Virginia - April 2012

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April 28th 2012

Published: January 3rd 2013

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WilliamandChristina

Williamsburg

An afternoon jaunt around the old town. This was an important government building in the time of colonial america.

Check it out people ~ I REALLY was planning to get these blog entries of our 7 month tour of the U.S. finished before the end of the year, but as fate (& whatever else) would have it, there was a lot happening around our old stomping grounds to keep us busy throughout the Fall, so alas, here I am still working on these in 2013. I was not going to do it, but there are a few stories still worth telling and many great photos of beautiful places to share with you, so I shall make the effort this week to get these to you. ~With love, Christina.

And the adventure continues.....

Upon exiting N. Carolina & entering Virginia our journey there begins near the Atlantic coast in the river port of historic Yorktown, and Williamsburg. Though William has been in some of these states before, this is all new territory to me. And it's quite different than say a visit to Washington D.C. with it's many interactive, historically informative museums (which we visited in May 2011), but much more modern feel.

We enjoyed the authentic feeling preserved in these towns that really bring to life how

Williamsburg

town is authentically set up to entertain tourists as a living history museum.

people may have lived back in colonial America, and the sense of history that seems to exude from every brick & grassy field... with a little help from placards and signs along the way! The spring weather in the eastern part of Virginia was grey & chilly during our visit, & cast a pall over the place that seemed to reflect a somber mood & heaviness in these areas where so much blood was shed in the last several hundred years. Nevertheless, we enjoyed every moment in the beautiful State of Virginia which was lushly green, and reeked with all the historical mementos of our country's early roots. Riding through & looking at the many monuments of potent times where people sacrificed greatly for the bold ideals of amazing visionaries has it's effect, and it certainly did impact me strongly! Though there are many other important places where history was made in the eastern u.s. of A, Virginia is above the others in significant ways as a colony where major shaping of our country took place. But please excuse me for not elaborating on the specific details right here.

We enjoyed, even with the wet weather, camping in the

Williamsburg

Yes, the red coats came marching through just like it might happen in the old days. The colonies were indeed occupied.

nearly deserted city park strategically juxtaposed between these two historic towns. In this location we were easily able to ride our bikes the few miles to Yorktown, through the woods where significant battles were waged. In the chill air it was somehow even easier to imagine the reality for the armies camped here and what it must have been like at that time. I loved riding through the damp greenery and finding the Surrender Road! And yes, it was the brilliant Gen. George Washington who led the army's here/there to victory over the British (with the help of 5,000 French troops, & 1,000s in the Continental army through a cold winter). One of the signs said that upon defeating the English, battles in the colonies went on for another 2 years after that (or was that the civil war? which was also waged heavily in this area). Either way it struck me as amazing: such slow communication, and, HOW DIFFERENT the times without all the technology we take so for granted today! In visiting these places one is almost forced to contemplate, & want to imagine what it must have been like to live back then! All over Virginia they

Williamsburg

Capital of the Virginia Colony.

have made it much easier for us to do so.

After two nights in the Williamsburg/Yorktown area we drove on west toward the famous City of Charlottesville where Jefferson built the University of Virginia, architecturally designed by him AFTER he retired from decades of public service to the country. OMG!... I really GOT WHY my father read so extensively about, and made a study of Thomas Jefferson... he was such an incredible, amazing man! I never really grasped this fact till we visited his Monticello Estate and learned about his multitudinous accomplishments! which I will list momentarily.

The Omni Hotel allowed us to park the motorhome in their lot while we visited Charlottesville for a few days which was right next to a pedestrian only section of the charming downtown. We also enjoyed biking through the University & lovely old residential areas around it. The city was quite attractive, set on the hills, and I could almost imagine living there. One might think that with the principles & visionary ideals put forth by Jefferson as a backdrop this school & city would be steeped in traditional & conservative values. But that was not so apparent. Modern Charlottesville as

Newport News City Campground

Great place to camp and explore Williamsurg, Yorktown, and Jamestown.

much as any other city, is overrun with cameras at every intersection controlled by traffic lights. Subtle or not so subtle message to the young students: 'get used to being watched everywhere you bad, law breaking people'. To tell the truth, I never noticed so many traffic cameras in any other city we visited this year!

On our first walk through the pedestrian downtown I asked a young adult man some questions about the area. We ended up having a fairly involved discussion about government and related things. He was about 30 and had a typical "progressive" mindset. But even having grown up in Charlottesville he did not seem to reflect more than others his age, values that might have come from the influences of Jefferson. For example, he just didn't get or relate to the politics of Ron Paul, who more than any other politician of our day endeavors to keep our government true to it's constitutional foundations. Well, it's true I am often fearlessly drawn to open such topics with people I talk to. Why not? But, in this case he walked away a little annoyed. Oh well!

While in Charlottesville we also shopped for groceries

York town

cute hilly town with it's original character so well preserved. People do live here.

at a nearby natural food store with locally grown produce, and walked around some other sections where good restaurants with varied cuisine abounded. We did eat out one night and enjoyed all the old architecture & flavor of this part of the city. On the second day there we drove the motorhome up to Monticello and spent the day (not even quite enough). There were also bus loads of school children and adult tours visiting that day understandably, as a popular place like Monticello has A LOT to offer! For starters there is a museum with a large walk around Monticello plantation model just outside, a theater with an excellent short film about Jefferson's life, and an education center with "discovery room". Since we spent the majority of our time around the home site itself, we only had a quick look at these things and saw the film. In retrospect, I wish we had gone back to explore these more thoroughly the following day since for me, I still think of Monticello as the MOST INSPIRING place we visited on this trip.

