Americana!

After Kim took a professional development trip to Greene County, VA, and spotted a sign for James Madison's Montpelier, we had to go back and explore the grounds. Montpelier's main house architectural restoration is complete, and as Justin puts it, it's a great site to see "what preservation looks like." On the house tour, you stand in Madison's library, currently "bookless" but still awe-inspiring as the place where much of the Constitution was researched. The visitor's center has detailed exhibit about a few rooms in the house when it was under the ownership of the duPonts, further enhancing understanding of the preservation work. In the coming years, we hope the foundation continues to share information about the duPonts at Montpelier. We spent lots of time on the grounds on our trip, an excellent site for a picnic if you are so inclined. There was not much by way of recognition of the 4th, but the foundation does a Constitution Day ceremony in September.

Following Montpelier, we shopped a few antique stores in Ruckersville. We found unpretentious dealers and an array of finer antiques and junktiques co-existing, coming away with such small treasures as two old Busch Gardens souvenirs.

Driving back, we stopped for dinner in Lexington, discovering the annual hot air balloon festival! Watching the balloons on the VMI drillfield was a relaxing, picturesque way to end the day.