Vacation 2013: Montpelier

**Tune in Tomorrow For Engagement Pictures!!**

My favorite home to visit on this vacation was the home of James Madison.

On our way from Harrisonburg to Williamsburg, we made a 15 minute detour to Orange, VA to visit James Madison's Montpelier!  We were not sure if we wanted to make the stop but I am glad we did!

All of the other homes that we visited were rather complete.  They had lots of the original furniture and paintings, ect.  This was not the case with James Madison's home.  They are actually still doing archeological digs in order to find more items that were once in this home.

Fortunately, they have found lots of writings by people who had visited the home.  Some of the journals were very specific about colors and how the furniture was arranged.  This has helped with the re-furnishing of Montpelier.

James and Dolley Madison lived at Montpelier during Jame's retirement years, beginning in 1817, however, the property had been in the Madison Family for many years beginning with James's grandparents.

Unfortunately, Dolley's son, John (whom James adopted) caused a lot of problems for the family.  He is believed to have been an alcoholic and a gambler and was often in jail.  James and Dolley had to bail him out multiple times eventually forcing Dolley to sell Montpelier.   Also, she sold a lot of their possessions to try to pay off his debts which is part of the reason that Montpelier remains incomplete.

  
A major restoration of this home occurred between 2003 and 2008 to restore the home to the way it was when the Madison's lived there.   Since a few other families had lived there, it had changed quite a bit before being handed over to the National Trust of Historical Preservation

The property was huge and absolutely beautiful.   We spent some time walking around the property and also checked out the archeology lab.  It was neat to see all of the things that had been dug up over the years.  There are also active dig sites on the property which is pretty neat.

I am definitely glad we took the little detour to Montpelier.  I think the tour was the most educational and I loved our guide, he was so fun!   I also just loved the house and the property.   I highly recommend a visit!

Vacation 2013: Ash Lawn-Highland

Our second Presidential tour was to Ash Lawn-Highland, home to James Monroe.  Ash Lawn is located just a few miles from Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. 

Once again, no photos were allowed in the home but I will share photos of the outside and share some facts.

I knew that the home was not going to be as extravagant as Thomas Jefferson's but I was still interested to see it.   When you first turn on to the property you will notice that the drive up to the house is beautiful!  In fact, the whole property is gorgeous!

Now, the part of the house pictured above is painted yellow because it did not look like that when Monroe lived there.  That portion of the house was destroyed in a fire and instead of keeping it one story, as it was in Monroe's time, the owner decided to make it two stories.   All of the buildings and sections painted white are the same buildings that were there when Monroe lived there.  The our only included parts of the house that Monroe lived in.

This was where the tour started and was actually the last part of the home to be added when Monroe lived on the property.   When we arrived, we were greeted by a super fun snake on the roof .... I was totally not amused and neither was our guide, she kept eying it as much as me.

The house is fairly small.  Therefore, we spent a good bit of time in each room learning about James Monroe and his place in history.  I learned that Monroe was a very modest person and lived in a smaller home because he did not feel the need for a large one. 

James Monroe was quite the negotiator and Diplomat, being the one to resolve conflict with the British and acquire Florida from the Spanish.  He also proclaimed the Monroe Doctrine which declared that any European countries that try to colonize in the US or South America would be viewed as aggressive and would require US intervention.  He was also responsible for the final negotiations of the Louisiana Purchase when he was working on James Madison's administration.

Monroe was another President who viewed slavery as wrong.   He didn't abolish slavery because he feared the consequences of abolition, as the Southern States were threatening to secede from the Union if slavery were abolished. 

James Monroe and his wife unfortunately ran into financial trouble and had to either sell this property or the one that they owned up north.  Since this one sold faster, they left it behind and moved into their home up north in 1826.

When Monroe lived on the property, it was known simply as Highland.  The new owner called it Ash Lawn, so now it is combined and called Ash Lawn-Highland.

If you are visiting Monticello, I would recommend popping over to visit Ash Lawn.  The property is beautiful and the tour was both educational and enjoyable.   I knew next to nothing about Monroe before this tour and came out feeling like I knew his whole life.  Definitely worth a visit and it is significantly less expensive than Monticello.

