Then we drove about an hour to Charlottesville, Our first stop was at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.  










 While he was ambassador to France before he became President, he became enamoured of all things French, so when he designed his home on top of the mountain he incorporated all sorts of "new, modern" ideas. Double paned windows, skylights, fireplaces that jutted into the room which heated the rooms more efficiently, dumbwaiters to hoist wine from the wine cellar to the dining room, a lazy susan affair to deliver food to the dining room without the slaves having to come in. He invented a "copy machine" - a gadget with 2 pens attached so when he wrote with one, the other one made a copy. He kept copies of almost all of the 19,000 letters he wrote in his lifetime. We weren't allowed to take photos inside, but I'm sure if you google Monticello you can see plenty of pictures.
 




















He was author of the Declaration of Independence which said that "all men are created equal" and they all had "an unalienable right to life,liberty and the pursuit of happiness". Which is admirable, except he also owned 160 slaves, and once remarked that they worked to provide him happiness. Ah well.....
 
 
 
 



















 

He loved books, collected 6,700 books, then needed money and sold them all to the Library of Congress after the British burned the original collection during the War of 1812. But he complained that he could not live without books so collected some more.

 
 
 
 
 



































 








 He loved gadgets and science and horticulture. The home really is beautiful and way ahead of its time. Unfortunately when he died he was heavily in debt and his grandson had to sell the land, the house, the slaves and most of the furnishings. Fortunately Uriah Phillips Levy bought the property and preserved and restored much of it. The Levy family sold it to the Thomas Jefferson Foundation in 1923 which still owns and manages it today. They have purchased about 2500 of the original 5000 acres, and they have bought or obtained on loan
much of the original furnishings.

On the way back to town, we were going to stop at Michie Tavern, an 18th century tavern next to Monticello, but it was closed.
 



















So after checking into a motel, we headed downtown. Charlottesville has an 8-block historic pedestrian mall lined with shops, pubs, restaurants and street performers and a great place to people watch.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
















 









 


































 










 



At one end they had a "monument to the first amendment" - a long wall that anyone can write their thoughts on with chaulk and a podium where you can stand up and talk about anything you want. Sort of like Speakers Corner in Hyde Park, London.