Monticello

Thomas Jefferson’s home or Ben Franklin’s was the question I was asking myself after leaving Monticello. The home was so full of little inventions that you had to wonder if Jefferson was reading Franklin’s email. Clocks that told the day, dials that carried wind direction to the patio, dumbwaiters for wine, the first storm windows, plants that were hybridized like 33 kinds of peas, a book stand that kept five books open to the last read page, the first use of decks attached to houses, and dueling pens that automatically made a copy of everything written all indicated the author of the Declaration of Independence was more a tinker then most realize.



Monticello is located on top of large hill outside Charlottsville, VA. Jefferson built this house to his own specs and called it his “essay”. He retired here and lived his last 17 years here and ironically died here 50 years to the day from his Declaration of Independence.


Jefferson’s trademark views on freedom and independence are a bit clouded by the remnants of the slave quarters on his property. He never did release a single slave during his lifetime but long pondered how he could. It was obvious that his large plantation might become rundown without the help of all the slaves. The Thomas Jefferson Foundation does recognize that TJ fathered at least one child with a slave, this happening ten years after his wife died.



Despite the hypocrisy of his views on freedom and slavery, he was THE voice for separation of church and state and wrote the Virginia state articles on this separation that were modeled by others. As our third president, Jefferson certainly had a great track record however he did not list the presidency as one of his three life accomplishments that he had put on his headstone. All in all, he was a significant person in our country’s early history and set the bar for many ideals.



We are off for the Blue Ridge Parkway running along the Blue Ridge Mountains today. Too far to make Ashville in one day but the weather is supposed to clear so it should be another beautiful day of driving. Nice to not have a schedule and be able to go as far and stay as long as we like. Probably never be another time like this in our lives.



We are looking forward to landing in Durham later this week or weekend and setting stakes in the ground for TWO months. What will that be like? Look forward to time with Meg and Rusty and getting into a bit of a routine. Not that traveling the country isn’t a routine of its own.