Monticello - Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence

We drove to Monticello near Charlottesville, VA to the home of Thomas S. Jefferson. We spent of the day seeing the inside of his home. The foyer he set up as a museum. We were not allowed to take pictures inside (that was standard everywhere we went). Where Mr. Jefferson had traveled, he brought back trinkets and had them on display around his foyer. He had american indian artifacts and clothing, items from all over Europe, different guns, and a lot more stuff. They said he would spend time with guests teaching them about other people and places.  

This is Monticello. This is only the center portion of the home. There are two wings with houses on each side that are connected with a raised terrace walkway to the house.  So lush!

 Plaque by the house. Worth reading.

 On the top of his home was a weather vane. Look at the picture above and look up toward the ceiling. Mr. Jefferson put a special dial (connected to the weather vane) so he could look up and tell which way the wind was blowing without being out in the cold. He had all kinds of inventions around his home.

This is under the main house. A full basement with a variety of rooms. He had wine cellars, beer cellars, cisterns for collecting water, storage, kitchens, stables, you name it! Yet, it was never seen from the front or back. You could only see if from the side of the house! Very well designed.

 This is part of Mr. Jefferson's property. But if you look over the trees to just left of center to the patch of smooth grass, that is where James Monroe lived at Ash-Lawn Highland. His house was only 2 miles away and they had a path between the homes where they could ride their horses and visit regularly with each other!

One thing that really impressed us as we visited all these homes was they were completely self-sufficient. They grew the cotton, spun & made their own clothes, grew their own food (this is the vegetable garden), and trees for making their furniture! We could take a lesson here! One thing about Mr. Jefferson's garden that is still being practiced today is they harvest the seed. They are never hybrid. The originals grow bigger and have a sweet smell to the flowers. People can actually order directly from Monticello their seeds.

 We were impressed with the Fig trees. Very ripe. We were invited to eat them. So we did! Yum!!!

 Here is one of the kitchens that was stocked with a lot of baskets, wooden containers and copper ware. Very nice! There was even a spit for roasting that was a very clever invention!

 This is the grave marker for Thomas Jefferson in their family graveyard (still be used today). I hope one day I get to meet this remarkable man. He influenced so many of his peers and helped form our great Nation!

Montpelier - James Madison's home

Montpelier (pronounced Mont- pea - yea  .... very french!) is the home of James Madison, the writer of the US Constitution. He was a short man. Married Dolley when he was about 41 years old.  The day we went to his plantation was Sep. 17, 2011 which was the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, so it was "Constitution Day".  They had the Marine Corps band playing, a bar-b-que set up on the lawn (food was yummy!), activities and games for the kids to experience from the era, there was a cooking demonstration so one could taste the food that would have been prepared back then. We tasted beet pancakes (tasted exactly like beets!) and lemonade.  Was totally fun. That evening was fireworks, but we were too tired to stay for that.

 This is the train station at Montpelier. If you look over the left door it says "Whites", above the right door it says "Colored".  I was so surprised to see it still that way. It is a museum - was locked when we arrived.

 This is what Mr. Madison's home looked like. It went through a variety of additions. Several generations of Madisons lived here. Thomass Jefferson lived nearby and was very good friends with Mr. Madison. Mr. Jefferson is the one who suggested he add the pillars and porch to his house and a variety of other additions inside.  It actually made it look more stately than it was originally.

 There was this couple dressed to act, speak, look, etc.. etc... like James & Dolley Madison. When they asked me my name I told them it was Nielson. He asked if I was related to the Nielson from Greece he knew. Someone Mr. Madison knew in the mid 1700s! I told him I was from Arizona. He said something like "oh, you mean that far away territory out west that hasn't been settled yet?" Too funny.

 These kids were fabulous! I spoke with three of the girls.  Their high school in Maryland has a club for the revolutionary time period. Each student finds a person they are most interested in and they study and learn about them and then become them. They make their own clothes. Part of the class is they learn dances, etiquette, etc... Then on special days, like Constitution Day, they drive themselves to it and participate as those characters.  They operated the games for the kids to play. One group had kids recruited into the army and were teaching them how to handle a musket (or whatever kind they used then) and march in unison. Was funny to watch.  One young man had 3 girls as his tag a longs. I think he enjoyed it immensely!  Was totally a fun day!

Here is one of the plaques in the visitor's center from Madison.  It is so true!

Fredericksburg, Virginia

We drove from Washington DC area to Fredericksburg, VA. This is where George Washington grew up, was a boy.  This is the visitor's center at Ferry Farm where he grew up.

This is Ferry Farm - where George Washington grew up.

 This is the actual part of the land where his house and slave buildings, etc... were. Where you see the excavation happening is where his house was. They are still uncovering parts of it. Ferry Farm is now an educational center and a working excavation site. This is also the place where the Union Troops placed a floating bridge (from Washington's property across the river to the other side) so they could attack the Confederates holding out in town during the Civil War.

 This is the National Cemetery at Fredericksburg, VA. There are rows and rows of soldiers from Union to Confederate buried here and some others. This photo is from up on top of the cemetery looking down the hill into part of the town. This hill is where the Confederates fought the Union as the Union soldiers tried climbing the hill directly into gun fire! Killed a lot of people.

 Original cannon from the Civil War in that area.

 A look across the field of the graves of this National Cemetery.

Washington DC Temple

We planned on doing a session at the Temple in northern part of Washington DC. It took us 1 1/2 hours to drive from the Mall area to the Temple. Traffic was worse than anything I experienced in Los Angeles! The last time we were here was in 1992 with our young family. We were only able to walk around and see how beautiful it was. We caught fireflies in the bushes back then. This time, the weather was much colder.

       We made the 6:00 pm session. We were the only couple on that session with two other men. So small!

 Here we are in front of the Temple before we went in.

The first thing I noticed was that the 4 spires that broke off and fell to the ground during the earthquake were already repaired and back in place.  It was so beautiful!

 The fountain in front of the entrance.

This was taken when we came out after our session. It just glowed!

Memorials around the Mall in DC

One afternoon we decided to try to FIND parking and walk around the Mall and see all the monuments.

 Here is the Washington Monument. It was closed because of some cracks at the top from the Earthquake that happened a few weeks before we got there. The last time we were there (1992) there were lines wrapped around it for a 3 hour wait! So we still didn't get to go inside and up!

 This is the Jefferson Memorial. What a great man! He truly had a huge impact on our country in the architectural design of our national buildings and some Presidents' homes!

 This was Franklin Delano Roosevelt Monument. There were 4 stages, one for each of his terms as US President. I knew he did 3, didn't know about the 4th. What was interesting is he took people through WWI, the depression, and WWII. He is the president who started the water authority and power plants - that is why all the running water. There was one display of people (statues) in a soup line. He did a lot to get this country on its feet. He actually created JOBs!

 Martin Luther King monument. Behind him was a larged curved wall with some of his most famous quotes on. It was very well done.

 This is the Korean War Memorial. Very fitting - trudging through lush fields. My dad fought in this war.

 Abraham Lincoln Memorial.  He always wanted to be great in the eyes of his constitutents, but it wasn't until after his death that it was realized!

 This is part of the Vietnam War Memorial. Also trudging through lush vegetation.  There was also a long wall with every name of a person killed or missing during that war. There was a man there taking rubbings (a paper he was coloring over to get the name on his paper of someone who died. It looked like he was hired to do this, there were several he was taking on a special paper.)

 This is the World War II Memorial. This one caused me to cry.  At each end were tall monuments with wreaths on each one.  There was one for every state in our union and 6 territories at the time. One end represented the battle in the Pacific and had the major battles listed, the other end was the European side with major battles listed. In the middle was a large water fountain.

At the head of it, was a large arch with Gold Stars. (See just above the water) Each star represented 100 soldiers who died. There were LOTS.  The Park Ranger told me this was laid out like a formal dinner in the Roman Era.  The guests of honor were at the Head of the table (stars), the banquet was the water fountain. Seated around the table were the guests as they entered into the union starting with the first Delaware on the left, then the 2nd state on the right side, then the 3rd state to enter the union on the left and back and forth. The territories which included Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, Phillipines, Puerto Rico and ?? at the end.  There is a lot of symbolism in this lay out!!!  My father-in-law served in this War.

Pentagon Memorial - from 9/11 attack

One evening when we got back to our Metro Station by our hotel, we walked around the Pentagon and saw the Memorial there. When we were at the Pentagon with our family in 1992, we were able to park in the parking lot and take a tour of the facility. Now they have guards walking with machine guns (like the rest of the world, sad to say) and you can't park anywhere close! You are only allowed to take photos once you are on the Memorial grounds (cameras everywhere).  Once you walk past this sign, the place felt very sacred. You didn't want to speak louder than a whisper. It was beautifully designed.

 Curtis at Pentagon Memorial entrance.

 This is the Pentagon you see from the Memorial. Notice the shade of color difference. Where it is darker is the original building wall. Where it is lighter inthe middle 1/3 of the side, that is where the plane went in and they rebuilt it in the same manner and pattern, but the blocks are not weathered. That was really amazing to me to see how huge the hole was. No wonder it killed so many inside the building as well as those on the plane.

 This is what the memorial looked like. Each bench represented a person. They were layed out in rows. Each bench was placed in a row corresponding to a year from 1932 to 1999 (I think).  So in the row 1999 there were only 1 or 2 benches...children on the plane who were only 2 yrs old. Once you got to 1977 to 1954 there were a lot of benches. There were fewer as 1932. You can see a paper chain and flowers on the one bench. Someone had left messages to them from friends. On each loop of the chain was a personal memory message. Was very touching!

 This is how each bench looked. Had running water under neath it. You can actually sit on the bench and meditate. The running water represents - living waters, life never ends.

 At the end of each bench was engraved the person's name. Below in the water on the metal was again the name and year of that person's birth. Each bench was labeled.

Down the side of the Memorial was each year listed. Then out to the right of these "year signs" were all the benches representing people who were killed but born on that year.  Who ever designed all of this did a fabulous job. It was truly a special place to "feel".

Enjoying Museums of our History

We spent two days seeing the American History and Natural History Museums of the Smithsonian. Walked and walked, but it was great. Curtis saw this add of a Fiat and started laughing. Those cars were around in Italy when he served his mission there in 1972-73 and they are just coming to America now. You can make the top a convertible so if you are over 6' (like our friend Larry Sampson!) you can drive with your head out of the top!

Here we are eating a terrific pizza and salad after we had just spent two hours in the International Spy Museum - which they don't let you take any pictures.  I was a little disappointed - hoping to find some secrets I didn't know about. But with all the James Bond movies and Alias type shows - I knew about it all. But it was fun to see. They did have the original Bond car on display that was in a more recent movie. 

 These are REAL Stratovarius made instruments. They were locked up tight in a glass case in a special room! I thought my son-in-law Nick would enjoy this photo! He plays the cello!

 These are Dorothy's ruby slippers! The original!

I thought they would look more sparkley and prettier than they were.

 This is a piece that fascinated me. It is a crimper for pleating material - like when you sew and and have to pleat blouses or skirts! Pioneers were truly crafty. If had one of those it would have saved me hours of pinning! They just heated up the cast iron in a fire and it was hot to pleat!

 In the Natural History Museum they had the original HOPE DIAMOND on display, in a special case that rotated in its own special room with guards every where.  It looks green here, but it actually was blue with lots of clear diamonds around it.  Sort of reminded me of the necklace from Titanic movie - large stone!

 This was in the mammal part of the museum. We kept discussing "The Night at the Museum" movie - only Curtis kept telling me .... "it was filmned in New York, the 2nd movie was filmed at the Smithsonian." I still pretended they could come alive at night!

 This was my favorite photo of the Natural History Museum. Some kind of animal (stuffed) - don't know what it was, but it was hilarious. Look at that face!!!

I finally convinced Curtis that this was "Dumb Dumb" statute! ha ha! He stood by it so we could show the grandkids.  We had a great time seeing all kinds of history.

Nat'l Air & Space Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Washington DC

Since Curtis has been working as a Copper Engineer Consultant for the past year, he has not been home very often. So we decided to take two weeks and go to Washington DC and Viriginia.  Our first stop was the National Air & Space Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (part of the Smithsonian Museum near Dulles Airport) - that was a mouthful!  Anyway...it was great. There were planes from day one! Clear back to before the Wright Brothers, plus their stuff. I have posted just a few highlights below.  Notice I am wearing pants and a jacket! So great since it wasn't 117 degree weather we left in Arizona!

Sandi in front of the Air & Space Center. The pieces to each side of me are airplane wings. On them are engraved flying squadrons and their crews over a huge period of time (can't remember).

Here is the Enterprise (great name!!!) Space Shuttle. This never went into space. It was used to practice being carried on a 747, and landing after re-entry from space so they knew if it would work or not.

The yellow plane was the first commercial plane built for carrying passengers by Boeing.

The white plane is an original France Concord plane.

This silver plane is the actual Enola Gay that dropped the atomic bomb in Japan.

Every plane during war time is usually given a name by their crew. What I didn't know

is that the pilot of the Enola Gay named this plane after his mother.

This is a mustang fighter plane. Just like the one the crashed into the crowd in Reno NV while we were gone. Curtis loves this plane. Great art work!