So here we are now in Virginia and after checking out the weather we made our plans.
There would be rain in the afternoon and next day a tornado...
So we left early, after breakfast for Monticello, home and plantation of the 3rd President of the United States; Thomas Jefferson.
The one that wrote the Declaration of Independence... with tremendous Dutch influence (see link at the bottom of post).
Around 10:00 we were at Monticello and went with their bus to the place where the garden tour would start.
Here husband Pieter is in front of the Littleleaf Linden.
As a little girl, I went with my Dad, seated at the front of his bike, to Ommel, The Netherlands, a pilgrimage site of Our Lady of Refuge for Comfort in every need. There was a statue under a huge Linden tree.
Seated on Dad's bike, I managed to touch with my hands those mature fruits!
Childhood memories...
This is also the tree from which they make the Linden Flower Tea and Linden Honey as we tasted in Eastern Europe in May: Day 6, Panoramic Belgrade, Serbia where I had Linden Honey in my tea.
This was the house but we both did not tour the inside as we come from the Old World and have seen enough of that architecture over there.
Thomas Jefferson did bring those ideas from Europe.
From the deck of his house, overlooking a vast area since it is built on a little mountain.
Pieter standing next to a huge potplant that obviously was thriving well, being partly indoors.
Interesting windows that could be totally pushed upwards.
Behind Pieter you still see where the potplant was, just behind his right arm inside the open space.
That's me standing at the top of those stairs...
WILLOW OAK or Quercus phellos
It's diameter was impressive!
Still the same tree, trying to capture it completely.
Our Garden & Grounds Guide showed us this laminated copy of Thomas Jefferson's 1766 Garden Diary - nice handwriting!
Of course we were visiting rather late in season, so the garden sure was not at its peak!
Here you see a variety of Okra, a huge one.
You also see that the sky is highly pregnant with rain...
There was an entire arbor where the Purple Hyacinth Bean was climbing up on both sides and overhead. A favorite of Thomas Jefferson.
A vineyard...
What an over view from there!
Vegetable garden and to the right you see a one-room slave house along Mulberry Row...
Yes, Thomas Jefferson maintained his 5,000 acres or 2,023 hectare by keeping some 400 slaves...
They lived in the tiny, one-room houses!
We did tour the smokehouse... Interesting and even I as a young girl remember smoked meats.
This is exactly what we also saw at: Netherlands Open Air Museum with Mom & Dad and American Colleague's Wife as shown in pictures taken there.
There would be rain in the afternoon and next day a tornado...
So we left early, after breakfast for Monticello, home and plantation of the 3rd President of the United States; Thomas Jefferson.
The one that wrote the Declaration of Independence... with tremendous Dutch influence (see link at the bottom of post).
Here husband Pieter is in front of the Littleleaf Linden.
Seated on Dad's bike, I managed to touch with my hands those mature fruits!
Childhood memories...
Thomas Jefferson did bring those ideas from Europe.
Interesting windows that could be totally pushed upwards.
Here you see a variety of Okra, a huge one.
You also see that the sky is highly pregnant with rain...
What an over view from there!
They lived in the tiny, one-room houses!
Also interesting to listen to this documentary about Jefferson's 'concubine', the half-sister of his deceased wife Martha. At that time the slave owner often used his female slaves as personal property. His wife Martha's father, had done so and there were several half-sisters/brothers from a mulatto slave woman... Jefferson fathered 6 children with Sally Hemings. We both have mixed feelings about his part in history... Only in 1998 it has been proven by DNA that Jefferson was the father and sadly he never acknowledged those six children!
Sally Hemings (Documentary) click
We enjoyed some coffee and cookies (Pieter) at the Gift Shop and found some chocolate too.
In all, a great place to visit.
There also is a restaurant that serves fresh produce from the garden!
With our ticket we could have started the tour of the Home by 12:00 PM, but we left with their shuttle to the parking and went for lunch.
