Playing Tourist at Home: Volume One

I haven't touched my sewing machine in a week which sort of makes me sad, but I've been having a lot of fun getting reacquainted with a cousin of mine and showing her various places around here during her recent visit.  We packed a lot into a week.  I barely even entered my sewing room except to show her some of my quilts.

We visited Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson. 

I hadn't been there in 20 years or more and a lot had changed.  Here are a few tidbits of history that I picked up:

• Jefferson died deep in debt.  Although ideologically he was against slavery, his debt prevented him for freeing all of his slaves since their value was greater than that of his several thousand acres of land.
• He loved books and gave most of his collection to start the Library of Congress.
• He loved coffee and drank it daily.
• The design of his house had many innovative features.  My favorite was including the dependencies (kitchen, wine cellar, stables, etc.) all in the same structure rather than in several small buildings.
• He spent a lot of time in France and brought back a lot of art and many ideas for his home from that trip. 
• He was over six feet tall.

We also visited the Meem's Bottom Covered Bridge.  This is one of only eight covered bridges left in Virginia.  It was built in 1892, burned in 1976, salvaged and reopened (original timbers were used) in 1979.  It has operated continuously except for those three years of reconstruction.

That's enough for one post......more to come.