Dec 2007

Logistics:

Miles Driven - 110
Weather - Much Nicer, Sunny, cool but tolerable
Camped at - "The Refuge" RV Campground on Roanoke Island

Confessions:

We are doing so much on this trip and really enjoying a lot of things we see, but it is so hard keeping up the blog - tis true. I enjoy it, but after a day of driving, sightseeing, and some chores - it is so hard to maintain the discipline to write it all down - expecially over an extended period of time. Once again, I am so appreciative that so many people took this time to keep diaries, colonists, Lewis & Clark, pioneers out west, etc.

Narrative:

On the map, we'd seen the Dismal Swamp close to the road we'd taken to get to the campground. But we got to the campground after dark so didn't realize just how close it was. This morning, as we pulled out of the campground to turn south on the main highway, across the street was a rack of canoes. Not 20-30 feet beyond the road was an old canal at the edge of the swamp. If we'd wanted to visit the swamp (which we did), we could have just rented a canoe from the campground office (which we didn't, but it might have been a good idea).

Anyway, we drove south just a few miles and finally crossed into North Carolina. There were so many things in Virginia that I still wanted to see - but winter has caught up with us and it's time to move on - at least Mom was trying not to get too hyper about this.

Shortly after we passed the border was a Visitors Center that also had nature walks and some information about the swamp. We picked up lots of brochures and information about NC, put our state stickers on the RV and took a nature walk. They also keep a small patch of cotton for those who've never seen it growing before.

Mom is pretending to be afraid of snakes here, but in reality she's never been. On the other hand, I hate the things. Fortunately we didn't see any today.

North Carolina is planning to build a really nice state park for the Dismal Swamp (there is a visitors center on the west side in VA, but nothing on the eastern side or in NC). Here's a slightly better view of the old canal along the edge of the swamp.

From here, we continued south and east until we crossed a long bridge onto the 'Outer Banks'. These are a series of long, skinny islands that extend for almost the entire length of North Carolina's Atlantic Coast. Our objective was Kitty Hawk, where the Wright Brothers flew the first successful airplane. Before we even got to the park sight was this monument to aviation. Each piller has a plaque listing significant dates and events in aviation history, starting with the Wright Brothers of course.

Six miles down the road is the park itself. It also has a visitors center with a museum (& gift shop).

Inside are some very informative displays which helped explain why the Wright Brothers were successful when so many others had failed. When they first started out in 1901, they built a glider using information and materials available from other 'experts'. It did not do very well and the Wrights almost gave up, realizing that most of the available data on flying was incorrect. Instead what they did is try to learn what worked and what didn't by testing, expermenting and analysis. They built a wind tunnel to test there ideas (this one is a replica)

Then they started testing different shapes for wings and propellers especially. They kept careful notes and records in order to keep improving on their tests and knowledge.

In 1902 they built a new glider and tested it again at Kitty Hawk. These tests were quite successful and the brothers realized they had solved many of their problems from their earlier tests. They then focused on building an engine. In December, 1903 they returned to Kitty Hawk to test their new plane (they called it a 'Flier'). Although they were from Ohio, they selected Kitty Hawk for their experiments because it is quite windy, especially in winter. They also needed the soft sand for hard landings! They built the plane in Ohio, then assembled it once they got to NC. It didn't have wheels, so had to be launched from a 60' rail placed in the ground (essentially a 2x4 with a metal plate along the top).

Here is a full scale model of the original Flier that is housed in the visitors center (the original flier is in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C.) The pilot had to lay on the surface of the wing while working the controls. The propellers are on the back of the wings by the way.

Outside were replica's of the two buildings the Wrights used, one for a hanger and the other to live in while they experimented. These are located about where the originals were.

Near the buildings is a railing similar to the one used to launch the plane. A larger piece of granite marks the spot where the plane took off. Four smaller markers show where each flight landed. The Wrights made four successful flights that day, each one further then the previous. The first flight lasted about 12 seconds and went 120 feet. The fourth lasted 59 seconds and went 852 feet. Orville & Wilber Wright took turns piloting their 'Flier', both had extensive practice flying the previous glider so knew how to work the controls.

This is more level than I'd expected, I always thought they took off on a downhill slop. Also, 120' isnt' very far - you could almost walk it in 12 seconds, which is how long it too the plane to go this far! (It only went 6.8 mph during that flight)

A few hundreds yards south is the largest sand dune (Kill Devils Hills) where many of the earlier glider flights were made. A large memorial has been erected at the top.

