Left Lexington, VA this morning and drove an hour and a half to Monticello (little mountain in Italian) - Thomas Jefferson's home and what a beautiful one is one. He taught himself to be an architect by relying on books on observation and books and modeled it after the architecture of Rome. The main floor has 11 rooms, the Hall, where he has Native American objects and maps, bones, furs; the Parlor, which Edd would love, has a parquet tongue and groove floor; dining room and tea room, book room, a study, bedroom. He had "dependencies" - areas for domestic work, to include a wine cellar, storage cellar, ware room, beer cellar, stables, dumb waiter for wine, enclosed cellar passage, kitchen, slaves quarters, smoke house, ice house, privy. These served as points of intersection between Jefferson's family and enslaved people, and were instrumental to the functioning of the house. They were concealed in the hillside to avoid obstructing the landscape around the house.
Most of Jefferson's slaves came to him by inheritance - 20 from his father and 135 from his father-in-law.
What coin has the image of Thomas Jefferson on the front and Monticello on the back? (the nickel)
He drafted the Declaration of Independence in 1776 which he says is his greatest achievement. It took him 12 days to draft that document.
We are spending the night in Arlington, VA at a Holiday Inn. We are on the 16th floor and the 17th floor is the restaurant. What a view from here! We can see the Cathedral and the Potomac River. We have the sliding door open in mid-October and the weather is great. The Redskins are playing the Colts here in Washington but can't see the stadium from the room.
Our plan for tomorrow is to visit Arlington National Cemetery to see the Tomb off the Unknowns, Changing of the Guard, Kennedy's Grave and see if we can find our nursing home friend, Alex Sheard, who is buried here as well.
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