Monthly Archives: July 2009
Monticello and Appomattox…Not!
First off, I want to wish my beautiful bride a Happy Anniversary.
42 years ago today we met for the first time in Titusville, FL where she lived at the time, and I was working for the summer.
Today is our last full day here at Small Country Campground before we move up to Reston, VA for a week in the Washington, DC area.
We woke up to 65 degrees and rain this morning. Well, one out of two isn’t bad.
We took the toad about 20 miles up the road to Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. It was a very beautiful drive up into the hills getting there.
One thing I finally did find out is how to pronounce ‘Monticello’. I had always heard it pronounced both ‘Mon T Sell O’ and ‘Mon T Chello’.
In fact, just last month I saw a program on the History Channel that pronounced it ‘Mon T Sell O’.
However, at Monticello, they will tell you that it is pronounced ‘Mon T Sell O’, and that some people there get upset when it is pronounced the other way.
Because of the rain, I couldn’t get any decent pictures of the outside, so these two are from the internet.
East Front of Monticello
West Front of Monticello
We were only allowed to tour the rooms on the bottom of the 3 floors. The other two are apparently too hard to access via the narrow staircases.
Thomas Jefferson was really into the latest gadgets, which I guess is why he’s one of my favorites of the Founding Fathers, along with Benjamin Franklin, for the same reason.
We had some time to walk the grounds after our house tour, even though it was lightly raining.
We saw Mulberry Row, a 1000 foot line of mulberry trees that line the plantation gardens.
Mulberry Row
We were told the gardens are laid out just as they were in Jefferson’s day.
Monticello Gardens 1
Monticello Gardens 2
We also enjoyed the museum and exhibits on Jefferson’s life and times.
After eating lunch in Charlottesville, we were ready to head to Appomattox Courthouse, until we discovered it was almost 70 miles away, in the opposite direction of the RV park. And it was already almost 3 pm.
When I looked at the brochure it said it was about 25 miles away. But I now realized that was from Richmond, not from Charlottesville.
So we decided to call it a day and try to come back on our way back from Nova Scotia later in the year.
More tomorrow from Reston, VA…
Happy Birthday, America!
Today is our country’s birthday, and where better to be, then the birth place of the writer of the Declaration of Independence, Virginia and Thomas Jefferson.
Happy Birthday, America!
Tomorrow, we will visit the Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, but today we’re going to stay around the coach and enjoy the day.
We’re staying at the Small Country Campground in Louisa, VA, about 20 miles southeast of Charlottesville, VA.
Small Country Campground
This place is really out in the country, but our site is basically a large gravel parking lot. This area is the only one left that will fit our rig, so we really can’t complain.
We’ll we can’t… but Mister can. He doesn’t like it, at all. The large chunks of gravel hurt his feet, and of course, there’s no where for him to roll around on the ground. He’s not a happy camper.
We are having BBQ this 4th of July. We have leftovers from our stopover at Famous Dave’s yesterday. Ribs, pulled pork, baked beans, corn on the cob, fried apples, with peaches and ice cream for dessert.
Hmmm, Gooood!
We were happy to see the park was having a fireworks show, but weren’t expecting much. Boy, were we surprised!
The show lasted over 30 minutes. It didn’t have as much variety as some city/county shows we saw around Houston, but it made for it in quantity.
Everyone started setting up about 8 pm with the kids being given sparklers to play with.
Fireworks
Fireworks 1
And then about 9 pm the show began…
Fireworks 2
Fireworks 3
Fireworks 4
Fireworks 5
Fireworks 6
Fireworks 7
Fireworks 8
Fireworks 9
We’re really enjoying the cool temperatures here. It was 59 last night and will only get to about 69 tomorrow. Of course, it is also supposed to rain, so we’ll see.
As I said, tomorrow we’re going to visit Monticello, and maybe, if we have time, Appomattox Courthouse, where the South surrendered at the end of the Civil War.
Later…
