Monticello

Thomas Jefferson and Greerson

The Front of Monticello

The Solarium side of the house

The nickel view or back of the house

Backyard

The weights in the basement showing what day it is

The roof is the terrace and underneath are the stables and the carriage barn

This is the veranda just off of the dining room

Daryl, Christa and Greerson on the front porch of Monticello

Greeerson picking mini snowballs to throw

We travelled to Charlottesville to visit Monticello the home of President Thomas Jefferson. It was raining when we left and we got into snow before we reached Richmond. By the time we got to Charlottesville the snow was sticking to the ground. It was really pretty. We made a Starbucks run then Greerson wanted to try some spudnuts (potato doughnuts), then we went out to Monticello. There was a new visitors center that had just opened last November. It was really nice with a big gift shop and a great cafe. We rode the bus up to the house (last time the Shultz's were there they said they parked right next to the house.) We had to stand outside in the snow for about ten minutes waiting for our tour and Greerson had a blast taking snow from the hedge and throwing it at us. He was very excited to see snow! The house was awesome! Jefferson was a great inventor. He had a weather vane that showed the direction of the wind on the ceiling of the front porch. There also was a big clock in the entry hall that not only told time inside the house, but also told time on the front porch as well as telling the day of the week using cannonballs on a chain. Since we came on Friday the cannonballs were in the basement nearing Saturday. Apparently the room wasnt tall enough for all seven days of the week so he just cut a hole in the floor to make it work. His inventions were really cool, he invented a machine that would copy whatever he was writing so he always had a copy of his letters to file. We only saw the first floor of the house, but it was really interesting, he employed double paned windows on the north side of the house and used skylights in his bedroom and the dining room. The kitchen was underneath a terrace that ran on both sides of the backyard. The other side led to a stable for the horses and a place for the buggies. It was really cool because you wouldnt have to go out in the weather to get to the kitchen or the stable because they were accessible through covered enclosed walkways. I also was shocked to learn that the image on the nickel is actually the back of the house, not the front. We also went to President Monroe's house Ash-Lawn Highland, it was more of a typical farm house of the period and was not nearly as exciting as Monticello.