15 Smashing Day Trips from the Stonewall Jackson Inn

We are adding a new feature to our website we call "15 Day Trips from the Stonewall Jackson Inn". Each  shows a day trip itinerary we are recommending . Guests who have taken these day trip excursions  have been ecstatic .
Here is one of the super fine day trips to see the natural beauty of our beautiful Shenandoah Valley with stops to enjoy the rich historical attractions.

Monticello-- Michie's  Tavern--Ash Lawn--Mill Street Grill
 

Monticello

Thomas Jefferson once wrote, "All my wishes end where I hope my days will end, at Monticello."

Monticello, in Charlottesville, Virginia was Thomas Jefferson's home for the remaining fifty-six years of his life. He spent forty years designing it, building it, tearing it apart, redesigning it, and finally putting it all back together. He loved the house and its' property, and knew the name of every tree planted on its grounds. And, if one of his trees died, he knew it. He used his own kilns to bake the more than half-million bricks he used in the various stages of its construction.

While serving as Minister to France, he filled almost a hundred crates with furniture and various works of art for the many rooms at Monticello. While in France he would collect fruit trees and bring them with him on the long boat trip home.

When Mr. Jefferson was President of the United States, he would long for his home at Monticello. Whenever possible he would make the long four day trip there from Washington.

After his death, practically everything at Monticello was sold at auction. However, to celebrate his 250th birthday, this past April, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation has done a fantastic job in assembling various paintings, furniture, Natural History specimens, and scientific instruments he originally collected. Additionally, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation has, for the past seventy years, done a magnificent job of restoring the house and its grounds. It is truly a sight to see.

In the Foundations efforts to collect his original property, they have amassed more than one hundred-fifty items, collections from museums, universities, private homes and Historical Societies. These original items are on display at Monticello in a special exhibition titled, "The Worlds of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello."

Some of the many items included in this special exhibition are a collection of Native American artifacts presented to Thomas Jefferson by Lewis & Clark; a buffalo robe; his famous astronomical clock that he built because his old less-accurate clocks caused him to miss the eclipse of 1811. Also, included are his original dining room tables; a three-inch bell that Thomas Jefferson's wife, Martha, gave to her nine-year-old slave girl, Sally Hemings; and more than thirty original paintings. The floor of the entrance hall has been repainted the grass-green that it originally was, and the walls of the family sitting room have been returned to its original indigo. These efforts to return Monticello to its original state will provide visitors an almost exact feeling as if Thomas Jefferson lived there today.

Thomas Jefferson picked out the site for such a house as he had planned from his father's estate when he was twenty-one-years old. He named it "Monticello" which is Italian for "Little Mountain."

Monticello was intended to be fashioned as a traditional Palladian building, but its location was not practical. It had been said that building a house on a mountain was most impractical. As a result of it's impractically, Jefferson paid dearly in his efforts. He had to transport tons of stone and timber. Once the original structure was up, there was not enough water in the well to meet the needs. He then had to transport water using carts from the nearby springs.

Life was uncomfortable and difficult in the early years of construction, especially for his wife, Martha, who had to live in a house, which in her lifetime was never finished. She had to tolerate unfinished walls & roof, being subjected to severe cold winds, brick and plaster dust, all the while bearing six children in ten years, having lost four of them, until her death in 1782 at the early age of thirty-three.

Throughout the many discomforts and hardships experienced at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson felt there was a brighter side, in that nothing like Monticello had ever been built in Colonial America.

Thomas Jefferson was an extraordinary man. In his fifty-six years at Monticello it seems he always kept himself quite busy. He designed and invented many things. He would start his day at first light, reportedly when he could read the hands of the obelisk clock that he designed. This clock was marked by clangs from a Chinese gong placed on the roof. The gong was powered by the clock located in the entrance hall. The mechanism was controlled by fifty pound cannonball weights that would descend slowly throughout the week, falling through holes in the floor by Friday, spending the next two days falling further into the cellar.

Some of his other inventions include a dumbwaiter; a polygraph machine that enabled him to make exact copies of letters as he was writing them; Venetian blinds he used to regulate sunlight in his greenhouses; a moldboard for a plow; and his achromatic telescope.

