Love and Life

Virginia is for Lovers Post #5: Jefferson & Madison = BFFs.

Or at least that's what everyone told us as we went on these tours. Monday was our last day in Virginia, and we wanted to make the most of it. First we went up to Monticello, which is just beautiful. Set on top of a mountaintop, you could see why Jefferson loved his home. There was a lot that we learned, but I'll let the pictures do the story-telling.

Really cool old tree in front of Jefferson's home.

Monticello Home.

His front door is glass-- that center panel in this photo.

Side/back of Monticello. 

Jefferson had a really diverse and beautiful garden, as well as vineyards.

Isn't it gorgeous?

I liked this tree :)

Jefferon's Grave. He only has 3 things listed on this monument: The Constitution, The Virginia Act for Religious Freedom  and the University of Virginia. Isn't interesting that US President is not listed?

Ryan sizing himself up against Jefferson.

Who is taller? :)

After Jefferson's Monticello, we walked around a few really cute shops at the bottom of the mountain, we found this amazing Pewter store, where Ryan bought me a souvenir! :) And also the General Store (although no General Store will compare to my favorite General Store in Minnesota). Then we headed off to Madison's Montpilier, to see what his life was like.

Unfortunately, we had to cut this trip short since we had to get to the airport, so we only saw the first few rooms. The most interesting thing about Montpilier is that it is currently undergoing restoration. I have never seen a home so bare, and where the foundation is working currently to piece together what the home used to look like -- and that's exactly what is happening at Montpilier. I am excited to go back and see what progress they have made!!

Did you know the DuPonts owned this home for a long period of time?

More beautiful country-side.

We cut it close getting to the airport in time. We thought Montpilier was "on the way" to the airport; when we mapped it, we should have cut at least 30 minutes off our driving time. But as we drove (on 45 MPH country roads) we realized we had underestimated how long it would take us. I grew more and more nervous as I realized that our flight left at 5:35pm, and we would maybe get to the airport by 5:00pm. Yikes!! Mom did her best to drive quickly and at the speed limit, and my sweet husband did his best to not stress out (even though I knew he was totally stressing out in his mind). We got to the airport at 5:00pm, and raced inside. Finding the Southwest kiosk as a challenge (of course the one time we didn't print our boarding passes). We ran to the kiosk, and then ran to security.

The security line was of course long, so I asked "is there a diamond lane??" The TSA woman said yes, go up the elevator and go to Baggage Claim 8. "Upstairs?" I asked, "will it really be faster?". Her response? "YES!" So I grabbed Ryan, and we got in the elevator, gave each other a "I hope this works look" and then ran to Baggage Claim 8 (why is the security line in Baggage Claim? I don't know). We got there, and the line was empty!! Wahoo!!

We ran to the terminal train, got on, and then ran to our gate. Our plane was boarding, and somehow since we were "A" passengers, we got right through the line. We sat in our seats, and I looked at my watch. 5:20pm. How did we just do that? I don't know, but it was a little miracle and we arrived safely in Chicago at 6:35pm.