Visiting Big Tom

My favorite thing that me and Sterling do is go places and do things. Occasionally we’ll putz around and just hang out but we really like to get up and go. A few weekends ago I went over to Charlottesville to visit Sterling and his family. When we decided to go up to Monticello, I grabbed my camera in excitement because I knew this would be good! I had never been to Monticello before and had always wanted to see this historical landmark. As we drove there Sterling suggested that we park the car at the base of the mountain and walk the hiking trails up to the museum. I thought it sounded like a great idea, and he promised it would be leisurely. The walk was beautiful with tons of flowers and a boardwalk trail that went through the wooded area up the mountain.

We took our time hiking up to Monticello and stopped along the way to take pictures. We even set up a make shift tripod and took selfies while my camera hung from a tree. We got to the museum and bought our tickets (Tip for any Charlottesville folk, apparently Albemarle County residents get in for free if they bring an out of towner. The out of towner of course has to pay but me and Sterling split the ticket and it worked great!)

We took the guided tour of the house which was incredible! Thomas Jefferson was a genius of his time and it was amazing to see all of the tools and gadgets he had created or adapted for his home to make his life easier. He also was good friends with James Madison and we learned that they were commonly referred to as “Big Tom and Little Jimmy” (LOVE!). After our house tour the guide announced that we were to head to the basement because the mountain was on a severe weather alert. As you can imagine a HUGE summer thunderstorm rolled in and it was pouring! All I kept thinking was “I walked 2.5 miles here… in flipflops… with my camera”. As I watched the rain fall I just hoped that it would eventually let up so we could walk back to the car safely.

Luckily the rain eventually gave up and provided beautiful light for us to walk around and capture the grounds of Monticello. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the day! Enjoy!