In 2003 a new sculpture was added on the back side of the dune. This is really cool because it is life size and contains statues of many of the people who were there during the first flight. What I liked about this one is that you can walk around and through it and feel like you're part of the action! The Wright Brothers often used local men, especially from the nearby U.S. Life Saving Station, to help them move the plane or gliders from the hanger and launch them. One of the men shot the famous picture of the actual first flight - it turned out he had never used a camera before! (The Wrights were amature photographers and undoubtedly set the camera up and told him what to do).

Quite an interesting place.

The next place we visited was a little further south on Roanoke Island. This was the location of the Lost Colony, Englands first attempt at colonizing America in 1585 (22 years before Jamestown). Like Plymouth and Jamestown, there is a museum and reconstructed Colony complete with ship - this one is called "Roanoke Island Festival Park". We decided to start with the ship, the Elizabeth II.

I enjoyed climbing around on an old square rigged sailing vessel, but we needed to move on to the English settlement. I was surprised to see tents here, although I'm not sure why I should be surprised. Certainly they used tents in medival europe - I just hadn't seen them before in Plymouth or Jamestown, so hadn't thought about it. The English compound had three re-enactors in period dress when we visited, they were all very good.

Inside the tents were beds or cots, tables and some armor typical of the period. This one had a table set up with typical dishes from the late 1500's. The square wooden plate is called a trencher or trench board. If you traveled, you took your board (plate) with you. An inn providing 'board and room' meant food for your trench board as well as a room.

This is Phillip, the carpenter or one of the craftsman in the colony.

They don't know for sure if they used a lathe in this colony, it was very short lived after all. However, it wouldn't be unheard of. I took a short video of Phillip demonstrating how he uses the 1585 era lathe. At the very beginning, I pan up to show you how the sapling provides the tension at the top - then Phillip starts talking so I panned down a little quickly - just wanted to mention it so you're looking for the structure of the device at the beginning (it's only on briefly).

Logistics:

Miles Driven - 110 (We almost made it to North Carolina)
Weather - Overcast and cool, but no more snow. Not that bad.
Camped at Chesapeake RV Campground, a few miles north of NC border.

Confessions:

OK, I really did want to visit at least one more Civil War battlefield...
Stayed at Campground an extra day to take care of some business stuff.

Narrative:

When we were at the museum yesterday, we learned that Chesterfield County has the second 'successful' English settlement in America. This seems a strong word for a town that only lasted 11 years, but I guess that's longer than Roanoke & Popham. Anyway, it was right across the way from us, so we decided to visit it. Henricus doesn't have the resources that Jamestown Settlement does, after all it is a county park rather than a state park. However it's pretty impressive for a county facility!

I'm afraid I didn't get a picture of John in the gift shop, he was again very helpful and I think relieved to actually get some tourists in (this being the wrong season for this sort of activity). After helping us part with the requisite portion of money, he called ahead to have the fort guide meet us outside.

We met Lindsay, a working class man of the town.

Before the English arrived, the native Powhatan people lived in the area and we went through a replica of a Powhatan compound before going to the fort. Lindsay related details about how they fished and farmed and lived in the area long before the newcomers. I tried my hand at scaping a deer hide with a shell. (Thumbnail alert - click to enlarge).

After learning more about the Powhatan, we went to the Fort.

Some experts don't think Henricus actually exists anymore, other's are sure they know where it is, in any event some sort of reasonable recreation is possible given descriptions and journals from the era. The location was near the Dutch Gap project, where Union troops tried to dig a bypass for the James River during the Civil War to avoid a Confederate artillery position guarding Richmond. If they dug the bypass over the ruins of the town, it's gone. But in 1611, Sir Thomas Dale took about 300 colonists to the site to build a town since Jamestown was so swampy and not a very healthy place to live. Conditions were harsh and Thomas Dale was likewise. They successfully built the town in fairly short order, including palisade (walls), watch towers, houses and whatever they needed.

For some reason, I took more pictures inside the buildings than outside (maybe because it was cold?) We got a good idea how the different buildings were constructed, furnished and used however.

One building at the site doesn't actually come from Henricus, but was in a nearby community. This is a reconstruction of Mount Malady - it is considered the first hospital in America. It wasn't a hospital in the modern sense, with surgery and physicians, but it was a place people could go to be tended to - such as for recovering from the Atlantic voyage.

