James Madison's Montpelier

The first time I visited Montpelier, they had just opened the house for tours.  It was, quite literally empty. Nothing had been restored, there was no furniture, no carpets, just an empty house, stripped of its years of changes back to the original walls.

Wow what a difference less than a decade makes.  There were many pieces that were original to Madison's time at Montpelier including furniture and at least one original window.



Montpelier was also home to over 300 human beings held as property by the Madison family.  Montpelier has put together a fantastic program "The Mere Distinction of Colour", and it is so powerful.  I stifled sobs walking through the presentation and how it humanized the enslaved community that lived, worked, dreamed, loved, suffered, and died here.  At it's height, slavery was a Three billion, yes billion, dollar industry.  There was no way, no matter how much our Founding Fathers preached against slavery they weren't willing to go against that economic engine.


In fact, over and over during the tour of dead presidents I was reminded that while they said they right things about slavery they all (YES, ALL, EVEN OUR VERY FAVORITES) time and time again chose their personal and family wealth and well-being over the moral choice of freeing their human property, or passing laws against owning human beings. These men, who created an entire country out of big ideas couldn't come up with one big idea that ended slavery.  And I don't really think they even tried that hard.

At 8 years old, Madison was deeded an infant (named Billey) by his maternal grandmother. Billey was the only slave Madison freed, and in fact, he didn't actually free him.  He sold him into an apprenticeship from which he would be free in seven years.  And he only did that after considering bringing him to Virginia.  He said of Billey,

"I am persuaded his mind is too thoroughly tainted to be a fit companion for fellow slaves in Virga. [Yeah, Madison was afraid he'd talk the others into thinking freedom was attainable - WHAT AN ASSHOLE] The laws here do not admit of his being sold for more than 7 years.  I do not expect to get near the worth of him..."

Virginia is for Lovers (of Cider, History, and other Adventures)

I decided that on this trip to Charlottesville I'd do all the stuff I never seemed to have time for when I previously visited.  I love Charlottesville and the surrounding area of Virginia, and it's definitely on my short list of places to live.  

First up, Albermarle Ciderworks
I love a good cidery and this one wasn't too far from some of the other places I wanted to see. I stopped by and did the Classic tasting flight and bought a baguette for lunch.  



As I was finishing up one the employees came over and asked how everything is.  I told her that I ranked them, she took a quick look and declared I had a "softer palette".  I also mentioned that I was wondering if I should buy a bottle of something from the Premium tasting without actually tasting.  "No need," she declared and brought me a taste.  She also brought me another to taste that she thought I'd like based on how I ranked the others.  I ended up buying bottles of both of the extra tastings, and found out she was actually one of the owners.





Afterwards, I headed over to James Monroe's Highland. This is perhaps the least developed of the Charlottesville area presidential homes.  James Monroe was our 5th president and lived at Highland with his family from 1799 to 1823.  Fire destroyed the main house in the mid-1800s and that coupled with "enhancements" made by later owners meant that mystery and misunderstanding surrounded the site for years.  Historians and archaeologists are working hard to uncover the truth and restore the property to the age of the Monroe's. 

In 2016, archaeological work uncovered remains from the 1799 main house.  This meant the "house" they'd been showing for years was likely actually the guest house.

I also found out on this tour that Monroe died on July 4th, 1831. The simultaneous deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson (2nd and 3rd presidents) were exactly 5 years previous.  


Even though he called for the abolition of slavery, Monroe also enslaved as many as 250 people in his lifetime, freeing only 1, Peter Marks.  He inherited legal human property at 16, when his father bequeathed to him an enslaved boy name Ralph as well as several unnamed farm hands. In 1810, Monroe was one of the county's largest slave owners with only 14 households owning more human beings (one of which was Thomas Jefferson).

In the late 1820s Monroe established Liberia as a place where freed US slaves could be resettled. It did not go well.  He was one of the few founding fathers not to die in debt - primarily because he sold off his property (including slaves) and then petitioned the federal government for reimbursement of tens of thousands of dollars for entertaining and protocol expenses incurred as a public servant.

Confounding Confirmed

When I started planning this trip across the country my intention was to start by heading east, then north, west, etc. basically counter-clockwise from Houston around the country.

I started the itinerary, version after version, and I would get to Montana-ish and everything would fall apart.  The dates and places wouldn't work, the timelines didn't fit, nothing about it made sense. I would hit a scheduling brick wall.  

Eventually I gave up and decided to go clockwise.  From Houston to New Mexico - west, then north, east, etc.  And, if you're following me here, on 1000 Places, or any of my social media you'll see that this itinerary has been amazing.  Not only have I had amazing weather, but the way the schedule came together means that I was able to add another 2 places from the List.  

