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Back in June, we decided not to attempt a major family vacation this summer. Instead, we thought we would try for some short overnight trips in the Mid-Atlantic region. Our first trip, the week after the school year ended was to the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Virginia. We were hoping for another trip down the Shenandoah Valley, with a stop at Monticello. However, when I started looking at the information to plan for the trip, I discovered that Monticello offers special tours for "Children and their families", but yesterday was the last day they would be offered for this summer.
And so Monticello became a day trip of its own. Surprisingly, my MIL, who has lived her entire life in Virginia, had never visited the home of Thomas Jefferson, so she jumped at the chance to visit with us. I booked our tickets online for a 1pm tour of the house (which turned out to be a good move, as we learned yesterday that the children's tours were sold out).
We left the house about 8:30 yesterday morning, picked up my MIL on the way, and arrived at Monticello just before 11:30. The parking and ticket center is at the bottom of the "mountain", and to reach the mansion and its grounds, you either need to hike up or take the shuttle bus that runs every 5 minutes. Since our tickets to tour the house also provided access to the grounds and the other tours, we caught the first bus up the hill.
We had almost an hour and a half before our house tour, so we browsed through the gift shop and then joined a "Plantation Tour", a 45 minute tour of the grounds that focused on the lives and culture of the slaves on Monticello. I've long struggled to understand how the man who wrote the powerful words of the Declaration of Independence "all men are created equal", could also be a slave owner. And not just any slave owner...Jefferson was the second largest slaveholder in Albemarle County. The stories from this tour didn't shed any real insight on that fundamental conflict, but I found the tour really helpful in trying to understand the realities of slave live in the Jefferson's lifetime. Its one thing to understand the evils of slavery intellectually, and another entirely to hear specific stories of individual slaves and what slavery meant for their lives.
As we finished that tour, we walked over to the house, where we joined several other families for our tour of Jefferson's home. We had a terrific guide, who really knew how to engage the children. I think she helped them understand a bit about who Jefferson was as a person, and what his family life was like. The tour didn't focus on some of the details I vaguely remember from when I visited Monticello as a child, such as the architecture or some of the specific items on display, but I think the kids got a lot out of the tour.
We finished the tour out on the North Terrace, where they had a variety of children's activities set up, including period games and toys, and quills and ink for the kids to attempt to write with. We let the girls play for a few minutes before catching the bus back down to the parking area for a picnic lunch.
After lunch, we rode back up to the grounds for the "Garden Tour", which highlighted the flowers, trees and vegetables that Jefferson grew on the property. There were some beautiful flowers and an immense vegetable garden. I was surprised by how interested the girls were in this tour, asking questions and chatting with our guide. We finished our afternoon with a walk through the basement areas of the house (which are not part of the guided tour, but open to the public), before walking down past the family cemetery where Jefferson is buried, back to the parking lot to head home.
And so Monticello became a day trip of its own. Surprisingly, my MIL, who has lived her entire life in Virginia, had never visited the home of Thomas Jefferson, so she jumped at the chance to visit with us. I booked our tickets online for a 1pm tour of the house (which turned out to be a good move, as we learned yesterday that the children's tours were sold out).
We left the house about 8:30 yesterday morning, picked up my MIL on the way, and arrived at Monticello just before 11:30. The parking and ticket center is at the bottom of the "mountain", and to reach the mansion and its grounds, you either need to hike up or take the shuttle bus that runs every 5 minutes. Since our tickets to tour the house also provided access to the grounds and the other tours, we caught the first bus up the hill.
We had almost an hour and a half before our house tour, so we browsed through the gift shop and then joined a "Plantation Tour", a 45 minute tour of the grounds that focused on the lives and culture of the slaves on Monticello. I've long struggled to understand how the man who wrote the powerful words of the Declaration of Independence "all men are created equal", could also be a slave owner. And not just any slave owner...Jefferson was the second largest slaveholder in Albemarle County. The stories from this tour didn't shed any real insight on that fundamental conflict, but I found the tour really helpful in trying to understand the realities of slave live in the Jefferson's lifetime. Its one thing to understand the evils of slavery intellectually, and another entirely to hear specific stories of individual slaves and what slavery meant for their lives.
As we finished that tour, we walked over to the house, where we joined several other families for our tour of Jefferson's home. We had a terrific guide, who really knew how to engage the children. I think she helped them understand a bit about who Jefferson was as a person, and what his family life was like. The tour didn't focus on some of the details I vaguely remember from when I visited Monticello as a child, such as the architecture or some of the specific items on display, but I think the kids got a lot out of the tour.
We finished the tour out on the North Terrace, where they had a variety of children's activities set up, including period games and toys, and quills and ink for the kids to attempt to write with. We let the girls play for a few minutes before catching the bus back down to the parking area for a picnic lunch.
After lunch, we rode back up to the grounds for the "Garden Tour", which highlighted the flowers, trees and vegetables that Jefferson grew on the property. There were some beautiful flowers and an immense vegetable garden. I was surprised by how interested the girls were in this tour, asking questions and chatting with our guide. We finished our afternoon with a walk through the basement areas of the house (which are not part of the guided tour, but open to the public), before walking down past the family cemetery where Jefferson is buried, back to the parking lot to head home.
