From Little Mountain (Monticello) to Stony Man Mountain (Shenandoah)

 

    The National Park system is such a marvel.  Within the course of 48 hours, we were able to experience the full breadth of what they do, from maintaining Monticello, the only Presidential estate to also be recognized as a Unesco World Heritage site to maintaining the nearly 80,000 acres of Shenandoah National Park, which was finally established in 1935, providing an area for nature and recreation for those who live on the east coast.

Obligatory Monticello selfie!

Obligatory Shenandoah National Park selfie!

    Our day in Charlottesville started and ended with yummy meals in quaint restaurants (Farm Bell Kitchen for brunch and The Local for dinner) that pride themselves on their locally sourced ingredients.  Since we have spent the past weeks driving by all manner of these local farms, it makes the whole "farm to table" mission so much more authentic in this part of the country.

the list of farms is on the blackboard

Their version of a "Moscow Mule" is a Moonshine Mule - delicious!

    After brunch, we were off to a 12:45 "Highlights" tour of Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's estate, made famous for not only his contribution to history but also his contribution to architecture and innovation within his home.  From the weighted clock that is rigged with pullies to tell you what day it is (though the construction of the first floor was just a tad short, requiring Saturday to be placed in the basement!) to the dumbwaiter for wine installed within the fireplace in the dining room (an empty bottle was sent down, and a new one sent back up) to his "polygraph," a device that enabled him to make a copy of every letter he wrote (and he wrote about 19,000 of them!), the home is a living document to Jefferson's interests and passions.

You can see the polygraph behind Jefferson's bed, where he died on July 4th.

    In addition to his attention to the details of his home, Jefferson was equally attentive to his garden and to the building of the University of Virginia, which he watched through a telescope from his grounds. If he was unhappy with something they were doing, apparently he mounted his horse for the couple hour ride down to the site to ask for modifications.

The view of the UVA dome from Monticello 

    Once the tour is completed, you are encouraged to wander around the grounds, where there are multiple displays along Mulberry Row where the enslaved labor (as the guides refer to Jefferson's slaves) lived and worked.  Our guide did a wonderful job bringing to life the walking contradiction Thomas Jefferson was, and we all came away with a richer understanding of the man.

The original tree had to be removed as it was threatening the house; the new tree comes from the same root system.

    We stopped a peach and apple orchard just outside Monticello for some views and some apple cider donuts before heading back into Charlottesville to take a closer look at the university and drive around some of the surrounding neighborhoods.

The view of the orchard shop and beyond

    Today we bid farewell to Charlottesville and headed for Shenandoah National Park and the famed Skyline Drive.  Since our final stop is Richmond, which is less than an hour from Charlottesville, we had a day to devote to exploring the park through the drive, the dozen or so lookouts we stopped at and the Stony Man Mountain hike we took to the second highest summit in the park.   During a good part of this hike, we were on the Appalachian Trail, which was marked with white paint (while the Stony Man Trail was marked with blue). Somewhere in the midst of all that, Maddie took a phone call from California and was offered - and accepted - a job!  There was much talk. both figurative and literal - about climbing summits and looking out on the horizon.  And I only had a mild heart attack or two as Dana and the kids went out a bit further than my comfort level allowed on the craggy rocks.

Maddie takes the call! :)

Maddie points out the trail markings

    As beautiful as the park is and as breathtaking as some of those views are, I was almost as impressed - and certainly more surprised - by our subsequent drive to Richmond via Route 231.  The rolling hills, farms, horses, weddings (yup, we saw a couple getting married at sunset on one perfect hill), vineyards - that dot the drive on the Blue Mountain turnpike astounded me.  Having lived in Virginia for just a short while during college, I never realized just how much natural beauty there is so close by the big cities.  I took note of the names of a couple of places to which we might want to someday return - Spotswood Lodge, anyone?

    We arrived to Richmond and our magnificent historic Jefferson Hotel with time to ogle the glorious lobby before getting ready for a sumptuous dinner (perhaps the best of our trip thus far) at Lemaire, the hotel's wonderful restaurant.

    We have just one final day left before calling it a wrap on states 48 and 49 of our Amber Waves tour. Tomorrow, we left ourselves blissfully wide open to explore this capital city, the 3rd to be established in the nation's history.  Of course, we're already envisioning a return trip to these dappled sunlit drives in that future October five years from now.

