famous houses

[gurdonark]

This afternoon we went to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's house, on a day in which the temperature only hit 80. It is on a gorgeous mountain, but smaller than I recalled from a visit when I was 15. The tour of the home proved quite short, if informative, while we abandoned the garden tour, ironically, as being "all talk, no flowers". The Visitor Center was much better--and featured the Jefferson chess set, always a hit with me. I lamented for a moment that I had not brought a camera, and then I realized I had the back of a nickel to view. But I bought a throwaway camera anyway and snapped, because I am snappy that way.

We then went to Ash Lawn/Highlands, the James Monroe home, where the home was smaller than Monticello, but the tour was quite informative. Both Monticello and the Highlands all but bankrupted their owners in the long run, which intrigued me.

We drove into Charlottesville, where we ate outdoors in a downtown walking mall at a very good restaurant called something like Bizot. We loved the people watching in this college town, partaken while cicadas sang all around.

I ate roast chicken and mixed vegetables. We browsed a quilt store, and then a used bookstore. I bought four small press poetry chapbooks and a volume of Muriel Spark stories.

I learned that the restaurant I picked in Silver Spring does not have tables at the time I named. I will find another locale. Meanwhile, our other plans, for a more distant trip Friday, are in the air, and may not come off after all. So if I can solve the Thursday night scheduling, then the trip remains relatively stress-free.

Comments

[theodicy.livejournal.com]

I love quilt stores!

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

We like them, too. This one was quite eclectic, both in terms of quilts and in terms of other things.

[heartwork.livejournal.com]

my cousins own a condo on that mountain. i stayed there when i visited them and my sister in VA. the mountain is gorgeous. and charlottesville is so much fun!