NorthEast Trip: Day 0 - 2: Hello Virginia!

Day 0: Driving Day & Caverns

In typical 'us' fashion, we decided to casually get to our first destination (Virginia) by driving up the Blue Ridge Parkway instead of using busy highways through busy cities.

It was a great choice, as our 6 hour drive was absolutely delightful and relaxed. We rarely saw other vehicles and went for long periods of time without a stop sign or traffic light. The scenery was delightful, all green hills and occasional still-flowering mountain laurel. 

About halfway, we stopped at Linville Caverns in North Carolina. Paul is in love with caves, and this was a great one to check out. We've done plenty of cave tours before, but this one was a step above the others in terms of being really really close to the cave walls and such.

There was one part where the tour guide said that if you were uncomfortable with tight spaces, we should just chill in the cave "hall" and wait. I tried going through the squeeze and it was SUPER tight, so I waited in the "hall" and Paul and others in our small group went through to check out the other room.

If you like caves, that's a great one to check out!

After that, we headed the rest of the way to our campground in Independence, Virginia. Note to self: check online later to see if the temps are always that lovely in that area all the time...maybe I can convince Paul to move there someday!

It was the most perfect ideal summer evening. We got one of those tiny cabins at the campground (the ones that are basically walls around a bed) so we didn't have to unpack much. If it wasn't for annoying neighbors (humans are the WORST) with their constant loud music and screaming child, it would have been perfection. 

The pasture hike at James Monroe Highland House

Day 1: James Monroe Highland House

We drove another 4-ish hours to our first actual place for our adventure/trip. We chose to camp in the Charlottesville area for two nights so that I could see my bucket list item: A Monticello tour and also the Rotunda at the nearby University of Virginia. 

We had the Monticello tour set up for Day 2, so we filled Day 1 with the driving and then the afternoon at the James Monroe Highland House. James Monroe was good buddies with Thomas Jefferson and made his home RIGHT next to Jefferson. 

We pulled up the lavish driveway, lined with live oaks, and the parking lot for the James Monroe place was pretty much empty (unlike Monticello, which was harder to get tickets for and the parking lot is always full).

We were pretty confused why the parking lot at poor Monroe's place was so empty but it soon became clear: the original house burned down a long time ago and they put up a pretty lame "replica" in its' place...and they wanted lots of money to tour the fake Monroe home, too!

So we decided to just do one of the free hikes on the property. It was about 3 miles of walking and it was very lovely. They are in the midst of healing the forest by adding lots of native trees, so it was great to walk through the baby trees and read the labels for ideas for healing our own forest.

After that, we went to find our campground for the first two nights of our trip. It was definitely a bit more rustic than we had thought it would be....the only way to get water was by filling it in the outdoor shower, which was a half-stall outside in the middle of the campground (very awkward) and they had ONE pit toilet for the entire campground. 

The nice parts were that we asked (and received) a lot very far from everyone else, so we felt completely alone in the forest. Plus, Paul got to fish in their pond and caught a bunch of bass. 

The Rotunda!

Day 2: Monticello and the Rotunda!!

Once upon a time, I took a college class that was basically about Palladio, an Italian architect who inspired a huge architecture movement in America. That Palladian architecture movement in America was led by Thomas Jefferson, so our college class spent plenty of time talking about Monticello and the Rotunda at the University (that Jefferson founded/designed). 

Ever since that college class, I've been wanting to check out Jefferson's designs. So it was nice to finally see these beautiful buildings! 

We started by trying to go to the free tour of the Rotunda at 11am. However, life got us a bit delayed, so by the time we got to the University and found parking, it was already 11:30am. 

So we strolled through the University grounds on our own. We found the Rotunda and the original college area and I entertained Paul with information about it all. He LOVED it. (laugh). 

Then we headed to Monticello for our 2:15pm tour. The tour itself was great (super cool to see all of Jefferson's wacky inventions throughout the home) and then we toured Jefferson's gardens. Sigh... Jefferson was an odd guy, with a love for architecture and also botany, so his gardens (and the gardening things that were learned and preserved due to him!) are pretty cool. 

I fan-girled all over Monticello for a few hours and then we headed back to our super rustic campground for the final night.

Next up, Pennsylvania!

Beautiful Monticello