My wife, Debbie, and I took a trip to Williamsburg, Virginia back in 1998 before we were married. we had a great time. Williamsburg is an excellent place to visit for the historical significance it has. It was the first capitol of the Colony of Virginia before it was moved to Richmond. It is the site of William and Mary University. It is near historic Jamestown (the first permanent colony in America) and Yorktown (where General Cornwallis surrendered to end the American Revolution). Of course, August is not a great time of the year to visit Virginia. The weather was hot (around 95 every day) and very humid. All of the buildings are air-conditioned, so you can get rests from the heat when you need them. During our vacation, Hurricane Bonnie came up the East coast, and stalled over Eastern Virginia.

            Not to waste a day sitting in our hotel room while the hurricane raged outside, we decided to drive inland to Monticello. We took I64 through Richmond to Charlottesville. It took us a little over two hours. Keep in mind, we were driving out of the hurricane. Charlottesville is a very pleasant city. We walked around the pedestrian mall and had lunch in an outdoor cafe. After lunch, we drove out of the city toward Monticello. We first stopped in the Visitor Center for some background information and souvenirs. Then we drove up the mountain toward his home. We parked in the lot and walked the rest of the way. There was a wait in line to get in.

            His home is phenomenal. Jefferson was a very inventive man with everything he did. His home is proof of it. You enter through the main door into the Entrance Hall where there is a large clock that he designed. You move from room to room, from his library to a greenhouse to his office to his bedroom. The most interesting thing here is that his bed is in the wall between his office and his bedroom. So when he wakes up he can go into either room. The back of the house has the parlor, which opens up into the back porch. You continue through the dinning room and tea room.

            After touring his house, we toured the grounds. Monticello was a working plantation when Jefferson lived there. They still plant fruits, vegetables are flowers in the original places. We continued our walk back to the cemetery where Jefferson is buried. It is a large area that is fenced off. Jefferson, and his wife Martha, are off to the right as you approach it from the house. Jefferson, with a boyhood friend and future brother-in-law, had picked out the spot himself. They made a pact that the survivor of the two would bury the other beneath a large oak tree below the summit of the mountain. Jefferson's friend, Dabney Carr, was buried there first. On Jefferson's obelisk are three accomplishments he wanted inscribed there. Mentioned are the Declaration of Independence, the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom and Freedom and the founding of the University of Virginia. No mention of being president or vice-president is on the stone.

            Jefferson was a young plantation owner in 1776 when events in the colonies through him reluctantly into the limelight. As we all know, he wrote the Declaration of Independence, which was adopted on July 4, 1776. After the war, he helped write the Bill of Rights for the U.S. Constitution. After being our ambassador to France, He ran for the presidency in 1796. He lost to John Adams, but because he attained the second most amount of electoral votes, he became the Vice President. His friendship with  Adams ended as the two had different views on how the country should be steered. In 1800, he defeated Adams and served two terms as president. One of his major accomplishments was the Louisiana Purchase (the best real estate deal in our nations history).

            After leaving the White House, he retired to Monticello. He was a genius with words, architecture, engineering, botany, etc., however he was not good financially. He went into debt a number of times. Jefferson even had to sell his personal book collection to the Library of Congress. As the 50th Anniversary of the approval of the Declaration of Independence approached, it was hoped that he would be able to attend the celebrations in Washington D.C. Jefferson, along with Adams and Charles Carroll, were the only signers still living. Jefferson was 83 years old and not feeling well. He suffered from rheumatism and an enlarged prostate. He was determined to hang on until the 4th of July. At a little before one in the afternoon, on July 4, 1826, he died in his bedroom at Monticello. John Adams would follow him six hours later. He is buried next to his wife, Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson, who preceded him 44 years earlier in 1782.

          We returned to Monticello in August of 2003.  My wife Debbie, our nephew Damian and I spent a weekend in Lexington, Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley. On our way home, we stopped at Monticello and toured the mansion again. This was Damian's first time here. After visiting with Tom at the cemetery, we drove on to Montpelier and visited James Madison.

Here are some webpages of interest: