A "Presidential" trip

On Monday morning, we walked back to Woodrow Wilson's birthplace to visit the museum which wasn't open Sunday morning.  It was quite interesting, and they had a very realistic World War I bunker display in the basement, complete with mold and sounds of dripping water.  We gathered our things and headed out by about 10:30 for Poplar Forest, Thomas Jefferson's summer home.   We followed a circuitous route (thank you, Google maps) but it was well worth it.

The octagonal building is in the Palladian style and being renovated inside although the tour did take us there.  The skylight in the center dining room still leaks - I bet it did in Jefferson's time, too.  We walked around the lovely grounds, enjoying the sun, and headed north to Charlottesville for the night.

Tuesday morning, we visited James Madison's Montpelier on the way to Fredericksburg.  The tour of the house was a fascinating look at the "father of the Constitution" and his famous wife, Dolley.   They were the first residents of what we now call the White House which they occupied during the War of 1812 when the British burned it along with much of Washington, DC.  The basement held an interesting exhibit about the lives of the enslaved people on the plantation, and we noticed direct references and discussion of slavery on all of the tours we took on this trip.   Our guide was very knowledgeable, the gift shop very nice, and lunch was super, too.  This was definitely the best house we toured.

After lunch, we headed to Fredericksburg,  where our first stop was the Visitors Center.   We spent the night outside of town but returned early to walk around.  Almost everything was walkable in this historic, neat town, including Mary Washington's (George's mother) home, George's sister Betty Lewis' estate called Kenmore (at left), and James Monroe's law office.  We put in nearly 10,000 steps, but it was all worth it.  Despite the gloomy weather, there were lovely cherry, pear, and other trees flowering, and plenty of daffodils.

Across the Rappahannock River, we visited Washington's boyhood home, Ferry Farm, which is being reconstructed and not yet open to the public.  It is a beehive of archaeological activity.  I'm sorry the photos are so gloomy.   Blame the weather!  When I unload the camera, I hope to replace these phone photos with clearer ones.  We headed home on Thursday and, after spending the night in Newburgh, NY, we arrived home mid-day on Friday.  Now it's time to wash clothes, do some grocery shopping, and plan a little Easter dinner!