 

Nobody Puts Gallups in the Corner!

 

      The second Wednesday of our vacation saw Dana and Maddie touring the historic (but oh so secretive - no phones were permitted on the premises!) bunker at The Greenbrier, while Daniel and I used the time to explore the little town of White Sulphur Springs.  Since we had chosen to spend our short time at The Greenbrier taking advantage of its many amenities, we hadn't done our typical deep dive into the surrounding community.  We rectified this today by waking up early so we could all have breakfast at the local spot, where the servers were lovely and friendly and the locals regulars.  Back at the hotel, we packed up and checked out.  

    As Dana and Maddie headed off to learn the fascinating history of how this bunker was kept stocked and ready to house all the members of Congress (while their families would be permitted to stay in the guest rooms at the resort, which, ostensibly, wouldn't suffer the consequences of a nuclear fallout?!), Daniel and I headed off to browse a few stores, talk to some locals working them, drive around the neighborhood, and even spot the darling Brad Paisley Community Park, named to honor the country music star, a native of the state, who donated 200,000 dollars to the community after they suffered a flood in 2017.

    With a lunch date at Kellerman's awaiting us, we bought a couple of chocolate chip cookies for the road (after learning it was National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day from a cute little cafe downtown), swooped up the other half of our core four, and bid a heartfelt goodbye to West Virginia.  For the next 90 minutes, we would drive through some of the most picturesque scenery we had yet encountered, and that's saying something!  As we passed a sign welcoming us to Virginia, and then another welcoming us to West Virginia, and so on, we realized we were driving through the area known as the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests,  Wow, is it spectacular!  It's become a family joke that I am so moved by dappled sunlight through the forest leaves, but when I unintentionally cut off Dana's retelling of the bunker history with a not so melodic song of appreciation, I quickly realized I not only needed to apologize in the moment but I would be regretting it for some time to come.  The kids are not likely to let me forget that one.

    We arrived to Kellerman's (aka Mountain Lake Lodge), a lodge with a rich history dating back to 1851 but most famous as the setting for the 1987 film - and Sophia's favorite! - Dirty Dancing, around 1:00 and spend the next few hours enjoying a delicious lunch on the patio where Baby first sees Johnny Castle and recreating lots of moments from the film all over the property.  The mystery of the lake is fascinating.  It dried up completely in 2002, thought it came back a bit about a decade later.  It once again is completely dry, but the signs warning against swimming and fishing remain.

Where the Houseman's sat for dinner

The Appalachian Mountains are beautiful

Only Maddie puts Maddie in a corner!

    While the missing lake is certainly a blow to a resort titled Mountain Lake Lodge, the gorgeous Appalachian mountains offer no shortage of opportunity for recreation and the combination of tourists with Dirty Dancing nostalgia and families visiting their students at nearby Virginia Tech likely keeps the resort thriving.  We would certainly come back for a full family vacation!

    After bidding farewell to a darling black bear cub who was too quick to be photographed and a sweet deer who kindly slowly walked across the road for me, we headed down to Blacksburg, home of Virginia Tech, for a driving tour of the campus and a walking tour of the original 16 block downtown area, first founded by William Black in 1798.  This town's ice cream is all locally sourced; Maddie scored it a solid 8.5.

    Most touching to me was the organic memorial to those killed in the 2007 shooting, the deadliest ever at that time, which reminds me of the similar memorial in Gainesville.  There is, of course, a more formal memorial actually on the campus, but the fact that this one was still there, tucked on a back wall in an alley where we might have missed it had we driven down a different road somehow made it even more poignant.

    We arrived to Charlottesville, home of University of Virginia, around 7:00 PM.  Daniel had been proudly sporting one of his 1700 Gator shirts, as he resents their ranking in the top 5 public universities when UF sits at #6.  Still, despite his ongoing comparisons to ways Gainesville and UF are superior, he did eventually give in to the charms of the pedestrian walkway, which is a 20 minute walk from our hotel.  After all that driving and walking, we collapsed into bed ready for a good night's sleep!  Today we're off to do "whatever the hell it is" one does in Monticello.