So having visited Plymouth Plantation, Jamestown Settlement and now Henricus, we certainly have a much better idea how the earliest English colonists in America lived. As far as yesterday's snow storm, it was largely forgotten and by the time we left Henricus, it was starting to get slightly warmer.

A few miles south of Henricus is the town of Petersburg, VA. This is also the site of a major Civil War battlefield. Since we skipped all the Civil War sites at Fredericksburg and were also dropping Appomattox Court House off the agenda due to time constraints, I resolved to at least visit Petersburg NBF. We were right there and had a little time before we needed to head to Chesapeake. I didn't know much about the Petersburg battle, but at least had heard of it.

The visitors center is only a short distance from the highway and is open year round.

Inside is a small museum with a few artifacts, but mostly sign boards and pictures about the battle and other contributing technologies. The rangers played a short film about the battle, it wasn't that well done but I did learn a lot (it was just lines on a map jumping around to a narrative - boring, but it does explain the sequence of what happened at least).

The short version is that Petersburg was the end of a long line of battles where the Union, under Gen. Grant, tried to break through the Confederate lines and take Richmond, the Confederate capitol. After several terrible defeats at places such as Cold Harbor, Grant realized the key to Richmond was Petersburg. On June 15, 1864 Grant's troops began a campaign of trench warfare to try to break through Lee's lines. After several fights and nine long months, the Union was finally successful on March 25, 1865 and Lee had to retreat. Richmond was evacuated and taken by the Union. Lee surrendered a short time later at Appomattox Court House a little farther west.

Rather then try to rewrite a book about the battle, as is my usual practice of late, perhaps you would be better served by reading a more expert and thorough analysis on Wikipedia (or elsewhere):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Petersburg

Since we wanted to get to Chesapeake before dark, I didn't drive around to all the battlefield sights. The museum was complete enough that I felt I learned a lot more about what happened there. Here is a picture of the earthworks that are directly behind the visitors center.

This cannon is positioned at the entrance. Also, I didn't hike out to the replica 13" mortar, so just took a picture of the picture in the museum. Notice the size of the mortar compared to the men in the picture.

Mom doesn't care for any of this Civil War stuff (or any war stuff for that matter), but did go through the museum a bit. On the way out we saw this small bird on a hedge - nice touch, once the terror of war has passed, the beautiful things of nature & life return.

So we hopped back on the road and headed for Chesapeake Campground, near the North Carolina border. The road was straight and flat, typical coastal plain terrain (some marshland). We also passed several peanut farms along the way, so I stopped at this store (fronting for a farm) and bought a couple varieties (roasted & boiled peanuts). Their Virginia Hams were a bit pricey for my wallet.

Got to the campground, took care of some chores, and settled in for a couple comfy nights. (I had some business to attend to, so we stayed over here Friday also).

Logistics:

Miles Driven - 110
Weather - Snowing at first, just overcast & cool later - we outran the storm!
Camped at - Chester Wal-mart (there's a story...)

Confessions:

(1) Mom was right, we should have headed south sooner. But there are still a lot of places I wanted to visit in VA and will miss (as with every state we've been in so far).
(2) I was finally able to get the short video uploaded of a cannon firing demo at Yorktown Victory Center. This is now in Day 90. You can also view any video's I've uploaded by going to Youtube and doing a search for jl98584.

Narrative:

A 'Clipper' is a storm system that comes in fast. These originate in Canada and swing through the NE, often bringing cold and snow. When I checked the weather forecast last night, we found out one was headed our way and to expect snow. Shortly after we got up and started getting ready to go, we saw a flake. Then another, then I checked the weather forecast again to see how bad it would get. Charlottesville, where we were at the moment, was expected to get hit worse then surrounding areas (maybe because it's close to the Blue Ridge Mountains?) Anyway, after some quick analysis of the options I decided to try to make it to the Richmond area, below the heavy snow (as forecast anyway). The storm was just getting started and I've always had good traction in the RV (it's kind of heavy and has 6 wheels on the ground), so we took off. I also decided to stay on the freeway today, figuring it would be the first one they'd sand or plow if it got bad (and has four lanes, so I could go a little slower and people could get around me). I definitely didn't want to take the curvy, hilly, lightly traveled back roads we'd taken to get to Charlottesville yesterday!

