We feel like we have returned to civilization where there are street signs and maps we can read! Whoooooppeeeee!!!!!!
2. Lunch for the girls at Michie Tavern
3. Tea "tiles"
4. Adjustable candlestick
5. Entrance to Ashlawn/Highland
6. White section built for Monroe/Yellow section later addition
7. A view toward Monticello
8. and 9. Huge white oak from Monroe's time.
Hallelujah!!!!! Our faith has been restored in our ability to find our way out of a paper bag! Stopped by UPS with only one little hitch (bad directions) and headed to Charlottesville, Virginia. We did it!!!!!! There was a lot of truck traffic but breezed right along and arrived at the Monticello Visitors' Center a little after noon. Bought a pass for Monticello, Michie's Tavern, and Monroe's Ash Lawn/Highland.
Decided to eat at Michie's Tavern and take the tour! Brilliant idea! Lunch was a buffet of cole slaw, black eyed peas, green beans, beets, stewed tomatoes, fried chicken, pulled pork, biscuits, corn bread and topped off with peach cobbler! We are definitely in the south!!! I ate my fill of the stewed tomatoes remembering my grandmother! The old tavern was constructed in the late 1700's but has been moved17 miles down the road. It was a delight! And then we took the tour of the historic parts of the tavern, danced a modified Virginia Reel, and had a wonderful time! Were shown some Tea Tiles which are compressed black tea. You scrape some of the tea leaves from the tile and make your tea that way. This was new to all of us as we had never heard of tea in this form. Great tour guides and the waitresses in the restaurant were fabulous. Michie's Tavern gets an A+ in the GGG tour book.
Drove a short way down the road to Ash Lawn/Highland which is owned by the College of William and Mary (which we inadvertently toured last night in Williamsburg!) They have restored the house and it is small and manageable. We weren't exhausted when we finished! It is furnished with many of President Monroe's things and had a definite feel of authenticity. Our guide was great and we felt we had spent a great day as we headed for the Holiday Inn in Charlottesville. Signs directed us to the front door and here we are not the least frazzled like the last few days. Unfortunately we will never be able to figure out why we had such a horrible time finding our way. Just have to be thankful we found the exit door in the Bermuda Triangle!!!
Looking forward to Monticello tomorrow. Rain is predicted but it is very warm and a little moisture would feel good. There is a serious drought in this part of the country and as we travel farther south we may encounter water rationing. This is also having an affect on the fall colors. Some people are predicting the green leaves will just fall off the trees. We will be heading into the Blue Ridge and Smokey Mountains and this is the peak weekend for fall color. There is some and to us it is beautiful, but understand it is not the spectacular colors of normal years. Off to read a book and put my feet up.
Love from Gerry and the two napping Gotta Go Girls.
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