When he was not busy building, designing or inventing, Thomas Jefferson spent many hours writing one of his more than 20,000 letters, or reading from one of his more than seven thousand books in his library. His library contained books in seven languages, two of which were Latin and Greek, languages he had mastered. When he worked at his desk, he would have no less than twenty books at a time in which to refer.

Monticello through all its greatness also had a flaw. An economic flaw. Although Thomas Jefferson could feed and clothe its inhabitants, it did not produce enough cash crops to pay for the country-gentleman lifestyle so accustomed to Jefferson. As a result it was worked by the most oppressive of labor systems, human slavery. Jefferson did however deplore human slavery and was optimistic that it would one day be abolished. He knew though that the only way to run a plantation of this size was through the use of slaves. He did manage to free a few of his slaves, but by the time of his death the remaining slaves as well as the remainder of his property were offered for sale to pay his debts.

Monticello: Home of Thomas Jefferson

Michie’s Tavern

       Lunch at the historical Michie’s Tavern, where Jefferson, Madison and Monroe met to drink and dine together. It is an easy drive and the directions to the tavern are  signed well  from Monticello.  It was here that the three men ,in concert, conceived the underlying principal content of our Constitution.  It is well preserved and serves very good lunch with in a period ambiance.   The menu is limited to traditional Virginia mid-18th century fare.

The Historic Michie's  Tavern

Ash Lawn-Highland

Ash Lawn-Highland is an historic house museum, 535-acre working farm, and performing arts site in Albermarle County, Virginia.   President James Monroe and his wife, Elizabeth Kortright Monroe of New York, owned Ash Lawn-Highland from 1793 to 1826 and made it their official residence from 1799 to 1823. After the Monroes' death, the name of their farm was changed from "Highland" to "Ash Lawn"; today both names are used.

Ash Lawn-Highland was opened for public visitation in 1931 by philanthropist Jay Winston and Helen Lambert Johns. Upon his death in late 1974, Johns bequeathed Ash Lawn-Highland to the College of William and Mary, alma mater of James Monroe. Accepting the Johns bequest "to operate this property as a historic shrine for the education of the general public," the College initiated new programs in restoration and interpretation at Ash Lawn-Highland.

We who work at Ash Lawn-Highland are involved in the College of William and Mary's continuing program to preserve and restore the special character of James and Elizabeth Monroe's estate, Highland.

Ash Lawn-Highland continues the tradition begun by the Monroes of welcoming friends, neighbors, dignitaries, and visitors. It is the scene of meetings, parties, picnics, a summer music festival, and a variety of special events. It continues to provide an authentic view of nineteenth-century life for our many other visitors through examples of Early American and Victorian architecture, decorative arts from those periods, and craft demonstrations on the grounds.

Mill Street Grill

Now drive to  Staunton where The Mill Street Grill  balances good quality food with fast fun efficient service, all in the cozy confines of a picturesque  turn-of-the-century flourmill. Since opening in 1992, their goal has been to be the most consistent restaurant in the area. Many of the "locals" dine here on a regular basis for that special night out.  At the Mill, no one is a stranger. They treat you better than family,  feed you well, anddon’t ask you to do the dishes.

 They are well known for their Southern Barbeque Baby Back Ribs, which are tender, fall off the bone, and glazed with Jerry's secret Valley Barbeque Sauce  But the also serve great steaks and Chops, which are cut in-house and grilled to order. Fresh seafood arrives daily. The have a good assortment of pasta dishes that are not only interesting, but also flavorful.  For the light fare, Wayne recommends  the Cobb Salad as the best he has ever had!

The menu has a wide range of vegetarian pastas and sandwiches; we have a Black Bean Burger that’s nearly famous, if not kind of messy. They cater to Vegans if they are patient, and can adapt a lot of dishes, just ask. If you have a special request, ask for Jerry the owner&chef.  He will tailor your evening cuisine  and dining experience to suit you,   and it is reasonable.

http://www.millstreetgrill.com