Day Nine-Monticello and Shenandoah Valley

Day Nine

We were very tired after our busy day yesterday, so slept in (until about 7:30). We had intended to spend another day in the DC area, but had pretty had it with the traffic. I’m sorry Bob didn’t get to see the Holocaust Museum, but we had been to Auschwitz when we traveled to Eastern Europe together some years ago.

There seemed to be an inordinate number of people for this time of year. We thought perhaps that people who had come to see Pope Benedict had stayed in DC for the weekend. Larry said that it’s just always that bad. It’s a little bit different from riding the Metro from a downtown hotel to the IRS office. Guess I got a little spoiled.

We took our time leaving Gainesville, Virginia and meandered through the countryside. One village called Culpeper (one p, not Culpepper) was celebrating Remembrance Day. We stopped at a yard where Loyalists and Patriots were re-enacting. Their costumes were authentic; some played the fifes and drums.

This site just happened to be the county museum; it had quite a selection of historic books about the county, including one on the church register. About a dozen Porters and that many more Taliaferros were listed in the index. In the museum, we found a crib that been crafted for a baby in the Taliaferro family.

We stumbled across a German bakery (reminded us of F’berg, Texas). We bought some spice cookies and three croissants that the ladies sliced for us, then Richard and Bob ferreted out some goodies to stuff in the buns for our lunch. (They found some pimento cheese for me; I had been whining for some time for a pimento cheese sandwich.)

We picnicked in a little garden/fountain area and on the way out of town; Richard saw a sign for historic ruins. The ruins happened to be in a vineyard, so we turned in and drove down the little country road. We saw a tiny cemetery, not a group to by-pass the opportunity to kick over a tombstone; we went for a stroll through it. I think there were about a dozen graves; lo and behold the two biggest grave sites were Mary and John Taliaferro! This is crazy.

We were actually on our way to Monticello, but stopped on several serendipity sidetracks that we got to Thomas Jefferson’s home too late to take the tour. We went through the museum, which was incredible. It had tons of TJ’s handwriting: his expense accounts, his pithy sayings, and his farm records. Very interesting.

Tonight we’re in Lexington, Virginia, home of Virginia Military Institute. We’re going to the Porter homestead tomorrow and to Natural Bridge. The Shenandoah Valley is a beautiful place. I drove over the Blue Ridge Mountains this afternoon while Richard and Bob took their naps. We’ll soon be looking for a place to have dinner. More tomorrow. J