It was only a 25 min. drive back and forth to the Hyatt Place Hotel for us.At 14:00 it was 17 ºC or 62 ºF
We got back to our Hotel around 14:00 after going to Whole Foods Market where we ate some lunch and did bring some salad home for next day with yoghurt and fruits.
Due to a TORNADO WATCH we decided to stay in for that day on October 31 and catch up on our reading instead...
The weather would be a LOT cooler from 26ºC (78.8ºF) to only 15ºC (59ºF) for November 1.
Perfect for our plan... stay tuned!
Related link:
Mabry Mill Restaurant and Blue Ridge Parkway | previous post by me
Finally Taking my NONAGENARIAN up the Blue Ridge Parkway | previous post by me
Our 2nd Cabin Stay at The Hill on Cherokee Lake | previous post by me
Mabry Mill Restaurant and Blue Ridge Parkway | previous post by me
Finally Taking my NONAGENARIAN up the Blue Ridge Parkway | previous post by me
Our 2nd Cabin Stay at The Hill on Cherokee Lake | previous post by me
SO Proud of my NONAGENARIAN | previous post by me
{1903 Ladies Home Journal by Edward Bok - The Mother of America & Dutch American Heritage Day} | previous post by me
{1903 Ladies Home Journal by Edward Bok - The Mother of America & Dutch American Heritage Day} | previous post by me
Dearest Mariette,
ReplyDeletewhat a wonderful Trip you made again! Thank you for all the wonderful pictures and the interesting informations!
Wishing you and Pieter a wonderful week!
Love and hugs, Claudia xo
Dearest Claudia,
DeleteThis was not much of a trip but rather a step back in time for visiting a huge garden that got cultivated by some 400 slaves at that time... A lesson in History!
Hugs,
Mariette
Such a fabulous trip indeed! Thank you from me too, for sharing your adventures. :-)
ReplyDeleteDearest Kim,
DeleteCompared with the previous two days with long hours of driving, this was not considered a trip at all with only leisurely 25 minutes.
But it was quite a history lesson for being able to step back in time and pondering about life back then for all those that slaved for their Presidential owner...
Hugs,
Mariette
I do love visiting and touring historical homes, but definitely not a fan of the fact that slaves were a part of the story. Preservation of these properties is important but sadly there are still people who don't quite get the lesson.
ReplyDeleteDearest Tammy,
DeleteWell, for both of us being from the Old World we are not that crazy about touring all historical homes.
But here it was all with mixed feelings and I must say that there were lots of efforts going on to reconstruct a lot of that 'hidden' dark history... which is good! History is history and it should be learned from.
Hugs,
Mariette
Tilia cordata, hebben we jaaaren geteeld. Ook zo leuk, dat dagboekje van die tuin, wanneer wat bloeide enzo. En ja, dat slavernij gebeuren, en de vrouwen als je eigendom zien... Maar dat die kinderen nooit erkend zijn, zelfs na waterdicht bewijs, is helemaal triest. We hebben ook de slavenhuisjes op Cuba gezien, van de suikerrietplantages. Ook zo klein, en daar woonden ze vaak met zijn 6en of meer in. Dan moest je zowat staand slapen
ReplyDeleteBeste Marian,
DeleteJa, wij waren op de tuin net twee dagen voor het sluiten tot in maart. Maar deze bloesem vond ik toch nog heel mooi einde herfst. Mooi dat jullie die ook goed kennen en geteeld hebben!
Het enige wat ik kan opmerken over dat dagboekje, dat Jefferson een mooi handschrift had. Maar voor de rest hebben we beiden gemengde gevoelens omdat hij ten koste van zijn zwarte slaven dit moois rond zich heen had. En in de onafhankelijkheidsakte sprak hij van gelijke rechten en 'thuis' gold dat niet...?!