It continued to snow moderately, but wasn't cold enough to stick to the road bed. By the time we got to Richmond, it wasn't sticking anywhere else either. I knew we'd stayed in Virginia too long, so decided to skip Richmond, but was secretly harboring fantasies of at least seeing the Petersburg National Battlefield site. I had also found a campground south of Petersburg that was supposed to be open all year, based on the online guide (which has been incorrect on that point a few times).

Just south of Richmond I saw signs for a Cracker Barrel restaraunt at the next exit. We had been seeing these fairly often in the east but hadn't tried one yet and it was getting to be lunch time. We'd also driven pretty hard to get away from the deep snow, so I thought maybe we needed a break. Interesting restaurant chain. There was a fairly large gift shop when we first entered - I guess the theme is based on an old country store (but unfortunately the prices are very modern). A lot of folks must have decided to pull off about the same time, so we had to wait about 20 minutes or so to get seated. As we went in the restaurant, they had a pretty good fire going in a huge fireplace (a real one, not gas) and lots of antique stuff on all the walls (late 1800's), cream separators, sleds, butter churn, coffee grinder etc. Mom enjoyed trying to trip me up as to what some of the things were. I did correctly identify some of them, but missed a few.

The menu was southern style cooking. I ordered a slice of virginia ham with fried apples and hash brown casserole. Mom also had fried apples and steamed carrots (nice & soft) with her dinner. We had to skip dessert, we were both too full. Next time we visit one of these, I'll try the turnip greens & ham. (Fortunately, the food was better priced then the gift shop.)

When we went back outside after lunch the snow was continuing to come down in really big, soft flakes but still wasn't sticking. Since we'd had some false leads from the internet camping listing, I thought it might prudent to call the campground and make sure they were open. I tried several times, and failing to get an answer, decided to look for another campground. There was one just down the road we'd turned off onto to get to the restaurant. Pocahontas State Park had camping and was supposedly open year round (according to the web site). Since it was so close, I figured I'd just drive on down to it rather then call (dumb - maybe I inherited my map reading skills from my grandmother?). It was only 1 PM, but with the snow continuing I figured we accomplished enough just getting away from the worst of it - so maybe it would be a good idea to just hunker down and wait until tomorrow to proceed.

We headed west on Hwy 12 looking for the SP. Just as we got near the turn, Mom saw a brown sign on the right about a Museum. It was still kind of early to camp, so we decided to give it a try. It wasn't really clear where to turn, so I tried the most likely place and ended up in a very busy and full parking lot. It was the right place, the Museum is located right by the Chesterfield County Courthouse, with a lot of other civic buildings nearby. A very nice guy was raking leaves when I stopped to ask where the museum was, he dropped everything to help find an empty parking space. Well, they may make it easy for tourists to find the museum or parking, but at least they try really hard once you get stuck in their lot.

The museum is located in a replica of the 1750's courthouse.

They didn't feel comfortable having me upload any pictures from inside, so I'll try to describe it a bit. There was a very well done video about the early history of the county. They also had some nice brochures, I think they won an award for them. It was a small museum and didn't have too many 'artifact' type exhibits, but had lots of good signage - boards on the walls explaining how things developed, who did what, etc.

The county organized in 1749 and named for Lord Chesterfield, a British statesman and essayist. It was home to the second European town in America in 1611 when Sir Thomas Dale, deputy Gov. of Virginia Colony decided to establish a new town, Henricus, that would have better living conditions then the swampy Jamestown. John Rolfe met, courted and married Pocahontas in Henricus. The town didn't survive past 1622, but by then there were other settlements and farms in the area so the county still developed.

Other firsts for the county include the first incorporated town (Bermuda Hundred), the first iron furnace in America (at Falling Creek), the first hospital in America (Mount Malady), the first commercial coal mine (Midlothian) and in 1882 the first black college, now VA State University.

As with most of this area, there are several Civil War sites in the county. Several columns of Lee's Army of Virginia retreated through the county, pausing to spend the night at the county courthouse. The Union Army had just broked through Confederate defenses at Petersburg, prompting the evacuation of Richmond and the final surrender the following week in Appomattix. Things were pretty gloomy for the Confederacy at this point, one soldier with the 12th Virginia Infantry later wrote: "I'll never see the calm moon again without remembering this sad night."

Another interesting thing we learned, when the Civil War came through towns in the South, county courthouses were often burned, destroying valuable records (unfortunately for genealogists). In Chesterfield County, the county clerk took the records home and buried them until the war was over, so they didn't loose their vital records.

