Thomas Jefferson

The Elks Lodge in Waynesboro, VA has two electrical hookups for RV's, and the only cost to us was whatever contribution we chose to make to the lodge.  We grabbed one of the sites and stayed there for two days in order to explore the area.

Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and our third president, designed and built his home - Monticello - outside nearby Charlottesville, VA in a neoclassical Renaissance style.  It's quite beautiful.  It includes a number of rooms that are at least partially octagonal and it is topped by a dome.  Most of the bricks and some of the furnishings are original.  All through the place are examples of Jefferson's creativity - a dumbwaiter for wine bottles, an articulated gadget that made copies of all his writings as he made them, a pendulum clock with faces visible from both inside and outside the building, and many others.

Although he was philosophically opposed to slavery, Jefferson owned a large number of enslaved individuals, presumably because he could see no practical alternative for getting the estate's work done.  The Hemmings family was the leading slave clan during his time there, and you may remember the controversy about the possibility that he was intimately involved with Sally Hemmings, who became pregnant and presumably delivered his child.  Since Jefferson's wife had died many years earlier, Thomas gets a hall pass from me if he did indeed have carnal knowledge of Sally Hemmings, assuming that there was honest affection between the parties.  For whatever that's worth.

After the formal tour, Nancy and I explored the extensive basement level, which is where the slaves lived and worked, including kitchen duties.  We walked the lovely grounds and visited Jefferson's grave. 

Jefferson also founded the University of Virginia, which is visible from Monticello, and designed most of its architecture.  I couldn't help wondering how it was that there were so many truly great men among our founding fathers and so few today in government who are even competent. 

Incidentally, Jefferson, having spent some years in France, was probably the leading American wine connoisseur of his time.  He tried unsuccessfully to establish a vineyard near Monticello, but some of that acreage is currently being used to grow grapes, and there are twenty or so boutique wineries in the Wayesboro/Charlottesville area today, with new ones springing up all the time as if it were California.  Virginia is the fifth leading producer of wine in the US, trailing California, Washington, Oregon, and New York.  We did a wine tasting at Jefferson Winery nearby and bought a bottle of Meritage.  Viognier and Cabernet Franc seem to be featured more and Cabernet Sauvignon less than out west.  Our impression of Virginia wines - based on limited evaluation - is that they tend to have good noses but lack virility in the area of taste at this point and are somewhat overpriced compared to the West Coast product.  Still, it's exciting to see another state making serious wines.