Shenandoah and other Shenanigans

Aloha all,

if you really like nature, the logical thing to do after reaching the northern terminus of the Blue Ridge Parkway is to simply continue on the Skyline Drive through Shenandoah National Park. If you also like beer and presidential history, it gets a little more complicated. We took a little detour, first to the fabulous Wood Ridge Farm Brewery, our newest favorite brewery! We talked and drank with fellow ‘Harvest Host’ RVers all evening. Then we had to return to some of our favorite presidential sites, before heading to Shenandoah National Park for a week.

Not just the LOVE sign, but the whole Wood Ridge Farm Brewery
is built out of wood grown and milled on site.
And they brew very good beer, too!

From 1801 to 1825 America was ruled by three Virginian neighbors: Presidents Nr. 3, 4 & 5; Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe all lived very close to each other just outside of Charlottesville, VA. We had visited all three of their homes in 2008, but decided to go back because we found it so interesting…little did we know how much had changed in all three places:

Whether you like history, gardens or Contradictions,
Monticello is a great place to visit!

Thomas Jefferson’s “Monticello” is by far the most popular of the three presidential plantation homes…for good reason: It’s spectacular in every way: Spectacular location, spectacular architecture (designed by Jefferson himself) and one of history’s most spectacular contradictions: How can the man, who famously declared that “All men are created equal” also hold hundreds of men in slavery, including his own children, who he fathered by sleeping with one of his slaves? When we were here 14 years ago, they mentioned that contradiction, showed us where the slaves lived and then quickly went back to the happy part of the story about the founding father, architect, gardener and visionary. 

Now they show both sides in a lot more detail: Any ticket to Monticello now includes a dedicated tour through “Mulberry Row”, where the slaves lived and worked. It’s not just because it’s the politically (and historically) correct thing to do, it’s also because there are fascinating, empowering stories to be told: For example that of Sally Hemings: A teenage slave who was raped by Jefferson (at least that’s what we would call it today), but negotiated with him - one of the most powerful men in the world - to eventually gain freedom for her/his kids. To make the whole situation even more absurd, the slave Jefferson slept with (Sally) was the half sister of his deceased wife, because his father-in-law was also in the habit of impregnating his slaves. Slavery was also often mentioned on our in depth ‘Behind the Scenes” house tour and even on the separate tour of the gardens at Monticello. Overall, I think they do a great job, showing the obvious contradiction, while still honoring the contributions and achievements of Jefferson.

Traveling back to 1822
to meet Thomas Jefferson

For me, the biggest improvement at Monticello was that they brought back the man himself. Actually, they did not bring him back, they made us travel back to 1822 to meet Thomas Jefferson under a tree in his garden. There we were able to listen to what he has to say and visitors can even ask him questions. One lady repeatedly asked him about his sexual relations with his slave. His answers were that of a classic politician: Making you think he’s answering the question while actually saying nothing. I got to ask him the question that had bothered me since we were at the “Peaks of Otter”: How could he think that 3875 feet tall Sharp Top might be the tallest mountain in North America, two decades after he sent Lewis & Clark over the Rocky Mountains to the West Coast? He answered that they did report of tall mountains, but had not been able to determine their height. Had he not been so busy with presidential duties in Washington, he would have loved to go along and he would have taken some more precise measurements. But for now (with “now” being 1822), he still assumes that there is no taller mountain on the continent than that little hill by his second home in southern Virginia. 

When we toured James Monroe’s “Ashlawn Highland” estate in 2008, we toured his home…which they since found out, wasn’t his home. It was the guest house that he built shortly before selling the place and moving away. We now know that his actual home stood next door, but burnt down. They found the foundation of his home, but it’s partially covered by a “modern” 1870 house, which they might or might not move at some point in the future to dig a little deeper into where Monroe actually lived. 

So it turns out, the James Monroe did not live
in the house we visited in 2008, but somewhere
 in the area now outlined by the rocks in the front lawn.

A similar thing happened at James Madison’s “Montpelier”: When we were there in 2008, the house was still in the early stages of being restored to Madison’s time after almost two centuries of other people living there, including our friends; the DuPonts from Delaware. But the one thing we remembered was seeing the ink stains on the floor where James Madison had written the drafts for the constitution of the young United States. Well, it turns out they weren’t his ink stains after all. I guess sometimes we go back to places not to learn, but to “un-learn”. I’m not even sure they mentioned his slaves in 2008, now they have an award winning exhibit and they reconstructed several of the slave quarters. I’m looking forward to visiting Jefferson, Madison & Monroe again in another 14 years to see what else we can learn… or unlearn.

The desk where James Madison wrote the US Constitution,
but as we know now, did not leave any ink stains.

