Monticello

How very, very fortunate we were to have the brilliant minds in place to draft and sign the Declaration of Independence. Sandi and I stopped and visited Monticello, the beloved home of Thomas Jefferson, the writer of the Declaration of Independence.  I know that all the information is available to me to know about this man (beyond his authorship of our freedom), but I never thought about it.  I'm thinking about it now! This man was absolutely brilliant; he was an author of books, an inventor, a farmer, a person who could write the Declaration of Independence in only 17 days, a person who could read 5 books simultaneously (in fact invented a 5 book lazy Susan, so he could change the book he was reading at will), was ambassador to France and to Spain, was Vice President of the United States and President for 2 terms.  I decided he was someone I could admire.  I certainly admire his home....

The front of Monticello

I also admire his principles, which showed an ability to look at himself and know that what he was doing (owning slaves) wasn't right.  He called slavery a moral abomination but could not see a way to end it at that time.  He said that it had to be solved by a later generation.
We had a wonderful guide, Brandon:

Brandon, our tour guide

Carol in the Kitchen at Monticello

Of course, if a man has a southern accent and a baritone voice, I'll listen all day! Brandon was also very knowledgeable and answered every question and gave us so much information that I'm on overload.  We really loved the tour and were so very, very grateful that we went.  Then it was on to Bristol, TN and my dear friend/sister, Sue King-Marschalk.  We arrived just as the sun was going down and saw her beautiful home and the surrounding area.

View from Sue's deck

 Having a wonderful time.  We'll leave tomorrow and head to Savannah, spend a night there and then head for Jacksonville, FL.  More tomorrow!!