Synopsis: 147.6 miles driven; 2.5 hours on the road; Charlottesville, VA to Forest, VA; Visited Monticello and Appomattox Court House
Cold breakfast...not nearly as good as we have been enjoying but still a filling start to the day. We slept in this morning (meaning we didn't start the morning wake-up routine until 7: 00am and didn't leave the hotel until after 8:00 am). We set out for Monticello - Thomas Jefferson's home. We had tickets for the 9:30 am tour and they ask you to be there at least 30 minutes early.
We got there by 8:45 which gave us time to pick-up our tickets, stop by the gift shop to get ideas for later, and then catch our shuttle to the house (from the Visitor Center). The house itself and the things Jefferson did to design and decorate it were fascinating. The kids seemed really impressed with the wine "dumb waiter" system - it's cool. After our house tour, about 35-40 minutes, we did our own walking tour of the other buildings. Along the way, the kids got to try their hand at writing with a quill pen and ink (thank goodness for the safety shirts provided).
After visiting the house and grounds, we walked back the visitor center by the trail that goes through the woods. It's a short walk, through some hills and trees we don't have in Florida (downhill the entire way) and you get to stop at Jefferson's grave (and not just see it from the shuttle bus). Back at the Visitor's Center, we did our souvenir shopping and then completed our day at Monticello by watching the film they had on Jefferson.
From Monticello, we hit the road for Appomattox Court House. We had a scenic drive through southern Virginia with clear roads and no traffic in front of us. Once at Appomattox, we had barely gotten there and picked up our Junior Ranger booklets (for Jedi and Jariah) when they started a re-enactor's story of a Yankee soldier from the time of the surrender. It was pretty good and very informative. After he was done, we toured the park on our own and completed the Junior Ranger program (I think our 16th for this trip). Buying some souvenirs was our last stop before hitting the road to Lynchburg.
We got to town earlier than expected so we took a "Tim and Lisa Kroll" reality tour and drove by all the places we lived in the area previously. We arrived at Nana and Papa's around 4:30 pm and Nana greeted us. I think the kids just about wore her out with the five of them talking at once about their trip when Papa got home from PA. Lisa and I took the opportunity (with child care available) to go out to a favorite restaurant to celebrate our 22nd anniversary (I love you, Lisa). We're now resting and the kids are enjoying the time with Nana and Papa (I hope Nana and Papa are enjoying it).
Hotel Deal of the Day: One night at Nana and Papa's house for $0 and that includes visits to the dungeon and adventure walks for free.
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