Monticello was Thomas Jefferson’s home that he designed and built nears Charlottesville, Virginia.
When the boys were young we went to Virginia on vacation several times. One trip was to Charlottesville. There we toured Monticello*. I was quiet amazed at just all the things Thomas Jefferson dabbled in, gadgets, experimental agricultural, wines, books, the stars, and many more things which included Sally Hemmings.
When we were there a group of college students were doing a dig where they believed Jefferson’s garbage dump was. They was working from a long ditch, maybe twenty feet long. I stood and watched them work shifting fine dirt for about 30 minutes or so and the only thing they found was a bent piece of metal they thought might be part of a eating utensil, somebody else would have to decide what it was. I got bored and wandered away.
Why couldn’t management get a big giant boulder- ball come rolling down a hill and chase them down the trench or something to give us tourists some excitement?
* And on the same trip, just at the bottom of the Monticello’s hill was James Monroe’s home, Ash Lawn-Highland, where Adam chased the peacocks on the front lawn. All this time I remembered it as James Madison’s home Montpelier – but on checking it out on google I found that Montpelier is in Orange County, Virginia. I’m glad to have cleared that up in my mind (rolling my eyes and popping bubblegum).
For a number of summers, I taught at Woodberry Forest School in Orange. Love that part of Virginia. There is so much history and heritage. Really enjoyed poking around and talking with folks, all of whom seem very well versed in their community and its part in all of this. From our Founding Fathers and the tides of the War of Northern Aggression. I guess down there it is called the War for States Rights, right. Marse Robert lives.
ReplyDeleteSi,
ReplyDeleteWe used to love to go to Virginia on vacations. We have been to Orange County on a genealogy pursuit, which is not only the home of James Madison but also Zachary Taylor. The whole state, like you said, is just loaded with history, from shore to the Shenandoah Valley... and of course down to Harper's Ferry to , well, DC. It all adds up to where we are today.