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When in Charlottesville, be sure to make the 30-minute side trip to Skyline Drive at Shenandoah National Park. The cost is $10 per car for one week of unlimited entry and exit. The feature of the park is Skyline Drive, a twisty, turny two-lane road that follows the ridge of the mountains providing countless breathtaking views to the east and west, along with wildlife, hiking trails, falls, and a few rest areas with snacks and souvenirs.
Shenandoah National Park is a 105 mile long park that sits in Western Virginia between Interstate 66 to the north and I-64 to the south. The park covers almost 200,000 acres of unspoiled wilderness, with scenic, winding Skyline Drive running through the middle. Most of Skyline Drive is atop the ridges and has dozens of beautiful overlooks, quiet picnic areas, and peaceful hikes.
Skyline Drive is the centerpiece of Shenandoah National Park. It is controlled-access, meaning only vehicles which pay the $10 fee may enter. Though the price seems steep, it greatly limits the numbers of vehicles on this scenic and historic route. The 105 mile long roadway, running northeast to southwest has only four entrances, from north to south: Dickey Ridge off US Highway 340, Thornton Gap from US 211, Swift Run Gap at US 33, and Rockfish Gap at US 250 and Interstate 64.
Skyline Drive is packed with overlooks, gaps, and picnic areas announced with fanciful names such as Bearfence Mountain, Little Stony Man, and Hogwallow. You will be hard pressed to find a 1/4 mile stretch with no pull-off areas. Food and gas are a little more difficult to find... the drive has about 5 areas with food and only 2 with gasoline. You may need to venture off the parkway to get necessities. Leave a Comment Address: Park Supt, 3655 US Highway 211 East , Luray, VAPhone: (540) 999-3500Directions: From Charlottesville, enter the park at Rockfish Gap which is accessible via I-64 and Route 250Website: http://www.nps.gov/shen/ Other Contact: Emergency Line: (800) 732-0911
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Thomas Jefferson: author of the Declaration of Independence, Third President of the United States, founder of the University of Virginia. Some of his lesser roles in the shaping of America include Vice President, Governor of Virginia, minister to France, and Secretary of State. He was truly a man who enjoyed and flourished in a world of politics. Even less known about Jefferson is that he was a great architect, a lover of art and philosophy, a gardener, and an amateur astronomer.
A visit to Monticello, Jefferson's home outside of Charlottesville, will reveal all of these sides of this great American. He inherited 5,000 acres, upon which he designed and built his great mansion from 1768 to 1808. The house is full of art pieces such as busts of philosophers Francis Bacon and John Locke. There are also dozens of unique inventions throughout Monticello like his "polygraph" used to copy letters. The Library of Congress got its start at Monticello when Jefferson donated his personal 7000-book library to the American people. Finally, the house is surrounded by 1000 acres of fields and gardens where Jefferson's 150 slaves grew an amazing variety of crops.
Unfortunately photos are not allowed inside the mansion.
Tours of Jefferson's Monticello home are available every day of the year: $13.00 per adult and $6.00 per child. Visiting hours are 0800-1700 March through October and 0900-1630 November through February. Leave a Comment
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Thomas Jefferson died on the 4th of July 1826 which was the 50th anniversary of the signing of his Declaration of Independence, and it was the very same day that another founding father -- John Adams -- passed away. Jefferson is buried at a small family cemetery near the mansion at Monticello. His grave site is marked by a large obelisk on the north edge of the fenced-in yard. Jefferson wrote his own epitaph which reads "Author of the Declaration of American Independence, Of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia. Leave a Comment
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Michie Tavern, located on the way to Monticello, is a Virginia Historic Landmark that was established in 1784 by Scotsman William Michie. The Tavern served as the social center of its community and provided travelers with food, drink and lodging. Nowadays they offer tours (the original inn and the Virginia Wine Museum), dining (all-you-can-eat southern buffet based on 18th century recipes) and shopping (gifts, crafts, clothier shop and the Printer's Market, offering newspapers, money, and other early American printed items).
I've got to know that this tavern was originally built on a well-traveled stagecoach route at Earlysville, 17 miles (28km) northwest of Charlottesville. A wealthy businesswoman, Josephine Henderson, saw its value as a historic structure and in 1927 he had moved it to its present location and reconstructed. I've found it very American, I mean moving historical buldings to more popular (better for business?) locations.
Leave a Comment Address: 683 T. Jefferson Parkway, Charlottesville,VA 22902Phone: +1 (434) 977-1234Directions: Drive VA-20 South (Monticello Ave.) and turn left to VA-53 just after crossing I-64, the tavern is 1 mile up on the right.Website: http://www.michietavern.com Other Contact: info@michietavern.com
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One of the most unique aspects of Jefferson’s design for Monticello is his incorporation of the "dependencies," or essential service rooms, beneath raised, L-shaped terraces extending from southern and northern side of the house. They are invisible from the level of the primary entrances - partly put below the ground level, covered by long terraces and hidden behind bushes and other plants. The dependency wings are connected to one another through the cellars in the house’s basement by an all-weather passageway. They form real underground house. The idea of invisible seperating of the living and work area built into the hillside was really great - both comfortable and wise (risk of fire from kitchen).
