Retired Nomads - Part 2 : Jefferson’s Monticello

Jefferson’s Monticello - July 8

We spent the day at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello which he spent years building and rebuilding to suit his changing vision of his home. Like Washington’s home, Jefferson's was also built on a mountain top with beautiful views. There were essentially 2 Monticello homes. He rebuilt much of it after visiting France and falling in love with their architecture. He was also like Washington in that they had a thirst for knowledge, farming, inventing and at odds with slavery. They both had solid values for founding what became our country’s government.

We started by watching the short film of his life and then toured one room of the museum before walking up to the meeting place for the Slavery tour. On the way we stopped at the family cemetery. The only epitaph on his tombstone, at his request, stated that he was the author of The Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia. carved on it.

model of the first Monticello

his final version of Monticello

the Jefferson Family Cemetery

Jefferson's monument

We walked along Mulberry Row with the two-acre garden behind it. Is a long street where the enslaved people did their jobs and also where they lived. Since their homes were made of wood, none had survived, but a few were recreated for viewing.

Levy Grave site - in debt when he died the estate was sold to Levy and he was buried on site

The Slavery tour was about 45 minutes and the guide talked about how they were treated, the types of jobs they did at certain ages, how they were able to make their own money in “their own time” and talked about the relationship between Jefferson and the enslaved Sally Hemmings. He was the father of at least 5 of her children. (DNA testing has confirmed this)

After the tour we went back “down the mountain” to have some lunch. They have a nice café with a great menu. However, at the height of tourist season they were remodeling the kitchen and only offered premade sandwiches. The soda was warm. It was like they didn’t expect anyone for lunch. Yeah, we just filled the case and they are still warm. Note to self, fill it the night before? They did however have killer good brownies that were more like fudge. (sorry Jim) We split one.

After lunch we went back up the mountain again to finish touring the grounds and our house tour was at 1:25. The room we visited in the museum had films and drawings of the first way he built the house and how it morphed into what it finally became. His wife said she never got to live in the house when it wasn’t under construction. Today, he would probably be considered OCD or at least a “control freak” since he had to oversee every small detail of the house right down to the angle of the curtains. It was an interesting tour and after that there are quite a few outer areas that are self-tour. He really did design a very workable; yet unseen by guests working areas of the home.

Monticello

Monticello - no photos inside

outside rooms were self tour and photos were allowed

outhouse

they made wine and beer

Hemings exhibit

We had an afternoon snack of their home-made chocolate chip cookies and then met for the 45-minute Garden Tour.

Brown Thrasher

House Finch

After that we walked down and finished the rest of the museum before grabbing 2 of their yummy brownies to take home for dessert. The last thing we saw was the African American Burial Ground. (no stones or anything, just a field where archeologists found remains)