Monticello

Let me preface this post by saying that I've never gotten really excited about history.  Watching the movie 1776 is my idea of learning about American history, and much of my interest is due to the fact that the same guy who played Mr. Feeny on Boy Meets World also played John Adams in 1776.

However, visiting Thomas Jefferson's Monticello was fascinating!  We went on a candlelight tour that's only offered during the holidays and our guide was amazingly animated and interesting.

We weren't able to take photos inside the house (since the foundation that owns Monticello doesn't own all of the items inside of it), but we were able to take photos inside the dome.  The dome was beautiful, especially at night with a full moon shining in.

Getting to the dome on the third floor of the house was interesting.  There are two stairways on either side of the house, both of them extremely narrow and steep.  Sorry, ladies in hoop skirts - there's no way you're going upstairs.  Luckily, my dad didn't wear a hoop skirt so he was able to go upstairs with the rest of our group.

The mountains surrounding the property were just gorgeous.

One of the most interesting parts of the tour was hearing about the large quantities of meticulous notes that T.J. (we're on an informal name basis now) took.  This has been a tremendous help to historians in recreating his residence, the items inside, and the details of his life.

Next post: James Madison's Montpelier.