At the end of each dependency wing is a small pavilion, each of which had living or office space on the upper level and a work space in the lower. Being truly separate structures they are connected to the house by the L-shaped wings. The South Pavilion was the first structure built on the mountaintop, while its counterpart, the North Pavilion was constructed over 30 years later.
Leave a Comment Address: 931 Thomas Jefferson Parkway, Charlottesville, VAPhone: +1 (434) 984 9822Directions: Drive VA-20 South (Monticello Ave.) and turn left to VA-53 just after crossing I-64, some 1.5 mile up turn left to Monticello parking lots.Website: http://www.monticello.org/house/index.html Other Contact: publicaffairs@monticello.org
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 DOWNTOWN MALL (EAST END),
CHARLOTTESVILLE by matcrazy1, 4 more photos
The atmosphere and design of this street with oak trees planted along reminded me some European mountain spas in a bit dark and rainy fall day out of the high season. It's a great place to take a cup of coffee and watch people.
Leave a Comment Address: East & West Main Street, Charlottesville, VA 22902Phone: +1 (434) 977-1025Directions: Take VA-20 which goes east of the East Pedastrian Entry (9th Street - look for a parking place there).Website: http://www.charlottesville.org/Index.aspx?page=177 Other Contact: http://www.vadm.org
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Thomas Jefferson designed the University of Virginia as an "Academic Village" where daily life and learning intermingled. Classrooms and dormitory rooms would share the same buildings, professors would live on campus, and the main building would be a library. Construction began in 1817 and the first class entered in 1825. Throughout the years, the university has expanded and become of the best public schools in the country. Perhaps its most famous student was Edgar Allen Poe who spent only one semester here. Leave a Comment
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To my surprise Monticello Visitors Center doesn't purchase tickets. I bought them in the ticket office located by huge parking lots a few miles up. Instead there is a museum shop and a free exhibition "Thomas Jefferson at Monticello" in the Center. It includes over 400 original Jefferson objects but it wasn't very interesting. However I've got to know that the third US president (1801-1809) was:
1. author of the Declaration of Independance,
2. author of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom,
3. father of the University of Virginia.
Apart from that I noticed that he used some kinds of wrist ortheses to be able to write as his stiff right wrist, a consequence of an early dislocation, made writing both slow and painful.
I wanted to watch "Thomas Jefferson: The Pursuit of Liberty" documentary film in the Visitors Center Theatre but they show it only twice a day and to my dissapointment not at the time I was there.
Leave a Comment Address: 600 College Drive, Charlottesville, VA 22902Phone: +1 (434) 984 9855Directions: Drive VA-20 South (Monticello Ave.) and turn right just after crossing I-64.Website: http://www.monticello.org/visit/vc_tours.html Other Contact: shop@monticello.org
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 Dining where the founding
fathers did! by VeronicaG
Hours for the restaurant are 11:15 am-3:30 pm Apr.-Oct. and 11:30 am-3:00 pm Nov.-Mar.
Guests can dine, tour the tavern then visit the general store and gift shop whose operating hours are from 9-5 p.m. The general store and gift shop have wonderful things! Our grandson bought some genuine confederate coins to add to his collection. Address: 683 Thomas Jefferson ParkwayPhone: 804-977-1234Directions: Less than a mile from MonticelloWebsite: www.michietavern.com
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I took a guided tour of the Jefferson's house and it's a very interesting exprience. About 60 percent of the furnishings on display at Monticello are or may be items original to Jefferson. Other items are period pieces or reproductions of original pieces.
Our guide knew everything about both Jefferson's family and the house itself.
In the beginning - in the entrance hall - I've seen articles collected by Lewis and Clark on their famous expedition. The Lewis and Clark expedition (1804–1806) was the first United States overland expedition to the Pacific coast and back. I hope to follow their itinerary someday. Then I've seen impressive library and I've got to know that Jefferson donated his library to Congress to replace the books burned by the British in 1814. This library formed the nucleus of the Library of Congress. I remember interesting wooden copying machine and scientific instruments, such as an orrery, microscope, and telescope put in Jefferson's octagonal cabinet.
The Roman neoclassicism house (1769 - 1809) of Jefferson's own design is situated on the summit of an 850-foot-high peak. Monticello, in Italian, means "little mountain." Jefferson died on July 4, 1826 - exactly on the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Debts forced his family to sell the property which belongs to a private, nonprofit organization - the Thomas Jefferson Foundation - since 1923.
Unfortunatelly no pictures are permitted inside the house. An image of the west front of Monticello is featured on the reverse of the 5 cent coin of the United States (it's called a Nickel in the USA.)
Leave a Comment Address: 931 Thomas Jefferson Parkway, Charlottesville, VAPhone: +1 (434) 984 9822Directions: Drive VA-20 South (Monticello Ave.) and turn left to VA-53 just after crossing I-64, some 1.5 mile up turn left to Monticello parking lots.Website: http://www.monticello.org Other Contact: publicaffairs@monticello.org
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