Baltimore/Washington/Virginia

Hello to all,

We decided to make a trip to visit Pamela this weekend in Columbia, Maryland.  Pamela moved from New York City to the Baltimore area this past fall to attend The University of Maryland. She is enrolled in their PhD program in Clinical Psychology. We are very proud of her!  She is a hard working student and a great daughter!  We wanted to see Pam's new apartment, her school and basically find out a bit more about her life in her new city. 

David and I left Hood River on Friday morning quite early. We arrived into Baltimore airport just before dinner time. We had a nice dinner with Pamela, then slept immediately afterwards. Jet lag and travel took their toll on us!

On Saturday, Pam had a lot of work to do at school during the day, so we told her we would meet up with her for dinner, and we set off to visit Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's beautiful home in Charlottesville, Virginia. 

Monticello is a place I was very much looking forward to visiting. The beautiful architecture, the fascinating history, and all those quirky inventions and anecdotes that make Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson virtually guaranteed a great experience. However, it was not to be. By the time we arrived, parked and made it up to the entry area, there was not sufficient time for us to take a decent tour. Not only that, but they have it set up such that you cannot even see the house from the entry area. So we did what any reasonable person with half an hour on their hands would do- we headed for the café.  I generally find that museum cafés transcend their utilitarian service as food dispensers for cranky tourists. Many are quite good, and this one was no exception. It had a nice elegant yet casual atmosphere, lots of great, healthy snacks and light meals, and a set-up that blended quite nicely with the overall venue. 

It had taken us more than three hours to drive to Monticello, so it took that long or more to return. On the way home, we opted for the back way through some quite scenic towns. This brought back fond memories for David, as he had spent a little over a year living in this area of Virginia as a young crop duster. In fact, his son Justin was born in Culpepper, Virginia. So it was a nice trip down Memory Lane for him as well. 

We drove through really gorgeous country on our way home.  Seductive byways winding and dipping between horse farms and estates, towns with interesting sounding names like Orange, 
Remington, Opal. The land was pastoral and pristine, much like I imagine the English countryside to be (I haven't been).  You almost expect to see the Downton Abbey family out and about on a fox hunt. 

We arrived back for a nice PF Chang dinner with Pamela and her school friend, Haley. Then it was off to bed for two tired travelers. 

On Sunday, Karen's Uncle Chuck drove down from Philadelphia to join us for the day. Karen's son Alex's fianceé Maria drove down from York, Pennsylvania to be with us as well. We were all looking forward to spending more time with Maria, as she will soon be a member of the family!  It was wonderful getting to know her a bit better. 

We decided to visit the home of another former President - Mount Vernon, George Washington's estate in Mount Vernon, Virginia (what are the odds?).   Mount Vernon sits grandly on the banks of the Potomac River. 

George Washington's father had built a modest home on the site during his lifetime, and it was added to considerably by the President and his half-brother before him. Interestingly, it was purchased by the Mount Vernon Ladies Association in about 1858, and they still own and maintain it to this day. Many of Washington's original items are on display. 

We had a very nice guided home tour, then explored the grounds a bit on our own. 

An interesting feature of the home itself, is that, while it looks as if it is made of stone, it is actually made of wood that has been "rusticated"  (made to look like stone by applying sand).  

As were most farms in those days, Mt Vernon was essentially a self-contained village. It had its own orchards, granaries, a grist mill, a butcher shop and a blacksmith shop - everything you would need to survive. It even had a small hospital set up for the poor slaves. Also, two years before George Washington died, they made a distillery, and by the time he died, they were the largest producer of whiskey in the area. They actually still make it in the same distillery that he built. We didn't buy any whiskey, though, as they charge $188.00 a pint for it!

David was looking forward to an exhibit of old weapons which were supposed to have been housed in the museum on premises, but sadly they were removed so that they could make a new, improved display for them. 

After a couple of hours there, we were feeling a bit hungry, and found a wonderful Nepalese restaurant for a late lunch/early dinner. It was a wonderful day with family.  

Good night everyone!  Tomorrow we leave for Woodstock, Vermont. 

With love,
Karen and David