Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's Home

Last Saturday, we visited Monticello near Charlottesville, VA. The drive took a couple of hours, but it was lovely. Monticello sits at the top of a hill and has beautiful views in every direction. The house itself wasn't as large as I had pictured in my head, but very unique in it's styling(when compared to the traditional look of houses of Jefferson's era). We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the home. In Jefferson's entryway, he placed lots of items to create a museum type feel for guests waiting to see him. There were antlers on the wall that are the actual ones Lewis and Clark brought back to him from their journeys. Just inside the front door at the top of the wall was a clock that Jefferson made. In addition to telling the time, it tells the day of the week (determined by where weights on cable are hanging), measured along a side wall. There wasn't room for Saturday at the bottom of the wall, so he cut a hole in the ground for the weights to hang down through, and you can see "Saturday" written in the basement just beneath that entry room. Funny. We saw his library, bedroom, dining room, a couple of living rooms, and a guest room in the house. His bedroom had a lot of his little inventions. One example is the machine that made a copy of whatever he was writing. His pen was connected to another which copied his movements as he wrote. He always sent the copy, and kept the original, and I think our tour guide said he wrote over 10,000 letters in his lifetime. His home was full of portraits and busts, and interesting things to look at. The guide said he liked the conversations that stemmed from these pieces. None of the kitchen or the stable, ice house, slaves' quarters, smokehouse, etc. are visible from the house, which I thought was cool. They are built into the side of the hill as it slopes away from the house. Jefferson also built raised walkways to the side of his home, and underneath is a well-lit tunnel, with lots of little windows, that can be used year round to access those areas. The flower garden was beautiful, but I loved the vegetable garden. It was a long narrow strip of land cut into the side of the hill, again, with rows of the vegetables planted across the narrow width of the plot. It was so pretty and organized. We visited his gravesite, then walked down the hill back to the car. The walk through the trees was very beautiful. I just love being out-and-about with my family!

Shawna and Tyler Borg were gracious enough to let us invite ourselves over to their house, as they live in Charlottesville, and Andy and Shawna hadn't seen each other for many years (they were friends in high school). We enjoyed a tasty dinner, and brownies and ice cream at their park. My kids had a great time with their boys. Everyone got along splendidly. They have a lovely home and are such a fun family!