Results tagged “Charlottesville” from Intelligent Travel Blog

Historical figures often define a city, their presences lingering long after their deaths. Nowhere is this more the case than in Washington, D.C. Here, you can't avoid history and the legacy of America's great men. I mean, there's a giant white needle in the middle of the city to commemorate our first founding father. You can't miss it even if you try.

A large part of my summer in D.C. has been shaped by one of these great men: Thomas Jefferson. It all started when my grandpa found out I would be in D.C. this summer and sent me his copy of Jefferson's Bible. Yes, it's a real book. Jefferson took issue with the Gospels, considering the authors to be uneducated and to have written them too long after Jesus' death, so he examined a Latin, Greek, French, and English version of the four books of the Bible (aside: Jefferson spoke six languages; legend has it that he learned Spanish on the three week boat trip from America to Spain), and cut and pasted what he liked into a new version of the Gospels.

I sent my grandpa a thank you note, telling him I would return the book upon finishing it and expressing my interest to learn more about Jefferson. Instead, he told me to keep the book and sent me another: a biography of the third president--a compilation of excerpts from letters he had written--that my grandpa had bought when he and his wife had stopped at Monticello on their RV trip across the United States. So, I decided to learn more about the man my grandpa called "a genius, albeit with some human frailties."

First stop: the beautiful Thomas Jefferson Building in the Library of Congress (above), which has an ongoing exhibit on the second floor featuring the books around which the great library developed. When the British burned the Capitol in 1814, the entire Congressional Library was destroyed. Jefferson could relate because when his family home, Shadwell, burned in 1770, he grieved the loss of his books more than anything. So, in a controversial move, he sold his personal library to Congress for $23,950 in 1815. This original library has been restored in the exhibit, with Jefferson's books catalogued in an order he described as "sometimes analytical, sometimes chronological, and sometimes a combination of both." Based on Francis Bacon's method, he divided his books into three categories--Memory, Reason, and Imagination (which included History, Philosophy, and Fine Arts)--and from there, into 44 smaller categories. Two thousand original books remain, while those ruined by fire and wear have been replaced with different versions of the same edition.

With the new visitor center opening at Monticello this week, now is the perfect time to plan a visit to Charlottesville, Virginia. IT Editor Janelle Nanos shares some of the highlights from her recent trip.

I'm no country bumpkin, but I do admit that I tend to feel a bit confined if I don't get out of the city from time to time. So a few weeks ago, when I was looking for a weekend away, my boyfriend and I decided to check out the rumors about Virginia wine country and packed up our car for the three-hour drive down to Charlottesville.

Home to both the University of Virginia and Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's quirky estate (did you know that both are World Heritage sites?), Charlottesville is a easy escape. Tucked in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, downtown C'ville, as it's known to locals, is a hip mix of independent storefronts, a local theater and ice-skating rink, and a funky outdoor pavilion with free live performances every Friday during warmer months. Huge chalkboards along one stretch of the main thoroughfare encourage free speech - and the vibe is distinctly warm and friendly, even in February when I visited.

Pulling up to downtown C'ville and a bit hungry after the trip, we stumbled upon one of the best finds of the weekend: The delectable dumplings from Marco & Lucas. Cheap and hot, with a line of hungry college kids spilling out the door, this spot is located along the downtown pedestrian-only West Main Street, and they're the best dumplings I've found in the (relative) D.C. area. When fried, they were like little crunchy pockets of heaven, and honestly, I've been craving them ever since. Unbeknownst to us, these dumplings would kick off the weekend's theme: food and drink, as many of the adorable clothing shops closed early over the weekend. But that turned out to be just fine.

We were hoping to stay in a bed and breakfast, as there are dozens in the area, and were fortunate to find at room (on short notice) at the High Meadows Vineyard Inn in nearby Scottsville. Immediately taken with the periwinkle home with chartreuse shutters, I was even more smitten with our host, Nancy, who was incredibly warm and generous with her suggestions about where to visit in the area. Plus, she and her daughter make a mean breakfast - if you haven't tried their broiled grapefruit drizzled with honey and cinnamon, book your reservation now (plus, they offer great mid-week deals).