Jefferson leg? Yep, Thomas Jefferson and Jefferson Davis.
Hard6 and I left out of Charlottesville this morning and the weather was AWESOME! Slightly warm with some nice breeze and a clouds. In fact, you would have thought that you were gonna get rain all day but it was AWESOME - not a drop and wind helped keep it cool! Asked Michael, the manager of the Days Inn Charlottesville (highly recommended) directions and off we shot.
First stop was to see the home of the person who drafted the Decleration of Independance (at 32 years old) and our 3rd President of the United States (for 2 terms). Being President was something he didn't enjoy but the pursuit of freedom was something he spent his life trying to obtain. Off up the hill we went (and even though it is a very short ride - a nice one). Be sure to watch the movie before you go up the hill.
History Lesson: Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was the third President of the United States (1801–1809), the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of republicanism in the United States. Major events during his presidency include the Louisiana Purchase (1803) and the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806).
As a political philosopher, Jefferson was a man of the Enlightenment and knew many intellectual leaders in Britain and France. He idealized the independent yeoman farmer as exemplar of republican virtues, distrusted cities and financiers, and favored states' rights and a strictly limited federal government. Jefferson supported the separation of church and state[2] and was the author of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (1779, 1786). He was the eponym of Jeffersonian democracy and the co-founder and leader of the Democratic-Republican Party, which dominated American politics for a quarter-century. Jefferson served as the wartime Governor of Virginia (1779–1781), first United States Secretary of State (1789–1793), and second Vice President (1797–1801).
A polymath, Jefferson achieved distinction as, among other things, a horticulturist, statesman, architect, archaeologist, inventor, and founder of the University of Virginia. When President John F. Kennedy welcomed forty-nine Nobel Prize winners to the White House in 1962 he said, "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent and of human knowledge that has ever been gathered together at the White House – with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."[3] To date, Jefferson is the only president to serve two full terms in office without vetoing a single bill of Congress. Jefferson has been consistently ranked by scholars as one of the greatest U.S. presidents.
His home, Monticello, is right outside Charlottesville (and the reason that we stayed there). WELL WORTH THE VISIT!!!!
Much smaller than you would think but filled with so much history, inventions...etc.....A MUST DO! Our guide was really knowledgable (as was our guide in Richmond) that they made the tour worthwhile. SO many LITTLE KNOWN COOL facts.
Something that was brought out in the tour was the deaths he had to suffer:
History Lesson: In 1772, at age 29 Jefferson married the 23-year-old widow Martha Wayles Skelton. They had six children: Martha Jefferson Randolph (1772–1836), Jane Randolph (1774–1775), a stillborn or unnamed son (1777), Mary Jefferson Eppes (1778–1804), Lucy Elizabeth (1780–1781), and another Lucy Elizabeth (1782–1785). Martha died on September 6, 1782 after the birth of her last child. Although Jefferson was only 39 at her death, he never remarried.
Monticello: (History Lesson): Monticello (pronounced [mɒntəˈtʃɛloʊ]), located in Charlottesville, Virginia, was the estate of Thomas Jefferson, the principal author for the United States Declaration of Independence, third President of the United States, and founder of the University of Virginia.
The house, which Jefferson himself designed, is in the Neoclassical style of Palladian architecture, based on the residence of the Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. It is situated on the summit of an 850-foot (260 m)-high peak in the Southwest Mountains south of the Rivanna Gap. Its name comes from the Italian "little mountain."
An image of the west front of Monticello by Felix Schlag has been featured on the reverse of the nickel minted since 1938 (with a brief interruption in 2004 and 2005, when designs of the Westward Journey series appeared instead).
Monticello also appeared on the reverse of the two-dollar bill from 1929 to 1966, when the bill was discontinued. (The current bill was introduced in 1976 and retains Jefferson's portrait on the obverse but replaced Monticello on the reverse with an engraved modified reproduction of John Trumbull's painting Declaration of Independence instead).
NOTE: Most of the stuff we saw today would not let us take pictures inside. Awesome place - a real must do.
A shot of the Gardens at Monticello. JP plucked a butch of the herbs and I ate a bit of the parsley.
After we toured the house, we walked down the hill from the house...............
And got to see the grave of Thomas Jefferson (the first of 4 we would see today). --and his family.
Then we continued down the hill and got back on the bikes and shot off for Richmond, Va. Since we had not had breakfast, our tummys were talking so we stopped at a local owned cafe since 1957 and ate a late breakfast in Troy Virginia - you gotta eat there if in the area on 64. There were two little old ladies in there that were a "MAJOR HOOT". Our waitress would not let us take her picture because she said, "Oh, no! No! I don't trust you men, I have watched TV!" The other little old lady was in her late 80's and use to ride a bike until she was in an accident at 17. We asked them both to go and get some helmets and ride on with us - no go. Well, we tried....they sure waved when we left out. Seriously, we told them that Meryl Streep had told us to eat there!
Nice, family owned place with a couple of locals thrown in.
We shot down 64 to Richmond
On a Sunday - very nice ride. It did get a little thicker in Richmond, but not bad. First stop, the Musuem of the Confederacy.
A VERY MUCH - MUST SEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We got to see live demonstrations and stuff like the uniform of J.E.B. Stuart.
Or the jacket that Jefferson Davis was wearing when captured.
Or the Great SEAL of the Confederacy.
THEN THE TOUR OF THE CONFEDERATE WHITE HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!! (again, couldn't take pictures inside).
Well worth the tour folks!!!!
After we finished, we ran over to Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, VA.