While reviewing the exhibits, I noticed one that described Pocahontas SP as being closed for camping Nov 30th as opposed to being open year round as the web site had said. The museum staff was very friendly and helpful and insisted on helping me resolve this. After a few false starts, they were able to locate the phone number and found out that it was closed for camping. So that's two false campground leads so far, anybody counting?

At this news, I got a little concerned about our plan for the night, so skipped the rest of the exhibits to get out and look for another campground. However, by the time I got back to the RV, I'd decided to give up on campgrounds and just stop in the Walmart we'd passed on that same Hwy. So we didn't need to rush afterall. At least I stopped to take a picture of their 1892 jail, it's not open right now anyway, but you can visit the outside. Notice the stocks on the front right side?

So having decided that rushing wasn't needed afterall, I tried to get out of the parking lot. Hm. The direction I tried first had no outlet, with no open public parking spaces, I had to try backing into a "Reserved for Official Police Vehicles" spot to try to get turned around. Of course, who should I find sitting behind me while I tried to maneuver? A police car. He seemed more amused then mad however and didn't pull me over. I got turned around finally and drove across the street.

On the map, Mom had noticed a red dot (for something to see possibly, like brown signs) marking a "Magnolia Grange". In the museum, they had told us this was actually a restored 1822 plantation house and said it was worth the visit. Mom decided to stay in the RV as she'd already had a pretty busy day by that point, so I went on in.

The house was built by William Winfrey, who owned 700 acres. He had married a woman with money, so was able to afford to build such a grand house. He also owned a tavern near the courthouse (a ready source of income as the only place to stay when in town to do business with the county) and a gristmill. I'm not sure if these are from his gristmill (I think they are), but are typical of the stones used to grind corn or wheat into flour. The power to turn these came from a water wheel on Falling Creek.

All of the operations were supported by the labor of about 100 slaves. It gives me pause to wonder. I've read several places about how the plantation owners were proud of their hard work in building or managing successful farms. Thomas Jefferson felt very strongly about the moral 'rightness' of farms and farming over industry and banking. So much of the quality of life and success however came from the unpaid labor of slaves, and even then many of these early farmers or plantation owners were not able to sustain the family fortunes. Hmm, I wonder if any forensic accountants have studied plantation operations?

Anyway, back to the tour. When I got to the front door, it turned out some group was hosting a tea in the house at the time (Red Hat Society I'd guess from their outfits). I politely apologized for intruding and decided to back out quietly (afterall, they didn't have a closed sign on the door, how was I to know?) However, a very nice and helpful docent insisted she could at least show me the upstairs (the tea was being held downstairs). I tried to back out, but these Virginia folks can be very persistent at being helpful!

The house had changed hands several times during it's long life and as each family moved out, they took their belongings with them. Therefore, the restorer's have set up each bedroom using period appropriate furniture for different era's - an 1830's bedroom, an 1850's, etc. It was interesting to see the evolution in styles from room to room like this (nice touch). They do allow photography, but prefer it not be overdone. Since they were being kind enough to let me look around, I restrained my usual shutter bug finger and tried to take only a few, subdued shots. (Oh how I wish I'd taken just a couple more!)

Before we get to the bedrooms however, I do need to show you the entry way. This is a federal style house (they have moved beyond the Georgian style we'd seen in earlier homes). The entry hall used wall paper from France. The exact pattern isn't known, so the restoration attempted to use something that was typical of the time from the same factory (Zubar?). I was just blown away by the entry way - very lovely. BTW - the woodwork is pine, but was painted to look like more expensive mahogony. It looked nice however.

Below is the 1830's bedroom, the mirror had candlestands for light (the house was built long before electricity of course). This room was actually fairly plain and simple compared to the later rooms. The babies were kept in the parents bedroom the first couple of years (probably to try to reduce infant mortality, which was quite high then). All of the chests had key locks, virtually everything was locked up (linens, dishes, etc) and the lady of the house kept a leather Key Basket with her at all times. I remember my great grandmother, who was a white women raised in the south, saying that blacks couldn't be trusted, they would steal anything. I suspect further evidence of the dark side of these privileged plantation owners lives - that they had to lock everything up from their own household staff. Of course, if I had to work without pay from dawn to dusk and were treated like a piece of property, I'd probably steal everything I could get my hands on also. Anyway, I digress again, little wonder I have trouble keeping the blog up to date.

