Saturday, July 14, 2007

Monticello!

So it's actually Saturday, but I am going to cheat and post anyway in Kelli's Friday Show and Tell!http://kellishouse.blogspot.com


Yesterday our family went on a day trip to Monticello, home of our 3rd president, Thomas Jefferson! This is probably the 5th or 6th time I have been here but I love this house and gardens so much I never tire of looking around. The house is completely restored on the first floor with 60 % of all the furnishings that belonged to Thomas Jefferson. But it's the gardens that I love. 2 acres of vegetables and many beautiful flower gardens. Check out the view from his garden "observatory". I even included a picture of "yours truly" in the corn patch. The hat was one of my "creations"!














The flower gardens were in full bloom and I took so many notes while on the guided tour. Many varieties that I want to incorporate into my garden.

One of my favorites was a black scabiosa! I guess it is really purple, but so dark it looks black. I also really liked the spider flower (cleome), the Joseph's coat, and the beautfiul purple and blue larkspur.














Thomas Jefferson was constantly trying different ways to run his household more efficiently and the 7 "eyes" on his kitchen "stove" is proof of one. Instead of cooking everything over the fireplace, he made 7 small fireboxes along the wall!

After our tour we ate at Michie Tavern. It is such a beautiful place, built in 1794. The food is southern home style and you are served by waitresses in period dress.
I have heard that Monticello is beautiful decorated for Christmas. I may need to go check that out for myself!
Have a blessed day.

Linda

10 comments:

Pen of Jen said...

This was well worth the wait! I am a huge history buff-gardener, and this tour is fantastic!

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I am going to share yours today with my kids(we homeschool) because this was so neat!

Kelli said...

What a wonderful tour, Linda! The gardens are so beautiful, it looks like a lovely time of year for a visit. I'm sure it would be amazing at Christmas time too!

Kelli

ellen b. said...

thanks for the great tour. I need to get back to that part of our country for an adult visit. The last time I was there was in my teens.
http://happywonderer.wordpress.com/

JEANNIE said...

Oh How lovely of the photos. WOW you take great pics, are those purple flowers snap dragons? or sweet peas?

Jeannie
www.homeschoolblogger.com/Jeannie78

Lana G! said...

One to add to the list! Thanks for the tour.

Lana G!
http://airmiles.wordpress.com/

TrainingHearts said...

I agree with Jennifer's comment...well worth wait!

Thanks for sharing. Have a wonderful weekend :)

Myrna said...

Interesting tour through T. Jefferson's home and gardens. Thank you for sharing that. It is truly an American treasure.

Gina E. said...

I love to see and read tours of places on the Net. Your photos were perfect and there was just enough description without going into it too much!

Lori said...

Fun to see all of those photos. Thanks for sharing.

Manuela@A Cultivated Nest said...

Lucky you! This is one place I really want to visit. I have several books about Montecello. I even have Jefferson's Garden and Farm Books where he recorded what he planted and whether it was successful or not and his thoughts on gardening. Very interesting ready!

Manuela