As Bob and I reviewed our plans for Thursday, August 9, during our trip around the great state of Virginia, we realized that they were a bit aggressive. There was so much to do – and all important things, particularly in the Charlottesville area – that we decided to take nearly two days to complete Thursday’s proposed activities and eliminate most of the items from our Friday list. Besides, we were getting nice and exhausted.
We left the Knights Inn in Staunton bright and early and actually arrived at the Woodrow Wilson Library before it had opened. It was a great site, which included his birthplace and boyhood home. Bob and I even got some special treatment…but all of this will be covered in the forthcoming posting on Woodrow Wilson.
Waiting for the Library to open
After spending a couple hours there, we stopped for a nice lunch at Mrs. Rowe’s, where I filled up on a bacon cheeseburger and half a bag of the cookies that Bob bought on the way out – then we headed about 40 miles east. We arrived in Charlottesville and browsed the downtown area for a bit, seeing what we could find at the very difficult to find visitor’s center. An arrow that pointed the way to the center sent us directly into a parking garage brick wall. We had hoped to locate some additional homes of James Monroe, but came up short. The downtown area, which was blocked from traffic, displayed a nice memorial honoring the three Presidents from the area.
Charlottesville salutes her own
We then set off for the big twowhich were located right next to each other: the Ash Lawn Highland home of James Monroe and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, where he is also buried. Following these visits, we were also able to find the sign commemorating the birthplace of Jefferson in nearby Shadwell. More details of these locations can be found in my separate postings on Monroe and Jefferson.
We then headed back to the heart of Charlottesville and checked into our final bed and breakfast of the trip, The Dinsmore House. Although the least impressive of the three B and B’s, this one perhaps had the most interesting history. It was built by James Dinsmore, the carpenter who worked with Thomas Jefferson on Monticello and the University of Virginia rotunda, and built James Madison’s Montpelier home as well. Regardless of the provenance of the location, my favorite part was the complimentary wine and cheese.
Saturating myself with wine and cheese
I had made plans with my cousin Lori to meet up with her family in the Charlottesville suburb of Stanardsville that evening, and by the time we headed that way and fought the northbound traffic, it was around 7:00pm when we arrived. It was great to see Abbey and Elise and have them show us around their relatively new house. Lori made us a great taco dinner, which we wholeheartedly devoured.
Elise, Abbey, and Bob
Me and Lori
On the way back to our B and B, Bob’s face got all upset for a nice, cold A&W root beer freeze. In fact, he had got my mouth watering for it too. But alas, the inevitable occurred. A&W had run out of root beer. Bob had brought this on himself by simply wanting it too much…and doing a driver’s-side happy dance.
I slept on a mattress on the floor at the Dinsmore House while reading the new Presidential literature I had been accumulating. They had only provided us with one bed. Bob didn’t snore much that night and I was afraid that he had died. Fortunately, he hadn’t.
I’m glad you enjoyed your brief trip through C’Ville. As you know, there are plenty more points of interest to warrent another trip! Happy traveling!
Lori
November 5th, 2007