The docent also showed me a hat box. Travelling by horse or by buggy was very dusty business, men carried their hat in a case when riding to keep the dust off. When they got to their destination, they took it out and could wear a clean hat about their business.

I did not take pictures of the 1850's or 1860's bedroom (was still trying not to intrude too much or take advantage of my host's hospitality). The 1850's owners were Huguenot's. They would have used a nice Wardrobe to store their cloths (many homes of this era did not have closets, as we have found elsewhere). Boys wore dresses until they were about 6.

In the 1860's it was more Victorian, which was all the rage at that time. There were considerably more childrens toys. The docent pointed out one device I couldn't identify, it was a button hook. At that time, shoes often had buttons and loops (womens shoes especially I think). The button hook was used to grab the loop and stretch it over the button. Mom knew immediately what a button hook was and thinks she might have even used one as a child.

By this time the tea was over and several of the ladies from the tea had wandered upstairs to tour the house also, so we went ahead downstairs where I could see a couple of the main rooms. The kitchen had been in a separate outside building. Besides protecting from fires, this would have helped keep the house cooler in summer (NC is very hot and muggy in summer and of course this was long before A/C was invented). The parlor was interesting, the woodwork had been painted to look like marble. This reminds me of some of the fancy treatments available nowdays to paint things - I remember using 'antiquing' kits on the bedroom furniture when I was a kid! I guess some things never change (completely anyway). It was very well done anyway.

So we managed to do some sightseeing afterall, in spite of my plan just to outrun the storm then hunker down for the night. The snow had stopped before we got to the museum and hadn't stuck (not here anyway, maybe in Charlottesville where we were this morning). We pulled into WM and called it a night (except for writing the blog of course).

Logistics:

Miles Driven - 95
Weather - Sunny, but quite cold
Camped at - Giant (Supermarket) parking lot

Confessions:

On the map, it didn't look this far away from the campground? Fire the Navigator!

Narrative:

Today I resolved to visit Monticello first, then maybe stop by other attractions on the way back to the campground as time permitted. We passed by a lot of interesting things - afterall, the campground we had stayed in was right in the middle of several major Civil War battlefields. President Madison's Montpelier was also along the route we took to get to Monticello. I didn't stop for any of these. Then as fate would have it, we didn't go back to the campground or back on the route we had come by - so didn't visit any of those sites afterall. You can't always count on being able to do things later, if it's important - do it while you can.

Anyway, we did make it to Monticello (pronounced Monta chello BTW. Monticello is Italian for 'little mountain', so in Italian would be pronounced chello. Who knew?) Of course, no photo's allowed inside but I have a couple to post of the grounds. It was sunny, but VERY COLD again - so I didn't wander around the grounds as much as I might have otherwise. Here is the first view of the house we had after we took the shuttle bus from the visitors center to the house.

Our tour didn't start for another fifteen minutes or so, so we decided to wait over at the gift shop where it was warm. On the way, a kind stranger agreed to take our picture, which shows a little of the view available at Monticello.

We have used the Lewis & Clark Expedition as an inspirition for this trip, so it seems entirely appropriate that we should visit the home of the President who made it happen. Unfortunately, Thomas Jefferson died deeply in debt, so the family had to sell the house and many furnishings shortly after his death in order to satisfy his creditors. Some original objects have been restored to the house, but some are 'period appropriate'.

One very important aspect of Monticello is that it was designed by Thomas Jefferson himself. This was a gradual process that took over 40 years, of building, modifying, adding on, rebuilding. However, Jefferson was a man of many talents and interests - a widely recognized Polymath (I had to look that up - a person with encyclopedic, broad or varied knowledge or learning). John F. Kennedy commented while addressing a group of Nobel laureates, that it was "the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House—- with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone." Jefferson invented a new plow, experimented with crops, served as a major Statesman, author and jurist for the new country, and of course designed Monticello.

We started the tour in the Entrance Hall. Given all of Jefferson's activites in the Continental Congress and other government positions, he frequently had lots of guests. There were 28 chairs in the Entrance Hall to accomidate them. There was also a map showing only 16 states, since it was made before the Louisanna Purchase. There are also forty or so exhibits on the walls representing various gifts received in exchanges with the western tribes during the Lewis & Clark Expedition. While Jefferson presided over this huge expansion of the country, he himself never travelled farther west than the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are clearly visible from Monticello. His world revolved around the eastern seaboard, as did most American's of that era. Yet he had the foresight to expand the country greatly through this purchase.

