of the way to Texas, stopping at a rest area for a few hours sleep.  How Greg did it, I don't know, but we arrived home safely the next evening after over 8,000 miles.