Vacation 2013: Monticello

Due to wedding planning, our vacation this year was pretty low key.  Josh and I both love history and that is basically what this vacation was about, learning American History.  And what a great week to do that, the week leading up to Memorial Day. 

Our first stop (history wise) was Thomas Jefferson's Monticello which is located in Charlottesville, VA.  Monticello was TJ's home until he died on July 4, 1826.  He was one of three founding fathers to die on July 4th, the others being John Adams (who died the exact same day), and James Monroe who died 5 years later.

Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed inside of the house but I will share some interesting facts as well as my pictures from outside and from the grounds.

The picture above is from the front of the house where we first walked in.  Before modern roads were built, it was rather difficult to get to Monticello.  People would have to actually circle the Mountain 3 times before arriving at the top.  It was too steep to go straight up, especially with a horse and carriage.

If you know anything about Thomas Jefferson, you know that he was pretty much interested in EVERYTHING, and I mean everything.  This house was built by Jefferson with his knowledge of architecture.  He began building at 26 and continued to expand Monticello throughout his life.   He lived at Monticello throughout his retirement years.

Jefferson had quite the collection of books.   A large sum were donated to the Government in what is now known as the Library of Congress but a good bit of books remained at Jefferson's home.  It was written that at one point the Library/Study was so filled with books from floor to ceiling that the only way to walk through the room was by a narrow passageway.

During our tour, we were guided through the first floor of the house.  The rooms visited include the Bedchamber, Dining Room, Cabinet, Library, Entrance Hall, Tea Room, Octagonal Rooms and Square Rooms.

Jefferson was a slave owner, as was typical of wealthy families at that time.   However, Jefferson did oppose slavery and was actively involved in legislation that he hoped would abolish slavery.   Jefferson pretty much predicted that if slavery were not abolished that states that had slavery and that states that didn't would not be able to live peacefully.  As we all know, that was definitely the case.

Above are photos from the Plantation including crops and the Path along Mulberry Row.  Mulberry Row featured a blacksmith shop, joinery, nailery, storehouse and textile factory (all of which are no longer there).  There were many different crops produced at Monticello including tobacco and wheat/grains.

Last, we visited TJ's grave site.  Jefferson, along with all of his family were buried on the property.  Jefferson had the following etched on his Tombstone:

Here Was Buried
Thomas Jefferson
Author of the Declaration of Independence
of the Statue of Virginia for Religious Freedom
And the Father of the University of Virginia.

I definitely enjoyed visiting Monticello.  I enjoyed learning about the President how his ideas shaped this country.  The grounds were beautiful and our guide was great.   She talked as if we were back in the late 1700's and the family was still living there.  I am sure I missed a lot of information but it is not hard to find on the internet if you are interested in learning more.

Also, one last interesting fact.  Monticello is the only Presidents Home which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site!

Mount Vernon, Virginia - Part 2

Yesterday I wrote about the day trip that me and my sister took to Mount Vernon this past Thursday.  I decided to break it up into  two post since there are so many pictures that I wanted to share.  Yesterday I shared everything that we did before lunch and today I am going to share what we saw after lunch :) Click here to start from the beginning at yesterdays post.

Heading back towards the house

Slaves Quarters

The Shoemakers Shop

Inside - The shoemaker made and repaired shoes for the slaves.  The Washington's got finer shoes from merchants or London manufacturers

The Stove Room

This room kept the green house next door warm and functioning

Male Slave Quarters

Blacksmith Shop

Outside of the Blacksmith Shop

The Overseers Quarters

From the outside

 Due to Washington being away from his home so much, he had one overseer for each of his 5 farms who were there to make sure that everything ran smoothly in his absence. 

The Spinning Room

The Gardeners House

The Salt House

Back to the main house!

The Servants Hall

Me and the Original Front door.

Me on the back porch

Walkway between the kitchen and the main house

The Potomac

The Storehouse

The Storehouse

The Outhouse.

And that concludes our tour of Mount Vernon.  We loved it!  We are planning a trip back in the spring when the flowers have bloomed because the grounds have two huge garden areas that should be beautiful in the spring or summer :)

I'll leave you with some instaphotos