President’s Day

Afton Mountain overlook

I don’t consider President’s Day to be much of a holiday. Not since this abomination combination holiday was touted by merchants and advertisers in the 1980s, who coined the term “President’s Day” as a vehicle for creating sales and encouraging wanton spending and procurement of non-essential goods. (It’s the American way!) However, when the opportunity presented itself to combine a medically-necessary visit and a long weekend into a road trip – Happy President’s Day!

Charlottesville, Virginia was the hometown of 2 presidents and currently houses a business venture of the current president. Both Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe had estates here and James Madison was only 26 miles up the road. Jefferson’s home, Monticello, is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site and you know how we love those! (See our posts on The Terra Cotta Warriors and Ayutthatya.) Jefferson was also founder of The University of Virginia which contains a major medical center and was the original destination for our journey.

Monticello

No, I am not being admitted for psychiatric observation as some of you may suspect. Don will be having some outpatient surgical procedures. (No, he’s not getting hair transplants! Stop guessing!)

I love his bald head!

A surprisingly efficient battery of testing, counseling and scheduling had us free before noon from a 10:15 a.m. appointment start time. Damian was hungry so we decided to grab some lunch before heading up to tour Monticello. We had booked accommodations for the night figuring that we’d make a holiday of it. I had put out feelers with my well-traveled friends for some foodie tips. We settled on a place called “Burger Bach” that came highly recommended. An interesting choice for someone who doesn’t eat red meat nor ground meat prepared by others. This place calls itself a “New Zealand Gastro Pub” (whatever that means) but despite it’s millennial/hipster appeal it exceeded expectations. You can choose from an array of “burger” styles which can be prepared from beef, lamb, chicken or vegetarian options. No bun? No problem! Don’s lamb was lettuce wrapped while Damian and I stuck with the traditional bun. If you have Celiac disease (the only real reason you need to avoid gluten) there’s even a gluten free bun option. Tasty and fresh salad greens accompany your burger. Fries are a separately ordered option that come in sharable portion sizes with a choice of delicious dipping sauces. We opted for garlic aioli (OK) and blueberry-chipotle (sounds awful, tastes amazing). Don even got to sample a flight of stouts before making his beer selection. Our server, Jasmine, easily and enthusiastically explained the concept to us first-timers and went above and beyond to ensure our satisfaction. (She brought us her own favorite dipping sauce to try and had the bartender or brewmeister or whatever they call him bring the flight and explain them all to Don.) Anyway, if you’re in the neighborhood do drop by and bring your growlers. (We didn’t and regretted it).

In case you are wondering, we receive no compensation for an endorsement. Although, we are interested in receiving compensation for endorsements. So in the interest of possibly, someday actually making any money off this stupid hobby of mine here’s my next free endorsement:

Duck Donuts.

If you, like us, have spent a significant portion of summer times in the Outer Banks of North Carolina you will be familiar with this place. The original store in the village of Duck is so crowded in the summer that you sometimes can’t even get in the place. The one in Charlottesville . . . relatively empty. Yup, Damian and I salivated over our freshly made and topped-your-way delights. He chose chocolate-dipped with bacon and rainbow sprinkles. (No accounting for the 11 year old palate.) Mine was a more sensible but nonetheless delicious lemon-dipped, coconut topped with raspberry drizzle. Unfortunately, we were too full from lunch to consume on sight so we got them to go.

Time to make the donuts! Wait, wrong chain.

Made fresh while you watch.

The weekend forecast was for unseasonable, spectacular weather and I figured a gorgeous Saturday on President’s Day weekend would result in formidable crowds at Monticello so we opted to head over there after procuring our donuts. It was a good decision. The visitor’s center, museum and kid’s hands-on exhibits were empty. We were able to jump right on the next available tour. Our guide was excellent for the 45 minute tour of the house. Since our last visit many years ago the house is undergoing some renovations which made some rooms inaccessible. If you’ve never visited Monticello, it is my 2nd favorite of all the historical properties we have visited in our U.S. travels. My numero uno is The Biltmore Estate.

Jefferson was one interesting dude. He could read 6 languages, kept meticulous weather records daily for over 50 years, architecturally designed the house and landscape of Monticello, was an avid gardener, he was the first American paleontologist and orchestrated the Louisiana Purchase and most importantly he was the father of American viticulture.

Overlooking the vineyard
Jefferson was never successful cultivating European varieties.

Vegetable garden plots with many things already growing.

When we completed the house tour and finished wandering the grounds we chose to take the Mulberry Row path back down the mountain. The next day we would return to enjoy the Saunders-Monticello Trail. On Saturday the line in the Visitor’s Center was almost out the door and the parking lot much more crowded than when we arrived Friday. We were extremely pleased with our decision to do the tours and exhibits the day before. The promise of an even warmer day sealed our decision to spend the day outdoors. We found the entrance to the 2 mile trail path and began our gentle descent. Many others shared in our idea as we passed what seemed to be a lot of locals taking advantage of this trail.

Damian counting tree rings on the Saunders-Monticello Trail

We headed back to the car after about 3.5 miles on the trail. The temperature was registering in the low 70s and we decided to visit a nearby site that was a tribute to another enterprising President.

Make Winos Great Again!

An appropriate stop to celebrate National Drink Wine Day. Let me tell you, business was booming here. We returned home via Route 15 which led us through rolling countryside and farms. Prior to moving to Virginia, we would come down to visit my Grandparents and drive past these stately types of properties. The one thing that always stuck out in my mind was that all the properties had names, which I found hilarious and self-pretentious. I swore if we ever moved to Virginia and had some ‘property’ I was definitely going to name it. And that was the genesis of Rancho Russo.

The gardens at Rancho Russo in Spring

Honor your presidents. Drink wine. Happy President’s Day.

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