April 6, 2014

• Adventure For Free

  As a family, we love our adventures. We look forward to family days whether they are a part of a day or as long as a four-week vacation. Some of our adventures take more planning than others and obviously some take more money. Our most recent adventure took very little planning or money on our part even though it's one of those items we've had on our to-do list for some time.

  

  JJ came home from school with an invitation for his family to join all the other second and third grade students with their families and teachers with their families for an all expense-paid trip to Monticello. We didn't do the planning. We didn't hire the charter buses, we didn't order the packed lunches from Subway, we didn't pay for any of the tickets. All we had to do was RSVP and show up at 8:00 which is exactly what we did.

  

  When we pulled into the school parking lot, there were six charter buses lined up and ready to go. Teachers were waiting with clipboards and lists of students complete with cell phone numbers and body counts. As soon as possible I asked who we could thank and discovered that it was the "Sunshine Lady" who is known in this part of the country for her philanthropy that involves, in part, children's activities. We are very thankful that she included us in her desire to give back some of what she has gained.

  

  The buses were not crowded since there were some families who weren't able to make it at the last minute. (I overheard someone telling a little girl that since her mother was in the hospital they needed to take a lot of pictures.) We had plenty of room for the boys' long legs and my restless ones. Dean and I had something to read while the boys watched a children's movie that was playing on the bus's monitors.

  

  Monticello has a new visitor's center where we browsed while waiting for our timed house tour. It seems that Thomas Jefferson liked small things that he could carry in his pockets. I saw numerous diminutive books - he must have had excellent eyesight - as well as a pocket-sized set of drafting tools. I also discovered this mini notebook which had pages of made of ivory which could be easily erased.

  

  It was fun to discover a detailed map of Virginia and we were able to find our stomping grounds. We live in the area labeled Mattapony.

  

  The guided house tour was full of great information and even though there were more adults than children in our group, our guide related well to the kids and kept them engaged. Even though the house is beautiful, I would not want to sleep in Jefferson's bed. Justin was able to try out a model of Jefferson's in the discovery room.

  

  Evidently Jefferson had no lack of pen pals since he wrote over 15,000 letters in his lifetime. I can't imagine doing that all longhand, but with his polygraph or copying machine that task may have been more manageable. JJ got to try a kid-friendly version in the discovery center.

  

  Since this was not my first visit to Monticello, I didn't hear a lot that had changed from the last trip, but I did come away with a new appreciation for his mind. After all, it's hard to dislike a man who says, "I cannot live without books." And what's not to like about a free adventure?

  • 4:45 pm
  • 2 Comments