On his tombstone at Monticello, Jefferson wanted only three of his achievements written in stone for the ages. Being President or the Louisiana Purchase were not among them. Apparently he was more proud of writing the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Statue of Religious Freedom and of founding the University of Virginia. That sounds surprising since there are thousands of people who founded universities, but only 45 people who were presidents of the USA. Inspired by Monticello, we visited the campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and we have to admit, it is really one of a kind. Looks a little more impressive than the old barracks and the containers in which we attended college at the FH München. I can see why Jefferson was so proud of it. And it combined his love of architecture (he designed the main buildings and campus) and his love of science (he built his school around a library rather than around a church, as it was common back then). When we were there, they were just hosting a reunion. We got to talk to an alumni who got to live in one of the original dorm rooms designed by Jefferson right on the main campus. He’s been coming back to host kind of an open house during reunions for 52 years! Looks like Jefferson is not the only one proud of UVA.

The Rotunda at Jefferson's University of Virginia

Charlottesville made it on the short list of places we would consider moving to if Haleakala were to erupt badly enough that we have to leave Maui. Besides the UVA campus, the presidential sites and the national park around it, Charlottesville also has a beautiful pedestrian mall in the Historical downtown, which felt very European. So nice to associate something more positive with this town than that awful march in 2017 when people did not seem to understand the irony of flying the Stars and Stripes together with the confederate and nazi flags. 

I don’t know whether it’s because of the high gas prices or because we are getting older, but we are definitely slowing down: In 2008 we spent one afternoon in Shenandoah National Park, this time it was a whole week. We love staying at national park campgrounds. They are usually pretty, you can hike right from the campsite and they often offer evening ranger programs. We are so happy to have those back after the last two years without. We try to attend as many ranger walks and programs as possible, which was ten this week. If we could remember all the things they tell us, we would now know a lot about the history of the park, the CCC, bears, scat and tracks, wild flowers on the Big Meadow and more. Since we can’t remember all of that, we just have to keep coming back for more to replace the lost knowledge.

Ranger Karl with Iron Mike on the CCC walk

It’s rare we get to combine our love for national parks with our interest for presidential sites, but Shenandoah offers such a place.  When he became president, Herbert Hoover built Rapidan Camp here as a getaway deep in the woods and above the heat, but close to Washington DC. He then donated it to the newly established national park. It was meant as a retreat for future presidents, but his predecessor was FDR and let’s just say Camp Rapidan was not ADA compliant. That’s why FDR built another, more accessible retreat, which we now know as Camp David. Presidents all the way through Carter still came to Camp Rapidan, but apparently most preferred Camp David, so this camp fell into disrepair. Only tree buildings of Hoover’s camp are still around, but it made for a great destination after a beautiful hike.

"Camp Rapidan", or "Hoover's Camp David"

We did several other hikes in Shenandoah NP, usually either down to waterfalls or up to viewpoints. The scenery is very pretty, but not all that different from the Blue Ridge Parkway: Seemingly endless lush, green forest stretching over miles and miles of mountains. In the exhibit about the creation of the park, the National Park Service is very honest: Obviously, this is no Grand Canyon, there are no geysers and no out-of-this-world sandstone formations. But they wanted a National Park in the style of the ones out west that was accessible for people on the East Coast. The park and the "wilderness" we enjoy today is mostly man made: Most of forest had to be replanted, hundreds of residents had to be relocated, roads and view points were strategically placed to maximize the visitors enjoyment. It wasn’t meant for people from the West Coast or Hawaii, even though some of them come here anyway and enjoy it tremendously. 

Just another room at The Luray Caverns

The Luray Caverns are located just outside of Shenandoah NP. We are not serious spelunkers, but we enjoy an occasional cave tour. If you had asked me a few days ago, I would have told you that the Carlsbad Caverns are my favorite…now I am not so sure anymore. One billboard in Luray said: “Nature’s Finest Interior Decorating!”. That’s not just a clever slogan: We have never seen so many amazing formations. It’s a huge cave and every room and passage way is full of stalagmites and stalactites. Many other caves have one big rooms with impressive formations that they put on every postcard and in all their advertising. I took about 100 pictures in the two hours we were in Luray Caverns and every one of them could be a postcard. That’s not because I am a good photographer; these caverns are so spectacular, even a caveman could take great pictures of it. 

The caves playing tricks with our minds at "The Dream Lake",
the bottom half is just a reflection!

The Luray Caverns are so big, beautiful and accessible, it’s no surprise they are “America’s most visited cave”. The ironic part is that for most of the self guided tour, we were by ourselves. We even got a private demonstration of their “Great Stalacpipe Organ”. That’s an automated organ that produces sounds by tapping on stalactites throughout the cave, making it what they claim to be ‘the world’s largest musical instrument’. Early in the season, on a weekday, late in the afternoon, just before they close seems to be a good time to visit the most visited cave. By the end of the tour, just as they were closing behind us, we met an American-German couple who just happens to live in Emmendingen, about 15 miles from my hometown! 

Speaking of hometowns: We have just booked our flights to Germany for July. We are so blessed: Maui in the winter, road tripping in the spring and autumn and a long stay with the family in Germany in the summer.….we are so glad we get to enjoy the “Best of Three Worlds” again this year. 

"Shenandaloha" from Virginia,

Chris & Sandra