Ancestor Tracking - Charlottesville to Richmond, VA - 26 May 2001

From Donna's Vagabond Journal of 26 May 2001:
Raining all night at the Charlottesville KOA campground, but I was nice and dry. Got up at 8:30 am and noticed the four tent sites next to me were either vacant or the occupants were in the process of leaving. I wonder if they are going to a dry motel, or further into the Shenandoah Mountains?   The camp bathroom was humming with activity, so rather than be seen heating coffee water in the bathroom, I was prompted to use my own resources to get hot water. I tested my Power Supply Battery to heat up water in my hot pot, but it took 400 watts, so just tried my hot coil, and at 100 watts it worked perfectly. Since I slept later than expected, I didn't pull out of the camp until about 11am.

I drove north in the direction of Orange, VA. On the way I stopped to view the Barbour Mansion Ruins, home of James Barbour an early governor of Virginia that burned in 1884. It was designed by Thomas Jefferson, and now has a popular vineyard and winery. Further on Hwy 20  I finally came to Montpelier, home of the 5th President of the US, James Madison and his wife Dolly. It is out of the way, and not highly publicized, but definitely an enjoyable estate to walk around. With a "AcoustiGuide" tape player you can hear about all the places you walk through.

Barbour Mansion Ruins

Montpelier

James Madison & model of Montpelier

View from the house to Montpelier grounds

Ready for dinner with James Madison and friends at Montpelier

The big house is full of history:  from the early 1800's through it's expansion when James Madison inherited it, with the entertaining done by Dolly Madison, and after Madison's death, with the sale of the estate and later purchase by a black sheep of the wealthy DuPont family of Delaware. If you go there be prepared to spend several hours enjoying the historic plantation.  The graves of James and Dolly Madison are on the grounds of Montpelier.

Graves of James and Dolly Madison

The two lane highways of Virginia, while picturesque, are narrow enough to make me hold my breath when oncoming trucks pass by. I headed back southeast and in an hour arrived at Richmond, VA. I reluctantly came to this city, but with the 3-day Memorial Day weekend, I figured a lot of the people had left the city and gone to the mountains, so I would get a motel room, use the internet, and be able to visit some of the Civil War battle sites that I had missed before. I got a room at Best Western for two nights, got a sandwich at Arby's and settled in for some serious internet exchange.  Although I had ancestors in Virginia, I wasn't sure just where they had lived.