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Monticello and Montpellier |
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Driving up the mountain toward the home of Thomas Jefferson I was struck by the beauty of the landscape. It was easy to imagine him riding his horse up winding paths to get home after a long day. No wonder he loved Monticello . It is gorgeous.
Thomas Jefferson was our only president who was also an architect. He designed his home, so when you walk through it and listen to the stories of the tour guides you get a feel for what he was like - for how he lived. I could imagine him there. He loved books. They are everywhere. He was creative and inquisitive and studied science - even invented a few things, some of which are on display. We left with a mental image of who he was. That's perfect, because before long we'll be studying about his contributions to our nation's beginning, and now we have a frame of reference.
From Monticello we went to lunch and then to the home of James and Dolly Madison, called Montpelier , just 45 minutes away. We were fortunate to be there toward the end of an extensive resoration of the home. It was great for the kids to see how an historic landmark is restored and for us to talk about why. We heard from the staff stories of how they scoured through old letters, paintings and pictures to find out exactly where certain items would have been in the house during Madison's day. They even studied the pattern of nail holes in one wall to determine where certain paintings were hung. We decided they were history detectives and that sounded like a fun job.
Both Madison and Jefferson were remarkable men, the Father of the Constitution and the Father of the Declaration of Independence, but we couldn't help but wonder why they both owned slaves and yet spoke against slavery, calling it morally wrong. This topic sparked a great discussion on the way home about what it might have been like to be in their shoes and what the boys would have done.
Montpelier restoration in the news.
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