Had a great time visiting with Dave's Aunt, Uncle and cousins.
Thanks for all the great food and playing tour guide.
Hanging out watching football
Monticello
Thomas Jefferson designed every aspect of Monticello, an icon of architecture and a World Heritage site, constructing and modifying its buildings and landscape over a period of 40 years.
Dependencies
Located underneath the house to be invisible from the public spaces of the house. Two wings, with kitchen, smokehouse, dairy, ice house and carriage bays.
When Jefferson referred to his "garden" he meant his vegetable garden. Although it provided food for the family table, the garden also functioned as a laboratory where he grew 330 varieties of some 99 species of vegetables and herbs.
Mulberry Row
Named for the Mulberry trees planted along it. In the shade of the trees, enslaved workers and craftsmen lived and worked. In 1796 there were as many as 23 structures.
Excavating on Mulberry Row
Monticello Graveyard
Jefferson was buried here in 1826
Jefferson and his beloved Monticello are on the nickel as well as the two dollar bill.
Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence. The ideals of the Declaration - that "all men are created equal" and have a right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". However for most of his life he was the owner of about 200 slaves. DNA tests results in 1998 indicated a genetic link between Jefferson and 4 of Sally Hemings children. Sally was an enslaved lady's maid at Monticello. About the same age as his oldest daughter.
Funny, I don't remember learning any of this in school.
Michie's Tavern
Established in 1784 by Scotsman William Michie. The Tavern served as the social center of its community and provided travelers with food, drink and lodging. It remained in operation in the Michie family until 1910. It is still open today providing travelers with their famous fried chicken and southern vegetables.
You ring the bell to announce your arrival and wait to be invited in.
Chimborazo Hospital was an American Civil War era facility built in Richmond, Virginia, to service the needs of the Confederate Army. It functioned between 1862 and 1865 in what is now Chimborazo Park, treating over 76,000 injured Confederate soldiers. It achieved a 10 percent mortality rate.
Libby Hill Park
The Confederate Soldiers' & Sailors' Monument 1889. It depicts a bronze Confederate private standing on top of the pillar, which is composed of 13 granite blocks to symbolize each of the Confederate states.
Libby Hill Park was created in 1851
Looking from Libby Hill down towards the James River is said to be "The View That Named Richmond." William Byrd II is said to have thought that this view resembled the view of Richmond upon Thames in England.
Saint Johns Church and Cemetery
George Wythe is buried here.
It was at this Church where Patrick Henry gave his famous speech.
"Give me liberty or give me death".
James River
Hollywood Cemetery is a large, sprawling cemetery containing more than 52,000 monuments. Characterized by rolling hills and winding paths overlooking the James River, it is the resting place of two United States Presidents, James Monroe and John Tyler, as well as the only Confederate States President, Jefferson Davis. It is also the resting place of 28 Confederate generals, more than any other cemetery in the country.
Black Dog Hill
One of the best liked and well-known monuments is the cast-iron Newfoundland standing guard over the grave of a young girl. Around 1862, a little girl named Bernadine Rees would regularly visit a merchant's shop with her mother, and the dog statue was outside of the merchant's business. The 2-year old girl loved the dog statue and would pet and talk to the "dog" whenever she visited. The little girl fell victim to scarlet fever, and passed away. The merchant offered up the dog statue to place on the child's grave, since she had loved it so when she had been alive. The dog has stood guard on her grave ever since.
The famed 90-foot pyramid at Hollywood Cemetery is made with large blocks of James River granite. The blocks were stacked without bonding. Built overlooking the cemetery’s Soldiers’ Section. It is a monument to the 18,000 Confederate enlisted men buried in the cemetery. The pyramid took a year to build and there were many accidents during construction. As for the final capstone, that was a dangerous task. There were no cranes in 1868. Thomas Stanley, a Lynchburg convict working with the construction crew, made the perilous climb to the top to lower the capstone atop the pyramid.
Thomas Stanley volunteered to perform the dangerous honor:
And thus it was that a horse thief came to be on the work gang for Dimmock’s pyramid. The knots in the hoisting ropes were tied too close to the top and the stone wouldn’t go past them. Stanley poured water on the ropes, causing them to shrink the needed inches. Then, as a breathless crowd watched, the prisoner put himself between the mass of hanging rock and the pyramid and righted the stone to its seat. Everyone that has heard of this legend assumes that Stanley went free after this accomplishment. In the release box of his prison schedule, the simple penciled notation reads “transferred.” There is no mention of when or where. A romantic notion suggests itself: the warden opened a gate and told Stanley to go and never come back…
Triple Crossing in Richmond, Virginia is believed to be the only place in North America where three Class I railroads cross at different levels at the same spot.
The triple crossing has been a Richmond attraction for rail fans for over 100 years.
(Pictures taken from the Internet)
Colonial Williamsburg
The Revolutionary City
An Episcopal Church in continuous use for the worship of God since 1715.
George Wythe House
George Wythe first signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Office used by George Wythe, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington.
St George Tucker House
Randolph House
Growing up hearing "Sleep tight don't let the bed bugs bite". I never gave it much thought until a few years ago when we started hearing about people really having bed bugs. Yuck, I didn't know they were real. Now I find out where the sleep tight part comes from. You had to tighten your ropes as not to sag in the night. The point is, when people used to say, "sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite," they weren't trying to be cute. They meant it.
Governor's Palace
Home to seven royal governors and the first two elected governors, Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson in Virginia, the Palace was meant to project British authority and wealth. From the large display of period swords and guns to the elegant decor and grand ballroom, the Palace was built to impress.
Back door of the Governor's Palace in which Lord Dunmore packed up his family and snuck out in the middle of the night.
Capitol
The Capitol at Williamsburg, Virginia housed the House of Burgesses of the Colony of Virginia from 1705 until 1779, when the capital was relocated to Richmond.
Williamsburg is another site you could spend days at if you wanted to see it all.
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Special Thanks to Aunt Becky for getting us all together and providing us with a delicious meal.