Arme vrouwen en ook in en in triest dat de kinderen niet eens erkend werden; zijn eigen bloed! Ja, die hadden geen slaap comfort en natuurlijk een out-house om hun behoefte te doen etc. Geen wasgelegenheid, mogelijk naar de rivier... Erbarmelijke toestanden en net zo in Cuba, en de hele Caribische regio eigenlijk.
Liefs,
Mariette
Hi Mariette! That's an interesting place. Huge sized tree!
ReplyDeleteDearest Anne,
DeleteIt sure was a highly interesting historical place and a huge garden with overlook over the region.
That tree was quite something!
Hugs,
Mariette
A very well put together post. Thank you. My ancestors were also slave owners on their plantation in the south. A fact I am not proud of. We can’t change history, but hopefully can learn from it. Janey
ReplyDeleteDearest Janey,
DeleteThank you! We all have some history in our families, either through war periods or like you mention about slavery, that is not something to brag about. Let's indeed hope that people read history and learn from it!
Hugs,
Mariette
What a beautiful property. Especially the huge deck with this view is spectacular! I'm impressed by his handwriting. Very nice indeed. The story with slavery is very sad to read but it's the part of history which we should not look away from. Thank you for sharing, Mariette!
ReplyDeleteDearest Tamago,
DeleteThe property was quite a sight and as you write, especially from the huge deck. Imagine on a clear sunny day in summer how breathtaking that view would be.
Beautiful handwriting indeed and he sure did not have to labor with his hands so he kept them able to manage this skill.
No, we have to face all aspects of history and learn from it.
Hugs,
Mariette
Buona serata.
ReplyDeleteCaro Giancarlo,
DeleteGrazie e altrettanto a voi!
Mariette
Dan and I really loved our visit to Monticello, inside and out. I remember that Jefferson's library contained every book that had ever been printed at that time. Amazing!!
ReplyDeleteCheers, M-T
Dearest Marie-Thérèse,
DeleteDue to our limited time before the rains would start coming in, we went straight for the gardens as we both have a keen interest in that part.
We have toured so many, much older buildings in the Old World, to us it was not a loss.
As for the books in his library, yeah, not having to toil the soil himself, he sure would have time on hand for actual reading! Something that we even got behind and I hope that before I leave this world I can get to read all of the books in our home. We have a small library too...
Hugs,
Mariette
You are quite correct. He did read every book in his extensive library. Of course, tilling the soil was not on his agenda, but he was very busy helping to build a new country, spending a great deal of time in France as an emissary of that new country and being our President. I'd say that was time well spent. Did you know that he suffered periodically from very severe migraines headaches which laid him low for weeks at a time? I can relate to that.
DeleteCheers, M-T
Dearest Marie-Thérèse,
DeleteHis reading no doubt was inherent to his task as a Statesman. The tilling of the soil is not meant literally but what puzzles us is the fact that he almost exactly copied the Dutch Declaration of Independence (see link below my post) in which he also wrote all man are created equal and yet he himself continued to treat black people as slaves on his own property. Was that his personal interpretation of: Liberty and pursuit of happiness...?
In order to spend a great deal in France, he had to arrive by ship in Rotterdam and also spent quite some time there and adopted lots of architectural things from windows, tables and such that he implemented after the sketches he took.
Also don't forget that only after the French annexation, the Dutch Kingdom officially started being independent in 1813.
Hugs,
Mariette
Dear Mariette
ReplyDeleteYou remember you the past with your dad :-) It is fantastic.
This tree is amazing.
I have many problems for read your blog, it is very very long.
Have a nice day where you are :-)
Hugs
Dearest Nathalie,
DeleteYes, I do remember those childhood things very vividly and upon seeing that Tilia cordata it all came back.
Sorry for your reading problems, though in general I limit the wording that goes with the photos...
Sending you hugs,
Mariette
You both look well and happy in your puffer coats☺️Comfy cozy..what an adventure👍🏻
ReplyDeleteDearest Monique,
DeleteThank you and we were very happy; it was a great adventure, the entire trip!
Hugs,
Mariette