The Arnold's U.S. Odyssey: 9/3/09 Charlottesville, VA

Yesterday, we drove to the stunning Piedmont Elk's Lodge in Charlottesville, VA. Great food, a swimming pool and we are their only RV guests. We are parked on a knoll under the shade of some trees. . . very peaceful.

This morning, we went to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello plantation. What an extraordinary place. . . beautifully restored and maintained. It is owned by a private foundation and extremely well staffed. All the guides were very knowledgeable and cordial. A great visit!!

It is very interesting to note, tho, that the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence which states that "all men are created equal," both inherited and kept many slaves.

We learned that Jefferson was the architect of his home, thinking about the ratio of windows to room size and other details that were ahead of his time in the mid-170os.. There were dumbwaiters to bring wine up from the cellar to the dining room, separate charcoal burners for a cook top in the kitchen, and many other innovative measures to improve the functionality of his home. Genius thinking!

He kept volumes of notes for all his projects, the house, the vegetable garden, the fruit garden, and many items he designed plus the caretaking of his slaves. Very interesting man.

Our camping space at the Elk's

Four views of Jefferson's home

A poster describing how and why the working parts of the home were placed

The ice house...to keep meat fresh into the summer

Description of the ice house and how it worked

The kitchen with a display of implements used in the day

The cook top. . . separate "burners" so each could have a different temperature

Items found in the garden

Items found in the "dependencies

Fish were caught in neighboring streams and kept alive in this pond until needed for a meal

View of house showing "L" shaped terraces on each side with structures at each end used for reading or gazing over the stunning views.

Another view of the house showing a stump at the lower right. Tree was original to the property and was only cut down last year due to disease.

Partial view of vegetable garden. . . this garden is 80ft by 1000ft. Period vegetables are still grown here and given to employees or sold in their shop.