Jason and I began our day the way most people do, being served breakfast by a British Woman while drinking hot tea. At least, that's what I hope everyone else is doing because it's awesome. Today Juliette served us fresh fruit, egg soufflé, and cornbread with wine jelly. Delicious, as always. Wish she taught cooking classes! Today we got to learn a little bit about her and her husband. Apparently Juliette lives here most of the time, but then goes to her house in Savannah from November through the spring. She gets a longer fall than anyone. She had made the comment that this year the Virginia leaves have been "dreadful" or "boring," Jason and I don't remember which. In either case, we both were a little shocked. We told her that compared to Georgia this was breathtaking. Anything with just a tinge of fall color is noteworthy.
After breakfast we headed upstairs to plan our day. Today we were off to see Monticello. Due to yesterday's rain, today was much colder and certainly felt more of fall than any other day I've ever spent in Georgia. We wore long sleeves and took our jackets with us. Jason reminded me to wear appropriate shoes, since I have a knack for wearing flip flops in any type of weather. We were ready.
After a small amount of time, we arrived at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home. I should probably say mansion due to the size and loveliness of his property. After taking a bus to the house, I was able to take some pictures:
We were only able to get the outside of the house unfortunately. Apparently there are many people who have donated a lot of their own personal collection of historical artifacts and have not given the right for any photos to be taken. However, 90 percent of the house is exactly the way Jefferson left it. He apparently lost his home due to financial troubles, and a man named Levy purchased it in order to preserve the historical location. There are a few notable items in the house that we hope we will always remember. The first being a unique clock. Above the front door in the foyer there is a clock that keeps track of the days of the week as well as the time. He did this by hanging cannon balls on a string. Each time the clock would rotate, the balls would move lower to the floor. On the walls there are markings indicating what day it is. In the foyer you could only see up to Thursday. He had cut out holes in the wood floor so the balls could continue to lower. He also housed a large collection of books and was often found reading in his library on the floor rather than in a chair. Additionally, in his dining room he had created an early version of a dumbwaiter, in which to carry wine and plates.
Some other facts we learned from the Monticello tour: he supposedly introduced America to macaroni and cheese; he died on July 4th as did his close friend Adams; He had regular visits with French General LaFayette; and he brought numerous French decor to his home. We also learned from a Monticello slave tour that he fathered possibly 6 children with one of his slaves. Although he did free two men during his life, they kind of outsmarted him into making a deal where they would have their freedom bought. He also freed three other people in his will, all related to the woman slave he fathered children with. All though he said he agreed that slavery was wrong, he never really made an attempt to end it or free his own slaves willingly.
Oh, one more fun moment. . . during the tour, our guide told us about a bone Jefferson had found from some massive creature. Neither one of us can remember what the creature was, but it was huge. She grabbed the bone and put it next to the head of a little girl in our group and said, "So, this is your head and this was [the creature's] tooth!" Pretty scary! It was exactly the same size. This same little girl had asked her earlier if they used soap back then. It was pretty cute.
Here are some pictures of the bottom part of his home, where horses were kept and wine/beer was stored:
After seeing the house, Jason and I headed out toward the gardens. My favorite spot at Monticello was what they call Mulberry Row. Not really even sure how to explain how beautiful it is, so I'll just let the picture do the talking:
To Jason's right and behind me is his garden. They still are growing corn, flowers, and other types of vegetables. It also comes with a breathtaking view. Here are some pictures:
After taking these pictures we headed toward the gift shop and decided to purchase some gifts, along with fudge and water. We went back to the garden and started eating on a shaded bench. Here we are:
As we unwrapped the first fudge pack, a woman walked right in front of us and randomly said in a loud voice, "Here I'm going to talk about..." it took a second but we finally realized she wasn't talking to us. Shortly after, we heard a large group of people following her. She was apparently giving a tour and decided to give us front row seats. Sadly, a man walked up between our bench and another women's from the group and tripped pretty badly. We decided we should get up so that people with disabilities or balance issues could sit down. We walked farther down and saw a group of archaeologists working...
We ended up walking down toward the Jefferson Cemetery and eating our dessert there. Here we were alone, except for a squirrel (Harriet) that was acting more like a cat. She kept stalking us from behind blades of grass. No joke, here's a picture:
Monticello is the perfect place for a picnic, especially in the fall. The weather is crisp and slightly cold, yet still sunny. Perfect fall weather and the scenery is absolutely breathtaking. After finishing our fudge we headed toward the Jefferson Cemetery. We even saw a headstone from a woman who died in 2006. Apparently his descendants are still being buried here. Here are pictures:
After viewing the cemetery we walked through the grove and headed back toward the visitor's station. We stopped in the shop and bought some more gifts. We decided to only get a few things since most items were extremely overpriced. We then got back in the car and headed toward an old tavern where we did some more shopping. Virginia is extremely hilly and is difficult to travel around with a stick shift. When we parked, Jason pulled his parking break up but we still felt the car move backward farther than we felt comfortable with, so we headed for flat ground instead. This allowed us to go in and shop without worry. Got some pretty awesome gifts here, too. We then headed back to the Inn for dinner. On the way back there was this massive truck that decided other cars didn't exist... slightly terrifying with how often he was changing lanes and how quickly he was doing so. Jason managed to avoid him though and we got back safely.
Once back at the Inn, Jason and I relaxed a little before dinner. We decided to go to Baja Bean, a wonderful Mexican restaurant in Staunton. We said goodbye to Juliette and her husband and then walked toward downtown. Here's a picture of downtown Staunton (within walking distance):
We had such a good dinner at Baja Bean! It was wonderful. Here are pictures of our amazing food, be jealous! :^)
After dinner we decided to walk to a dessert restaurant called "The Split Banana." Amazing ice cream! They had gelato there! Jason got pumpkin pie and cinnamon gelato and I got Hazelnut... both awesome. To the left of the entrance there was an old timey piano with a sign on it that read "play us something awesome." We didn't because we didn't know how to play, but I thought that was amazing! Well, I guess amazing depending on who plays for them. Here's a picture of us enjoying our amazing dessert!
After eating, Jason and I walked back to the Inn. Now we plan to read a little of that book and relax before our anniversary. Tomorrow will be October 9th, 2013. Exactly 3 years from the day we got married. No better man I'd rather spend my days with than Jason. I still can't believe how lucky I am. He seems to just get better and better every year :^) End of day 3.
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