Amazing, right?

And then today....this was the news.  Guess where I would've been if I'd gone through with the original plan?

'Historic' winter storm dumps 3 feet of snow, smashes records in West

Montana Governor Declares Emergency As Early Snowstorm Dumps Several Feet of Snow in Northern Rockies

A possibly historic snow storm in the West plus a heat wave in the East — what’s going on?

I know that people can discern the Holy Ghost in a million different ways, but for me it has always been a confounding, never a confirmation.  I never get a, "Hey J, that is definitely the right decision.  Good job!"

But I do, on occasion, experience a fog, a brick wall, a plan not working out no matter how much work I put in, or how many angles I approach it from... and I know.  I know that 

I better head around the country clockwise or get buried in record breaking snow in Montana.  

I Roam Around, Around, Around

6 MONTHS
• 16,675 miles
• 20 States
• 14 Airbnbs
• 17 Hotels
• 4 Family Guest Rooms
• 26 Places Crossed off THE LIST (plus 1 revisted)

Planned itinerary:


Actual Itinerary


States Visited in 2019

Yeah the Wanderer

2nd Quarter Stats

• 9,660 miles

• 13 States (ID, MT, SD, ND, CO, UT, NE, IA, IL, MO, MN, WI, MI)

• 7 Airbnbs

• 10 Hotels

• 1 Family guest room (Thanks T4!)

• 17 Places Crossed off THE LIST

Twin Cities

I read about the cherry in the spoon whilst reading a John Sandford “Prey” book.  It was a NSFW throw away line, but it prompted me to give it a goog to see what it looked like.  Couple that with then working with a sister site based in Minneapolis and I knew this was something I couldn’t miss while I as there.  I had a free Saturday before heading to Duluth, and the weather was beautiful so I headed off to the Twin Cities to see the Minneapolis Sculpture Park.

The Minnesota State Fair was happening that weekend as well, and I thought I’d be avoiding the crowds, but it turns out – this parking lot was very near one of the Fair park and ride locations. So… it was crowded.  I can say, that while Utah might have the worst drivers, Minnesota has the worst parkers.  Nary a car was parked between the lines designating their spot.  I managed to squeeze into a spot that was right by the entrance, though. 

Other highlights included 

• Hahn/Cock by Katharina Fritsch

• Black Vessel for a Saint by Theaster French

• Hare on Bell on Portland Stone Piers by Barry Flanagan (I call it Bunny Ballerina)

• For Whom by Kris Martin (really I just think the name is punny)

• Wind Chime (after “Dream”) by Pierre Huyghe

• X with Columns by Sol LeWitt

• Love by Robert Indiana

• Woodrow by Deborah Butterfield

• The Spinner by Alexander Calder

So, obviously I took approximately one million pictures of Spoonbridge and Cherry because it’s my favorite.  I was surprised to discover that it actually sprays a mist out of the cherry stem.

I also stumbled across a community theater in Minnetonka that was running Five Presidents and between figuring out the logistics of going to a Twins’ game and seeing this – I chose this.  The play is set on the day of Richard Nixon’s funeral and takes place in a holding area where the former Presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and current President Clinton are waiting before the funeral begins.  Here’s the blurb from the program:

“FIVE PRESIDENTS brings us back 25 years into the Executive Board Room at the Nixon Library on April 27, 1994.  It is the day of Richard Nixon's funeral and an historic occasion that brought the five living presidents, four exes and one current, together to mourn, honor and discuss one of our history’s most controversial political figures.  This is a fictional take of what might Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton have discussed while gathered prior to the service. Maybe some soul searching among great men so rarely together or, would these leaders of the free world prefer banter, small talk, jokes or petty bickering?”

It was really interesting, and while I was easily the youngest person there (by at least a decade) I had a great time.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time in MN and it is beautiful.  If only it didn’t have such a pesky winter.  That will be a recurring theme of my time in MN, WI, and MI.

Nauvoo

I visited Nauvoo for the first time in the Spring of 2010.  I was moving across the country from Utah to Pennsylvania and it was a time of earth-shattering change in my life.  This is what I wrote then:

“Nauvoo is an incredible place, with an especially incredible spirit and I’m sure I would’ve been emotional any time I visited, but on the particular trip I was struck with the parallels to my own circumstances. The whole spirit of Nauvoo is exodus. We were repeatedly reminded how the early Saints had built a beautiful city and a wonderful life and they left it all behind. Packed whatever they could fit in their wagons and headed west, to an uncertain life and an uncertain future. I was in the process of my own exodus. Leaving everything I had built for myself, my family and friends, and heading east to a new job, a new life and an uncertain future - my car loaded with the possessions it would fit, and hoping that I had everything necessary to start over. And so, after visiting the grave of Joseph and Hyrum Smith and watching the Mississippi roll by, I got back in my car and drove up the trail of hope moving east instead of west to my new life.”

