Category: 2022

Monticello

Our next trip was to Monticello the home of Thomas Jefferson. We went in Sept of 2022. The weather was perfect so almost all the trip was top down. It is about a 3 hour back roads drive from Hagerstown Md to Charlottesville Va. It is also a beautiful drive. The leaves are not changing yet but when they do it will be a sight to see.

We took a Friday off and drove down and stayed at a new Holiday Inn express Friday and Saturday night. It was a nice hotel at a good price and close to Monticello.

Saturday we reserved the Behind the Scenes Day pass which gave us a 2 hour guided tour of the house and access to the grounds and a couple other tours which are free anyway.

The history of Monticello is amazing. It is hard to comprehend how it was when Thomas Jefferson walked the grounds. The Behind the scenes tour included seeing all 4 floors of the house including the grounds and gardens. Our tour guide was great and very knowledgeable on everything to do with Jefferson. After the tour we went to a talk by a Stand in Thomas Jefferson. He was extremely realistic and talked as if he were still in the early 1800’s.

We spent the entire day here doing a slave history tour and walking the grounds. We then spent time at the visitors center. When we got to Monticello in the morning we did not have the time and some things were not open yet. We had been at Monticello 20 years before but the visitor center was not there. It was a very nice addition with a small but informative museum.

We love to take pictures of flowers and the flowers on the grounds of Monticello were wonderful. I suspect that at certain times of the year that is the main attraction. Here is one that came out great.

The next day we attempted to go to James Monroes house, our 5th President, which is just 4 miles from Monticello, but it was closed on this particular Sunday for some kind of private event. We speculated a wedding but are not sure. So we can save that for a future trip. Instead we decided to go to our 4th Presidents home Montpelier the home of James Madison, It was about an hour drive in the direction that we were going.

After the Madisons sold the house it was bought by the DuPont family who lived in the house for several decades before it was donated to the Monroe foundation. The tour at Montpelier was not as extensive as the tour at Monticello. We only saw about 6 rooms that were restored however the tour guide talks were very good and informative. The on your own tour of the garden was wonderful with lots of flowers and a great path to follow.

After Montpelier we traveled back home via back roads with the top down. Unfortunately we did not eat at any memorable restaurants but there should be several in and around Charlottsville.

Tips

  1. For Monticello we had a tour that was scheduled for the same time the grounds opened. Not knowing the lay out we were at the visitors center about 15 minutes early but the time of the tour is based on the tour starting outside the house. By the time we got on the bus and up to the house we were a little late. Fortunately we made it to the tour and only missed a short introduction by the guide. Get to the visitors center early and plan for about a 10 to 15 minute bus ride.
  2. The price of the Behind the Scenes tour is a little pricey at $85 each, where the Highlights tour was only $42. Based on what we saw, I think the Behind the scenes tour was worth it if it is your first and maybe only time there. If you have a family with younger kids the Highlights tour may be better. It is about an hour with less walking and kids under 12 are free.
  3. Definitely take the time to listen to one of the talks by Thomas Jefferson. He has been doing this for over 20 years and is very good in character.
  4. The garden at Montpelier is out of the way and behind a wall. If you do not go through the gate you would not even know it is there. Definitely walk through the garden. There were very few people in it when we walked through. I suspect a lot of people bypass this gem.

June 2022 Gettysburg Pa

We took a Friday trip to Gettysburg Pa in early June 2022. Gettysburg was the sight of one of the biggest battles of the Civil War. It is about 90 minutes from Hagerstown Md taking back roads. Setting our GPS using no highways took us on a route we had not been before which was a nice change of scenery from our normal routes up to that area. Gettysburg is a great place to visit. If coming from a distance it is probably more than a days activities to get the full experience. In the past we have taken the Park service bus tour which is highly recommended. Also recommend a visit to President Eisenhower’s farm which is coordinated at the park visitor center.

On this day our goal was just to drive around. We started with Lunch at the Dobbins house. It is a period resteraunt in the tourist section of town. Food and atmosphere was great. Highly recommend it.

We stopped at the National Park Visitor center which is a must see if you are on your first trip to Gettysburg. We got the information to plan our day. From there we then went to a walking ranger tour at Culps hill which was very informative and a nice walk. Learned about a part of the battle that not many people know about since the more famous Pickets charge and the fight on Little Round top took most the headlines after the battle.

We stopped at the National cemetery where Abraham Lincoln gave his Gettysburg address in 1863 to commemorate the battle and the fallen soldiers. Walked through the grounds on our own. We did see a guided tour going on. For a future trip a guided tour at the Cemetery would be very interesting.

After that we started home taking different route that we had traveled before. The weather was perfect which made a great top down day for both of us.

One thing that we discovered which is new at the visitors center. They now have a guided driving tour on line at National Park Service ap for the Gettysburg battlefield. That is definitely going to be a future trip.