For Christmas, Thom gave me a senior pass from the National Park Service good for lifetime free admission, along with the other occupants of any car where I'm seated. We picked it up at the entrance to the Skyline Drive, a northern extension of the Blue Ridge Parkway. If we'd continued driving, it would have saved us $35!
Instead we drove to Monticello (last two syllables pronounced like the musical instrument), Thomas Jefferson's estate which has appeared on the back of the nickel since 1938. Talk about branding; Donald Trump eat out your tiny, tiny heart! He probably would be impressed with Thomas Jefferson's personal gold crest, too.
It's a fraught moment to be visiting the estate of our third president. But Monticello pays lip service to the elephant in the room with a video that explicitly mentions Jefferson's unapologetic enslavement of African Americans despite fathering multiple children with Sally Hemings after the death of his wife.
Is there a better illustration of inequity than his living quarters and hers?
Jefferson's bedroom.
Hemings' "studio."
It's hard to reconcile Jefferson's reputation as man of the Enlightenment and co-author of the Declaration of Independence ("all men are created equal") with his personal behavior. Monticello certainly accentuates the positive. Like this very cool weathervane.
Which connects to this gadget beneath the portico so you always know which way the wind is blowing. Especially in this turbulent era!
Not scalps, exactly, but close.
After the scale of the Biltmore, Monticello seemed almost like a dollhouse stuffed with things to keep an educated and curious mind engaged.
Chess anyone?
Skylights and windows flood the place with gorgeous light.
Look at the moulding.
Children's toys seem a little too tossed aside . . .
and a tray of insulating cotton may unintentionally raise more questions than it answers.
Jefferson dined in this beautifully appointed breakfast room.
Sally Hemings' brother--she had 12 siblings--cooked for Jefferson.
Here's TJ's equivalent of Thom's Mercedes which has double the capacity. That's a comparison I never thought I'd make!
It's hard to tell, but it appears as if working conditions at Monticello may have been less oppressive than they were at the Biltmore.
I wish I could track down what Jefferson used this instrument for.
Students on a field trip got their "money shot." Well, nickel shot, anyway. Do kids even know what a nickel is anymore? They're definitely seeing too many money shots.
Lots of flowers were blooming in the backyard.
The vegetable garden continues to be productive.
Although someone probably should have harvested the kale before it flowered. Who knew?
Note the Trump-like sign below, attached to the gates of Jefferson's private graveyard. The Monticello Association is responsible for the preservation of Jefferson's home. It also decides who gets to be buried here and refuses to admit his many descendants with Sally Hemings. If I'd known that before visiting, I'm not sure I would have been so eager to go. It's one thing to use the proper terminology when discussing Monticello's history. It's quite another to perpetuate segregation ACTIVELY, even in death.
Here lies Jefferson AND a major conundrum of our times: George Vanderbilt used his inheritance to build America's largest home and to pay his servants. But who contributed more to America? Do we celebrate one and cancel the other?
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