Many people have asked us what our favorite place was on this trip. Honestly, I don't at

Great lunch In Yorktown

Carrot Tree Restaurant

all understand how people think we could have only one, it's really impossible! My usual answer is that on this trip (as our world trip in '08) there were many highlights. In this trip the highlights have been: the Chiricahua National Monument in Arizona, New Orleans, our days in New York city, visiting the Amish country of Pennsylvania, the Ricketts State park in Pennsylvania where we hiked the 22 waterfalls one afternoon, and the Rocky Mtn National park in Colorado (not to mention a few of William's concerts, & fun visits with family). But, Virginia in general, and Monticello specifically was entirely inspirational, & overwhelmingly informative to the max! We spent most of our day at Monticello on the 3 tours of the plantation. One tour of the house, one of the gardens and the last of all the slave areas or 'dependencies'. These tours were all amazing, and the different guides really well informed on the many aspects of life at Monticello. My two favorite tours were the garden/grounds tour and the slave area tour.

At the giftshop I bought the guidebook which is full of great photos and info, but for this writing I refer mostly to

Surrender Field

the pamphlet I received at the entrance called: Discover the GENIUS of Jefferson. For a lot more info and even an online newsletter visit www.monticello.org

But now, for a chronological date order list of facts about Thomas Jefferson:

Born April 13, 1743 and home schooled till entered the college of William and Mary at age 17. In 1769 he becomes a member of the House of Burgesses and begins construction of Monticello 5 years after inheriting the land.

1770 Began residing at Monticello; married his wife Martha in 1772.

1775 Attends the 2nd Continental Congress.

1776 Drafts the Declaration of Independence which is adopted July 4th. (And he does work at continually perfecting his written language communication, an interesting fact of his personal effort to continually better himself.)

1777 Serves in the Virginia House of Delegates.

1779 Elected Governor of Virginia; 1782 wife Martha dies & he never remarries but has a close companionship with his only surviving daughter, also named Martha.

1783 Elected to Congress and in 1784 begins diplomatic service in France (there 5 years).

1789 Returns to u.s.A

1790 Appointed as the first u.s. Secretary of State.

Charlottesville

A charming section of historic downtown near where we parked.

1796 Elected vice president under John Adams.

1801 Elected as 3rd president. In 1803 commissions Lewis & Clark expedition & concludes the Louisiana Purchase.

1804 Re-elected president. 1809 Retires to Monticello.

1815 Sells his personal library to the Library of Congress.

1817 Designs and plans the University of Virginia.

1826 Dies July 4th (same as John Adams) on the 50th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence! How's that for an amazing 'coincidence'?

The rest of the 1st page of this brochure is also worth quoting: Thomas Jefferson theorist of the American Revolution, drafted the Declaration of Independance. The ideals of the Declaration - that "all men are created equal" & have a right to "life, liberty, & the pursuit of happiness" - established the foundations of SELF-GOVERNMENT and individual freedom in America...

After writing the Declaration, Jefferson spent the next 33 years in public life...

Jefferson designed every aspect of Monticello, an icon of architecture, constructing & modifying its buildings and landscape over a period of 40 years. He believed that human reason and knowledge could improve the condition of mankind. He studied science and was an enthusiast

Monticello - Thomas Jeffersons Plantation

Jefferson inherited 3,000 acres from his father at age 21. He developed these huge vegetable gardens w/the help of his slaves of course.

of the arts, shaping public architecture in America, and contributing to horticulture, ethnography, paleontology, archaeology, astronomy to name but a few". (!)

Jefferson taught himself to be an architect (and for that matter a horticulturist), relying on observation and books. The farming of the lands around Monticello provided income for the family and good employment for the slaves and many other workers. Jefferson's gardens were the living laboratory for his study of plants from around the world. All of his lifetime of gardening activities were chronicled in his garden book. When he referred to his "garden" he meant his vegetable garden on the southeast slope of the mountain. Quoting the brochure: "Although it served as a food source for the family table, the garden also functioned as laboratory where he planted about 330 varieties of more than 70 species of vegetables. This was Jefferson's most enduring horticultural achievement at Monticello. The garden evolved over many years... The 2 acre garden included 24 growing beds, organized, at least in 1812, according to which part of the plant was harvested - roots, leaves, or fruits. Today the garden serves as a preservation seed bank of Jefferson-era and 19th century vegetable varieties."

Jeffersonian Wisdom

For various reasons Jefferson had a lot of debt at the end of his life and it was not possible to pay them off by selling some of his lands (due to the westward movement & drop in eastern property values) so he died in debt in spite of selling his library. His family and heirs sold many of the slaves (more valuable than the land) and later Monticello itself.

I strongly believe that though Jefferson owned slaves while at the same time penning the sentiment that all men are created equal - he was not a hypocrite. He did free a few slaves, but he also knew that the time was coming soon when everything would be different, and that his visionary statement really would be for all men (and women too). He felt that this was a task to be left for a future, or the next generation. I hope you all too, have received some inspiration from learning a little about Thomas Jefferson, and perhaps you will visit the remains of his legacy at Monticello.

Before leaving Virginia & driving further west over the mountains into West Virginia - another really beautiful state (parts