Wednesday we drove to Monticello. This was the home of Thomas Jefferson and is the only home in the US that is designated as a World Heritage Site. Me remembers wanting to visit when her family came out east when she was around 12. We figured we'd spend 3-4 hours visiting. In reality, we spent 3+4 hours there!
When we first arrived at Monticello, we to the Griffin Discovery Room. This was a fun room where the kids could explore and touch everything. They included a replica of Jefferson's favorite chair for napping, a copy of his polygraph you could write with, blocks to design your own home with and many other things. It was a very interesting room and the man in charge was very knowledgeable and chatty.
We eventually made our way up to the house. Jefferson built and remodeled it for 40 years. He said that he would rather be there than anywhere else in the world. We don't have pictures of the inside of the house since they weren't allowed but we did get some good ones outside. The house itself was completely designed by Jefferson and includes many features that weren't common in the day. It has many more windows than in a typical house and includes 13 skylights. It also had indoor privies. A lot of the features had to do with convenience for himself. He also liked efficiency and many of the bedrooms had alcove beds to save space. He thought staircases were terribly inefficient and included only two small ones hidden away instead of the grand staircase you might expect in a big house of this kind. Around 60% of the furnishings in the home are original and the others are period pieces. It really is an incredible home to visit.
There was another activity center for kids at the top of the mountain. They enjoyed using code wheels to break ciphers, writing with quills and, of course, playing checkers.
We're driving through a city on a highway. Can you tell? One thing that's definitely different out east is how little we can see of the cities from the highways.
When we first arrived at Monticello, we to the Griffin Discovery Room. This was a fun room where the kids could explore and touch everything. They included a replica of Jefferson's favorite chair for napping, a copy of his polygraph you could write with, blocks to design your own home with and many other things. It was a very interesting room and the man in charge was very knowledgeable and chatty.
Matthew with the home he designed. It also includes his own train design running in front of the house.
Megan went for more of a high-rise design with a large upper deck.
Megan did a grave rubbing of Jefferson's headstone.
Sarah enjoyed playing with some of the toys Jefferson's grandchildren used. In the background to the left is a replica of Jefferson's wall bed (in between rooms) and to the right is a replica of the grand entrance.
Matthew and U enjoying a game of Checkers. Matthew wants to sit down and play every time we see a set.
We eventually made our way up to the house. Jefferson built and remodeled it for 40 years. He said that he would rather be there than anywhere else in the world. We don't have pictures of the inside of the house since they weren't allowed but we did get some good ones outside. The house itself was completely designed by Jefferson and includes many features that weren't common in the day. It has many more windows than in a typical house and includes 13 skylights. It also had indoor privies. A lot of the features had to do with convenience for himself. He also liked efficiency and many of the bedrooms had alcove beds to save space. He thought staircases were terribly inefficient and included only two small ones hidden away instead of the grand staircase you might expect in a big house of this kind. Around 60% of the furnishings in the home are original and the others are period pieces. It really is an incredible home to visit.
A beautiful house on top of a mountain.
The tour of the house we took was specifically geared towards children and families. As such, they had stuffed animals for the kids to hold and talked a lot about Jefferson's grandchildren and what their lives were like living at Monticello.
Jefferson had many machines to make his life easier. This dial was on the ceiling of his porch and connected to the weather vane on top of the roof allowing him to see which way the wind was blowing without stepping out into the weather.
This single handed clock face connected to the clock inside the house. That way he could see the time either inside or outside. The inside clock was also interesting because it had a second hand and the weights (cannonballs) used to drive the clock would indicate the day of the week.
Megan, Matthew and Me in front of a sundial. Instead of an indicator in a fixed spot whose shadow you would read, this sundial required you to move the brass ring until there was no shadow to determine the time.
There was another activity center for kids at the top of the mountain. They enjoyed using code wheels to break ciphers, writing with quills and, of course, playing checkers.
Sarah writing some of the words from the Declaration of Independence.
Megan writing with a quill.
Matthew, Me and Megan in back of the house. (This is what is seen on back of the nickel.)
Sarah, Matthew, Me and Megan in front of the house.
After exploring for a while, we went down to have some lunch. Matthew and Megan were excited to get yogurt cups shaped like space monkeys.
After lunch, we watched a video in the visitors center and explored the museums. Then we headed back up to the house to walk around the grounds and see the additional buildings.
Sarah, Me and Matthew in front of the back of the house. Sarah decided to buy a bottle of Monticello root beer. It was tasty.
Sarah, Me and Matthew in front of the back of the house. Sarah decided to buy a bottle of Monticello root beer. It was tasty.
Matthew is much taller than Monticello.
As we walked around the gardens there was a beautiful cardinal hanging around us for a time.
We walked down to see Jefferson's grave. He decided the three accomplishments he wanted listed on the tombstone. President was not among them. Note that his birthday has O.S. after it. He was born before they changed the calendar so we would list his birthday as April 13th now.
We walked down from the house and grave. The woods were beautiful.
U posing for a picture with Jefferson.
What a beautiful place.
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