We also visited the family's parlor, which was quite small. They preferred this space to the big, open public area's like the Entrance Hall and main Parlor. Thomas Jefferson's rooms were just beyond the family parlor and were very interesting. He read seven languages and collected a lot of books on many subjects. In fact, he had a reading platform built that rotated and could hold 8 books open at once (four on each of two levels. They sell replica's in the gift shop - not cheap however). He also hated wasted space, so didn't want a grand staircase (all staircases in the house are very skinny - not suitable for tour groups and we just got to see the first floor). He designed his bed in an alcove and had the space above it used for storage (a closet).

The main parlor had the usual musical instruments. Jefferson played the violin, so music was very much a part of the household, not just for entertaining. There are a number of paintings hanging in the parlor, but the three he cherished the most were of John Locke, Francis Bacon, and Isaac Newton. Jefferson believed that these were the three greatest men in history.

The dining room was interesting, it was in the northwest corner of the house, which is also the coldest corner. Jefferson designed it with double pane windows - way ahead of his time! But the room I liked the best was the tea room, a smaller room just to the side of the dining room. It was separated from the main dining room by folding glass doors.

Finally we visited the Madison room. The nickname comes from the fact that James Madison and his wife Dolly were close friends of the Jeffersons and frequent guests at Monticello. This is just one of the bedrooms in the house (the only other bedroom on the main floor besides Jeffersons), but the one the Madison's stayed in. It also has an alcove bed in it (good for saving space & heat I suppose, but it would be hard to make the bed).

While I can't share pictures of the interior, there is a web site available you can use to get some idea what the house is like: Monticello Explorer

After the tour, I was able to take a few more pictures of the outside which show the house a little better. It is located at the top of a hill, so has wonderful views in all directions.

We were also invited to tour the basement area on our own, which we did. This area is called "Dependencies", or areas for domestic work. It is concealed in the hillside so the work area's wouldn't block the views or affect the landscaping. On one end was a very large, deep circular pit. This was used to store ice and was large enough to last through the summer. Apparently the Jefferson family was very fond of Ice Cream! There was also a wine celler, rooms to smoke meats, kitchens and slave quarters (for the cook and maybe some household staff).

The whole issue of slavery is an interesting one. Thomas Jefferson inherited 20 slaves from his father and another 135 from his father-in-law. He was the largest slave owner in Albemarle County. Yet he opposed slavery and proposed outlawing slavery in the Declaration of Independance as well as other documents. It is a contradiction that has been studied by a number of experts, of which I certainly cannot be numbered. From what I've read so far, it appears he felt that it needed to be outlawed by the government first. Also by that time the Colonies had fairly restrictive restrictions against just freeing slaves. There was a process called manumission, by which an owner could free a slave but it was somewhat lengthy. Apparently Jefferson intended to free his slaves after he got out of debt, which didn't happen.

When we finished visiting Monticello, we tried to go to James Monroe's house a couple of miles farther down. Just at the entrance to Monroe's house was a terrible accident. It was a fairly narrow two lane road with no shoulders, so I didn't even try to turn around. It took us over an hour before anybody could get past the accident site - so by then it was too late to tour the place.

After driving Mom crazy wandering around Charlottesville, I finally pulled over and decided I'd better plan where to spend the night. Since it had turned out to be a lot farther between the campground and Charlottesville then I'd thought, I decided not to go back to Fredericksburg tonight afterall - but just crash somewhere locally and drive back in the morning (thinking we could still visit Madison's home and some of the civil war sites on the way). I also still wanted to try to get to Mount Vernon and Alexandria. However fate intervened. When I checked the weather report, it turned out a 'Clipper' storm was on it's way and all of VA was expecting 1-3" of snow. I conceded defeat - Mom was right, we should have headed further south by now. I will have to give up on my other VA (& Maryland) plans until another trip, if ever.

We stopped at a Giant grocery store to stock up (supplies were again low - send out the hunting party) and they said they didn't have a problem if we just stayed there, so we did. Surprisingly it was reasonably level and quiet and we slept just fine.

Logistics:

Miles Driven - 120 (Not RT, but not South either)
Weather - quite Windy & Gusty, not too much of a problem but I had to keep my speed down
Camped at - Fredricksburg KOA

Narrative:

True to form, I am still very behind. We were heading to Monticello today but Mom thought a side road would be just as fast and George Washington's birthplace was marked on the map on this route. Not Mt. Vernon mind you, but his birthplace. My mistake, I should have checked the map a little more carefully - Monticello was only a couple hours drive from where we'd been staying, but not by the route we took, so we took in some unscheduled stops again (which is the general theme of this trip anyway).

