Monticello was lovely - and weird.
The tour was led by a former kindergarten teacher: "And who can tell us who was the President when Jefferson was Vice President? John Adams! That's right! VERY good! And what was Jefferson famous for? Writing the Declaration of Independence! That's right! VERY good!" I was ready to kill her the moment she opened her mouth. Dan was just disappointed there were no animal crackers and juice boxes.
Yes, the house was very nice, and surprisingly modest. Turns out old Tom was a bit of a miser and hated paying those heating bills, especially as he had all those household servants to pay, not to mention all those groundskeepers who maintained the magnificent gardens and worked on the 5,000 acre farm. What's that, Miss Susie? "Enslaved workers" you say? 200 of them? Most of them inherited?
I'm sorry, I know he did a lot of impressive things and was a very good architect (although a lousy woodworker if the one bookcase ascribed to him is any indication) and writer and politician and so on, but I just can't get past the fact that the writer of the Declaration of Independence ('We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal ...) was a major slave owner all his life. 
And then there's the Sally Hemings issue. I was waiting to see how Miss Susie would deal with that ("Now, children, there are some very bad men who say very bad things about our hero ...) Finally, as the tour was ending and we were approaching the "enslaved workers'" quarters, she said "Now, some historians believe that after Jefferson's wife died, a relationship might have existed between Jefferson and Hemings, and that some of her children might be fathered by him, but there is no consensus yet." Really? DNA evidence doesn't count?
And then there's the fact that he never freed Sally Hemings, although he did free all her children (three of whom went on to assume white identities)and how he freed one slave but didn't free the rest of his family.
And then we found the only known 'African-American Graveyard' which was below the parking lots, about half a mile down the hill.
We ate lunch in the RV and then took to the road - on MY route this time - a straight shot down Interstate 81. I figured our marriage couldn't stand the strain of another scenic route. I even drove the beast for the first time and when Dan took over again I took my first en route nap on the sofa (quite delicious!) Arrived at the RV park still quite late but with tempers and marriage intact. Ate the last of our NY food supply- grilled rack of lamb on the new travellin' Weber barbie- and popped open a bottle of Pinot. I'm not sure, but we just might be having fun now.
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