Why?????? Well, there was James Monroe, our 5th President.
History Lesson: James Monroe (April 28, 1758 – July 4, 1831) was the fifth President of the United States (1817–1825). His administration was marked by the acquisition of Florida (1819); the Missouri Compromise (1820), in which Missouri was declared a slave state; the admission of Maine in 1820 as a free state; and the profession of the Monroe Doctrine (1823), declaring U.S. opposition to European interference in the Americas, as well as breaking all ties with France remaining from the War of 1812.
There was also John Tyler, our 10th President of the USA.
History Lesson: John Tyler, Jr. (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth President of the United States (1841–1845) and the first ever to obtain that office via succession.
A long-time Democratic-Republican, Tyler was nonetheless elected Vice President on the Whig ticket. Upon the death of President William Henry Harrison on April 4, 1841, only a month after his inauguration, the nation was briefly in a state of confusion regarding the process of succession. Ultimately the situation was settled with Tyler becoming President both in name and in fact, and Tyler took the oath of office on April 6, 1841, setting a precedent that would govern future successions and eventually be codified in the Twenty-fifth Amendment. At 51 years old, he was the youngest U.S. president to take office to that point (where as Harrison was the oldest man to take office as president).
Arguably the most famous and significant achievement of Tyler's administration was the annexation of the Republic of Texas in 1845. Tyler was the first president born after the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, and the only president to have held the office of President pro tempore of the Senate.
So, that was the 2nd and 3rd President of the day. We looked for J.E.B. Stuarts grave and could not find it though we found many other generals.
Than the final President of the day. President Jefferson Davis (CVA).
People even cried to see it.....
History Lesson: Jefferson Finis Davis (June 3, 1808 – December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as President of the Confederate States of America for its entire history, 1861 to 1865, during the American Civil War.
A West Point graduate, Davis fought in the Mexican-American War as a colonel of a volunteer regiment, and was the United States Secretary of War under Franklin Pierce. Both before and after his time in the Pierce Administration, he served as a U.S. Senator from Mississippi. As a senator he argued against secession but believed each state was sovereign and had an unquestionable right to secede from the Union.
Davis resigned from the Senate in January 1861, after receiving word that Mississippi had seceded from the Union. The following month, he was provisionally appointed President of the Confederate States of America. He was elected to a six-year term that November. During his presidency, Davis was not able to find a strategy to defeat the larger, more industrially developed Union. Davis' insistence on independence, even in the face of crushing defeat, prolonged the war.
After Davis was captured in 1865, he was charged with treason, though not tried, and stripped of his eligibility to run for public office. This limitation was removed in 1978, 89 years after his death. While not disgraced, he was displaced in Southern affection after the war by its leading general, Robert E. Lee.
Then we continued south-east. Traffic wasn't too bad until you got to the 295 entrance and man, it loaded up. We rode it on a Sunday (thank GOD). I can't imagine this road on a weekday!!!!!
Final stop for the evening? COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG, VA!!!!!
Got checked in to a Days Inn again - we didn't even want to stop because this place was like a Hilton - we thought way too many $$$ - it turns out, it is cheaper than what we paid last night!!!! Great hotel so far. We may be here for 2 nights or so.
History Lesson: Williamsburg is a city located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads region in southeastern Virginia. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 11,998. It is bordered by James City County[3] and York County, and is an independent city. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Williamsburg with James City County for statistical purposes.
Originally Middle Plantation, a 1632 fortified settlement located on high ground on the Peninsula between the James and York rivers, it was renamed Williamsburg after the capital of the Virginia Colony was moved there from Jamestown in 1698. The town received a royal charter as a city in 1722, and was the center of political events in Virginia leading to the American Revolution.
Williamsburg is well-known for Colonial Williamsburg, the restored Historic Area of the city, and for the adjacent College of William & Mary, established in 1693, the second-oldest university in the United States. Nearby, established in 1770, the predecessor of the current Eastern State Hospital was the first known mental hospital in the United States.
Well after getting checked in and chewing the fat, we decided to do a little touring, so we went down to William & Mary campus and decided to have dinner.
History Lesson: The College of William & Mary in Virginia (colloquially known as The College of William & Mary, The College, William & Mary, or W&M) is a public research university located in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 by a Royal Charter issued by King William III and Queen Mary II, it is the second-oldest institution of higher education in the United States.
William & Mary educated U.S. Presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Tyler as well as other key figures important to the development of the nation, including U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall, Speaker of the House Henry Clay and 16 signers of the Declaration of Independence. W&M founded the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society in 1776 and was the first school of higher education in the United States to install an honor code of conduct for students. The establishment of graduate programs in law and medicine in 1779 make it one of the first universities in the United States.
So anyway, we run over to eat dinner.
We find this really neat place and they are serving Cornish Hen. Old Billy looks over at Wyatt and asks, "What the heck is a Cornish Hen?" "Don't know said Billy, but Hens sure do make a good Gumbo down in the swamps of Louisiana." Folks, they brought out some little chickens!!!! They sure was tastey for some little chickens, but little chickens they were!!!!
GREAT PLACE!!!!
A quick walk around and a few miles on the Colonial Highway.....Boy Howdy!
All I can say is you gotta a couple of coonasses up here in Colonial land.....Never will be the same.....WAIT TO SEE WHAT TOMORROW BRINGS!!!! Man, tomorrow ........ two Cajun boys going to do some chit...We are going to....JUST GOING TO HAVE TO WAIT!
Great day today and DEFINATELY A MAGICAL HISTORY TOUR!!!!!!!!!
WOOOOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