Shortly after we'd started out, we saw two or three bald eagles circling overhead. We'd seen these a couple of different times in this area but had never been able to get a photo. I pulled over to the side of the road quickly and hopped out with the camera. Maybe they knew we were leaving town and decided to be nice and stick around long enough for me to get a picture?

So off we go - planning to see Washington's birthplace. We drove through a small town called Brays Fork. We didn't really stop there although they did have a museum and some civil war signage. However, it looked like such a typical rural town for Virginia that I thought I'd snap a shot. The big cities in the south have all been built up so much, it's hard to picture what they might have looked like a century or more ago. Take out the cars & telephone lines, this one probably looks much like it did during the Civil War IMHO.

As we continued on the road, we started seeing signs for Robert E. Lee's birthplace, Stratford. I'm not a big fan of Lee. From what I know, he was a great general but I have a problem with the cause he fought for, the South yes, but also everything the South represented. However we're here and this is an opportunity to learn and understand the past so we stopped. We did learn more, but not necessarily about Gen. Lee or the Civil War, this was much earlier than that. He only lived here until he was about 3 or 4, so this is more about the history of 1700's plantation era Virginia.

Richard Lee was the first Lee in Virginia. He arrived in Jamestown in the late 1630's and quickly realized the value of land and he acquired large tracts and exported tobacco, hides and pelts. He was also active in the local government and held several offices in the colony. Over time, he amassed 16,000 acres in Virginia and Maryland. His son, Richard also, was more of a scholar than a plantation manager and died fairly young, but not before he'd had six children of his own. One of those was Thomas Lee, who had a knack for business and politics like his grandfather. Thomas Lee built Stratford for his wife, Hannah.

Our tour guide for the house was Martha, who didn't seem to mind us pesky tourists!

Unfortunately however, no photo's allowed indoors so I'll just have to describe the house a bit from my notes.

The house covers 10,800 sq ft, has 18 rooms and 16 fireplaces. Hannah Lee wanted a Georgian style mansion, as was the fashion in England. They made the 600,000 bricks on site. Almost all of the other materials were also local. The walls are over 18" thick. Inside there are several skylights (there was no electricity in 1740) and 14' ceilings. It took about one cord of wood per day to heat the house in the winter.

The plantation itself was a self-sufficient community. While the Lee's imported some luxury goods, just about anything else needed on the plantation was made there. At it's height, there were probably about 200 workers, including 137 slaves, 13 more skilled slaves, and the rest indentured servants or white workers (clerks, oversee'ers, some skilled workers).

Two of Thomas Lee's sons signed the Declaration of Independance. Another, Harry 'Lighthorse' Lee served under Washington and delivered the final tribute: "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen...". Harry "Lighthorse" Lee was also Robert E. Lee's grandfather.

There is a lot of information about all the contributions the Lee's made in government during this era, but not as much about what happened to the family fortune that Thomas Lee amassed. However, by the time Robert E. Lee was ready for college, there was no money left for a private education which is why he went to West Point, because it was free.

Another interesting tidbit that Martha provided was that one of the ways Thomas Lee had made at least some of his money was as a slave trader. Non of the other materials I checked had that information, just that he exported tobacco and held several government offices. This appears to be a very sensitive area still, maybe people don't want to know too much about the realities of our past. We either glorify the founding fathers as almost mythical hero's, or we castigate them for behavior we would find reprehensible today. I think he truth is somewhere in between and I am attempting to understand this more.

OK - maybe it's getting late again, I'm starting to drift.

We did get back on the road and just a couple miles farther was the Popes Creek Plantation where George Washington was born. There is a visitors center, a marble monument and a house built in the style they think the original house might have been like. The original house burned down at Christmas, 1799 however, so there's not a whole lot to see here that is of historical significance. The location is right on the Potomac River and they think that while living here, G. Washington may have developed his lifelong love of the river and farming (plantation management style).

We did learn more about the Washington family and how their holdings developed. But it's late and that sort of information is probably readily available on the internet. So I'll leave it for you - for the moment, I'll get some sleep.

Monticello in the Morning Or Else!

(ps - found a KOA open year round here in Fredricksburg, so are plugged in and comfy. Hope everyone made it through the big wind storm OK back home!)