Monticello, VA

There are several ways to get to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and one of my favorite ways is by foot... Please preview the video above for a sample of the trail. I hope that you enjoy it half as much as we did taking the hike! Our family is seeing more and more places of interest around Charlottesville.

Sometimes it is good to explore your own backyard!

Inspired by a conversation with a client over dinner

When you visit Charlottesville you will want to get a feel for the history and feel of Jefferson's Virginia.

What better way that to visit and eat at Michie Tavern (A Virginia Historic Landmark)

Originally built in Western Albemarle, this 1784 home was moved with-in minutes of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.

You can enjoy a delicious southern meal meal, tour the original Tavern and on a cold day warm by the fire! There is a lot to see and you can even learn 18th-century dances on your tour. There is a General Store and everyone wears traditional clothing.

The Meadow Run Grist Mill (ca. 1797) is a site to see. This is where the general store is offering an old mercantile atmosphere.

The Tavern Gift Shop offers a wide selection of historic reproductions and is fun for kids and adults too!

Stop by and have lunch while visiting Ash Lawn-Highland or Monticello it is a fine way to spend the day!

A few years ago, I went on a reading binge on the Colonial period and all of the founding fathers and mothers. And the player who fascinated me the most was Thomas Jefferson.

So this Memorial Day weekend, my sweetie and I hopped into his really cute convertible and headed for Charlottesville, Virginia to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's plantation.

The ride down was gorgeous, with a detour down Skyline Drive, with it's amazing views of the Shenandoah Valley. We had the top down, and while the skies were pretty blue over the Shenandoah, on the other side of the mountain, the sky was black with scary looking clouds. Still, it didn't really rain on us!

When we got to Monticello, the tour started with a film about Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence. But I was more interested in seeing the house where he lived. That came next.

The plantation has been restored to much the village it was in Jefferson's time. It housed over 200 people, including around 150 slaves, owned by the man who wrote about all men being created equal in the Declaration of Independence.

They wouldn't let us take photos inside the house, but you can find them on the gallery official web site . Being in Jefferson's private rooms, with his books and surveying tools, and the bed with a cool clock at the foot, was a little voyeuristic, especially when I spotted his boots set against the wall.

The kitchen was set apart from the living quarters, because Jefferson's father lost his house to a kitchen fire years earlier. The cooks and servers then had to run the food through this hallway, up a back stair, and then they delivered it to the guy who served it. They did allow photos of the kitchen, the brewery (yes, the had a little micro brewery thing going) and the cooks living quarters.

Then there were the gardens. There were flower gardens and space for produce.

And if you are a history buff, the gift shop has the best collection of books that I've ever seen on the revolutionary period.

So here are the photos of the kitchen and the gardens that I promised!

There are several ways to get to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and one of my favorite ways is by foot... Please preview the video above for a sample of the trail. I hope that you enjoy it half as much as we did taking the hike! Our family is seeing more and more places of interest around Charlottesville. Sometimes it is good to explore your own backyard!

When you visit Charlottesville and are looking at Real Estate you will want to get a feel for the history and feel of Jefferson's Virginia. What better way that to visit and eat at Michie Tavern
(A Virginia Historic Landmark)

Orginally built in Western Albemarle, this 1784 home was moved wilth-in minutes of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.

You can enjoy a delicious southern meal meal, tour the original Tavern and on a cold day warm by the fire!

There is a lot to see and you can even learn 18th-century dances on your tour. There is a General Store and everyone wears traditional clothing.

The Meadow Run Grist Mill (ca. 1797) is a site to see. This is where the general store is offering an old mercantile atmosphere.

The Tavern Gift Shop offers a wide selection of historic reproductions and is fun for kids and adults too!

Stop by and have lunch while visiting Ash Lawn-Highland or Monticello it is a fine way to spend the day!