Sunday — February 14
We were all up early and ready to go down to the dining room by 7:00a. Not so fast; no breakfast service until 7:30a. Going to Plan B, Mui asked the attendant at the front desk for an alternate suggestion. The recommendation: a diner on the corner of 3rd and Main streets. With visions of an establishment a la "Al's Diner" in Happy Days dancing in our heads, we checked out of the Berkeley and went off in search of food.
Our first clue that this wasn't our type of establishment should have been the dirty windows that hid the interior from prying eyes. (Have to admit, I was in a hurry to get out of the cold and didn't notice the windows until mom pointed them out later.) Our second clue should have been the looks we got from the patrons seated at the bar. You'd think we had landed from Mars or something!!! Wary of the reaction we might get from the crowd if we turned tail and ran, we found a booth and set about perusing the menu. We had one goal in mind, eat and get out of there fast.
When the waitress came to take our order, mom asked for a single egg, over easy. The response she got: "I don’t know if we have a single egg." What??? Do the chickens in Richmond hatch double or triple eggs only??? But wait; it gets better. Mom's next request was for a cup of tea. The response she got: "Cold tea or sweet tea; we don’t have any hot water yet" !!!!! Stifling incredulous looks, we gave her the rest of our order. Needless to say, we wolfed down the food she brought us and beelined it out of there as fast as our feet could carry us. We survived to tell the tale! And just think, if not for this experience, we wouldn't have had occasion to break out in chuckles and outright laughter throughout the rest of the day!
We accomplished the drive to Charlottesville in just under an hour and pulled into the visitor center for Monticello shortly before 10:00a. Since he had been to Monticello on an extensive visit during his executive leadership program, Mui opted to stay behind and browse through his RV research material while mom and I took the house tour.
As the Monticello website puts it, “Monticello is the autobiographical masterpiece of Thomas Jefferson, designed and redesigned and built and rebuilt for more than forty years.” Construction of the 43-room building (33 rooms in the house itself) started in 1769 and most of the work was done by the time Jefferson left for Europe in 1784. During his term as the US Ambassador to France, he gained a strong appreciation for all things French. As a result, he made changes to the original design of the house and began remodeling it while he was still in France, sending back detailed instructions to be carried out by workmen and artisans at the estate. The dome that adds to the charm of the house was one of those additions.
Just like visitors who came to see Jefferson back in the day, we walk up a path to the east front of Monticello.
The West front of the house is the one that was presumably used only by the family and their guests.
Our tour of the house, started in the entrance hall where the docent guiding us pointed out items of interest around the room, making special note of how these things served to educate visitors while they waited to see Jefferson. From there, we went through the rooms on the first floor of the house, including the library (otherwise known as the bookroom), the greenhouse, Jefferson's cabinet (private office) and bedroom, the parlor, the dining room with its adjacent tea room, and the guest room that was frequently used by James and Dolley Madison.
In each room, our guide pointed out unique features, many of which were designed by Jefferson. Here are a couple that I found interesting: no grand staircase in the entrance hall (Jefferson considered them to be a waste of space); alcove bed that joins Jefferson's cabinet and bedroom (Jefferson saw these beds in France and liked them because they saved space in the room; the one in his room is unique because it is open on both sides); automatic double-doors between the entrance hall and the parlor (pulling one side of the door, automatically opens or closes the other side); wine dumbwaiter in the dining room (hidden behind the fireplace surround and accessible through panels on either side, it was used to bring wine up from the cellar below); rotating serving door in the dining room (shelves on the door enabled dishes to be moved in and out of the room with fewer intrusions on the diners).
Unfortunately, I have no images of the interior of the house to share with you as photography is not allowed, but click here to see some that are posted on the Monticello website.
After the tour, mom and I wandered around the grounds in the immediate vicinity of the house, touring the "dependencies" — service and storage rooms, if you will. The kitchen had some interesting features that I tried to capture in the following images.
The unusually well-equipped kitchen contained a fireplace, bake oven, set kettle, stew stove, and cooking equipment,
including dozens of copper pots and pans sent home from France.
Note the square hole in the white brick (behind the work table). This was the "bake oven." The docent on duty explained to us that a young boy would go into the oven through this hole and start the fire. The readiness of the fire would be tested by holding a piece of paper in front of the opening. When the paper turned brown, the oven was ready to use. The ash would then somehow be emptied out and the food would be put inside. The opening would then be sealed to allow the food to cook.
The piece of equipment hanging to the left of the massive hearth is a "spit jack." It had a clock-like mechanism that turned meat on iron rods suspended across the hearth.
Glimpse of the multi-burner stew stove with the integrated set kettle at the far end.
(the stew stove was the precursor of cast-iron ranges and modern multi-burner stoves;
the set kettle provided a constant supply of hot water)
Next, we walked down a path cleared of snow to visit the family burial ground and pay our respects to Jefferson who was interred here in 1826. Then, wanting to make the most of the beautiful day that was filled with sunshine, we took the footpath back to the visitor center to meet up with Mui.
Left: The obelisk (erected in 1883) is not the original monument designed by Jefferson.
Right: Blue skies and sunshine make for a pleasant stroll down from the estate.
It was noon when we left Monticello and headed to the historic Michie Tavern (circa 1784) for a hearty lunch featuring servers in period attire and what I would call "comfort food" based on 18th century recipes.
Greeted with the words, "Welcome Strangers," an early 18th century term for travelers, we were led to the "Ordinary," the tavern's dining room. The meal was set out buffet style and we partook of a bill of fare that included colonial fried chicken, hickory smoked pork barbecue, mashed potatoes with gravy, black-eyed peas, stewed tomatoes, green beans, whole baby beets, coleslaw, and homemade biscuits and cornbread. All quite tasty. We topped off our meal with an old fashioned ice cream sandwich (the cobbler might have been a better choice).
Michie Tavern has been welcoming visitors for well over 200 years.
The drive home was uneventful. Our day was far from over, however. A bit of shopping; a bit of people watching at Tysons Corner Mall; and a late dinner at Coastal Flats brought our Valentine's Day to a close.
Even though the second day of our getaway didn't start out on a high note, it turned out pretty terrific in the end. Overall, I'd say we had a great weekend trip with fun and sunshine outweighing any sour notes and overcast conditions along the way.
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