I read that now and all those feeling of uncertainty and anxiety come flooding back (usually accompanied by tears), but also accompanied by the sense of accomplishment and confidence in the ways my life has changed since that day – driving east up the Trail of Hope to a new life.

Since that day, I’ve moved cross country several times, sojourned in Czechia to teach English, traveled around the country and around this world.  And now I know – I have everything necessary to start over.  I have everything necessary to be homeless for a year while I indulge my love of travel and commitment to The List.  I know I’ve got this, and that made this visit to Nauvoo entirely different.

Nauvoo wasn’t originally part of my plan.  But my nephew was called to serve a mission in St Louis, MO and I was going to be in Iowa for the State Fair (check out 1000 Places to See for that), and well, Nauvoo was basically between those two places.

On this visit I was more interested in visiting the businesses rather than the homes.  I spent time at the Tin Shop, the Browning Gun Shop, Post Office/Dry Goods Store, Printing Office, Blacksmith Shop, Brickyard, and of course, the Bakery. 

At the Blacksmith Shop the missionary was showing us a standard wagon and talking about the space limitations. He (perhaps unwisely) singled me out to ask if I could imagine moving across country with everything I needed in such a small space.  “Hmm, yes,” I answered, “I’m doing it with less space right now.”   Oops, maybe not the best example.  He moved on right quick after that.  While talking about the blacksmith trade in Nauvoo, and the experiences of the family that owned that shop he fashioned a miniature horseshoe from iron.  Every family left with one.  He then ushered us outside and encouraged everyone to pick out a prairie diamond.  A ring fashioned out of a nail. 

I met a family there and we chatted after the families with small children had gone, and we could pick out a ring in peace.  They were traveling the entire Mormon Trail with their late teen/young adult daughter.  He had served many years in the military, and mentioned that he had been to Nauvoo in the 70s.  When “it was just a bunch of dirt roads, and broken down buildings.”  He couldn’t believe the amount of change the city had undergone.  How massive the restoration of the town was and what a monument to history it is.

At the Brickyard I learned about how to make bricks, how the buildings were constructed and received a tiny brick of my own.  I also learned it in Spanish since the bulk of my tour required a translator.  I loved it.  I was also treated to the daddest joke of all when our missionary guide said there was one famous brick maker in that was a huge failure in Nauvoo, but found amazing success elsewhere.  “His bricks were just to small”, he said, “unusable, it would’ve taken hundreds of thousands to complete a building.” He shook his head and pulled a small handful of Legos from his pocket. 

At the Print Shop I was on my own tour and we mostly just chatted about my travels, since I’d visited the Grandin Print Shop in Palmyra and knew the workings.  The Post Office taught me about cross writing and how to fold a paper to be its own envelope to save money.  The Dry Goods portion reinforced the lessons on color and strength of fired crockery I’d learned at the brick yard.  Brownings taught me that he was a genius with a gift for weaponry design and repair.  The tin shop gave me insight on how much work went into creating a single skimming pan.  And the Bakery…..

Let me interrupt to say that my first visit occurred on a weekday in the Spring.  Not exactly a popular time to visit.  Visiting on a Saturday during the Summer was a whole different experience.  Super crowded, so many kids, so many crying kids, so many misbehaving kids, so many annoying kids.  So. Many. Kids. 

The Bakery is tiny, and you start the tour by opening the gate and walking around back.  When I looked inside the shop and saw it was packed with kids?  Well, I noped out and said I’d wait for the next tour.  Then, I prayed real hard that no families would come around back before the next tour started. After I saw the exodus of a million kids from the shop, the sister missionaries saw me still sitting outside, alone.  One opened the door, and asked if I still wanted a tour.  “Yes,” I said, then chucked, “well, I really just want the cookie, but I saw all those kids and just couldn’t do it.”  They laughed along with me and exchanged looks that said, “We totally understand, but you know, we’re the missionaries.” They we chatted for a minute, I got my (super soft and delicious) ginger cookie, and I headed out to see the river.

You can walk right out into the mighty Mississippi from the Trail of Hope and standing at the edge reminded me of how many places I’ve seen, and people I’ve met, and things I’ve done, and how far outside of my comfort zone that takes me, and how much I enjoy it.

This time I didn’t drive up the trail of hope, but instead drove south along the river.  Saluting all the travelers that have embraced adventure and exploration as their new life.

ETA: And then I stopped at the Red Brick Store and bought a cold root beer because, crivens, it was a hot day!