1st real family vacation, part II

okay, so after our time in d.c. we headed down toward central virginia by way of the shenandoah national forest. according to the virginia fall foliage report (yes, they have a number to call and listen to the ranger talk about what the status of the foliage is!) the leaves were beginning to get there color. though we weren't driving through during the leaves peak color it was still so beautiful. it amazes me how God makes things so majestic and peaceful. we took a little hike to the foot of a small waterfall and let me tell you i got a good workout carrying a nearly 16lb baby back up the mtn :)


we made it to charlottesville late at night after another long day of adventure, slept a few hours and then off again to see more! the charlottesville area was thomas jefferson's old stomping grounds (as well as james monroe and james madison). jefferson envisioned the university of virginia and we were able to walk through his rotunda. the downtown area of charlottesville was very nice. we strolled around, wrote our names on a chalk wall, and ate some tasty burgers at a place called five guys.

and you would think that was a full day already, but we are serious tourists and we went to monticello, the hill where thomas jefferson built his home! oh it was gorgeous. it is no surprise our past president picked this hill to settle. eli did great as we went on a group tour of the home and grounds.







this was a tree that was from the 1800s. the groundskeepers needed to cut it down a couple years ago because it had naturally rotted from the inside out.


pictured above is jefferson's tombstone. he was very specific of the epitaph. he wanted to be remembered by three things and three things only.
1. author of the declaration of american independence
2. of the statute of virginia for religious freedom
3. and father of the university of virginia

here is a fun fact too: thomas jefferson died 50 years to the day of the signing of the decalration of independence...as did good old john adams.

and our day was still not over!! on our way out of charlottesville we saw a sign for carter mountain orchard and of course couldn't resist :) it was about a 5 minute drive up a dirt road until we reached the orchard and let's just say, 'what a view!'



this apple stand held 'pippin' apples which apparently were jefferson's favorite apples. very tart and very tasty.


eli did so well on this long day. we are blessed by this little guy :)