After our hot day at Monticello we welcomed the AC at Michie Tavern, not far from the plantation! We had a late lunch/early dinner and enjoyed the ambience of the 1784 complex.
We didn’t give up on visiting president’s residences and made our way to James Monroe Highland plantation. It was much smaller but with a docent to take us around the buildings, we found it much more informative and enjoyable.
We learned 12 presidents owned slaves and these foundations are battling with those who want to erase history by wiping out statues, etc. I know there has been the accusation the Holocaust never happened and it was so wise of the Jewish people to document and preserve their history. In 50 years if these statues, books, flags, songs, etc. are all wiped out, will someone decide to challenge if slavery ever existed? Will all the proof have been sanitized until no proof remains? Nothing has touched me as deeply as a visit to Dachau outside Munich!
From there we went to … the Trump Winery! Who knew? No one except me drinks wine so we bought an 8 flight of wines running from white to red. We asked for 4 empty glasses and shared just sips of the samples. When the others had enough I took one for the team and finished them all off! However, I didn’t like any of them. I bought two gifts and Eileen bought two bottles of wine for others. We did sit outside on the veranda and enjoyed the beautiful vista.
Our last day we spent at University of Virginia. The grounds are beautiful and we visited the Rotunda, Colonnade and Lawn.
Lee, Jackson and Lewis and Clark statues were scheduled to be removed. The next morning, they were gone. Not sure how long George Washington will be allowed to remain.
And then we were on the road again! Next stop Gettysburg!
We went into town to eat dinner because the drive and setting up in intense heat just took the starch out of us. We tried the Dobbin Restaurant but at 5 pm they had an almost two hour wait! I told him at my age I couldn’t take the chance to wait that long. So we went to an Irish pub. I ordered pecan chicken with mandarin oranges served with a salad and corn fritters. To wash it down I had a hard peach cider! Awesome!
After a cool nights sleep we headed to the Gettysburg Battlefield bus tour. The visitor’s center is beautiful! We saw a film on how the Civil War happened with states’ rights and slavery the points of contention. Then the diorama painted in 1884 was shown in a circle presentation. It is longer than a football field and four stories high. It showed positions during the battle of Gettysburg July 1-3, 1863 and explained the triumphs and failures of both the Union and Confederates.
Our main event was a two hour bus tour through the battlefields complete with commentary that was so informative. When we returned we took in an hour talk on how medicine was practiced on the battlefield which was very informative. It was dinner time when we arrived home. Then we watched The All Star Game,
Tomorrow is a trip to Lancaster so stay tuned!
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