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I discovered as we drove towards Charlottesville Virginia, that I had mistyped, on our itinerary, the length of time it would take us to get to Charlottesville. We actually arrived at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson‘s home, at 10 AM rather than 9 AM. The folks at Monticello happily changed our 2 guided tours to 10:40 and 10:50. Again the weather cooperated and the views from Monticello grounds were stunning. The air was cool and clear and you could see for 45 miles according to the tour guide. We all enjoyed the walking tour of the first floor of Thomas Jefferson‘s home. We spent time walking through the basement and listening to a video presentation of one of Thomas Jefferson‘s slaves named Sally Hemings. Most of us walked the trail from the house down to Thomas Jefferson‘s grave. Monticello was a 5000 acre plantation that was worked by 400 slaves. We all left thinking that we need to watch less TV and play less games and spend more time reading and dreaming as Jefferson did.

We left Monticello and traveled to the University of Virginia, the retirement dream that Jefferson had towards the end of his life. We had a wonderful tour guide who met us at the rotunda on the campus of the University.

Thursday evening ended at The Glass Palette in Charlottesville. We spent the evening making sun catchers which will help us to remember our Bridge Tour. The owner and volunteers were very helpful in showing us how to use various colors of glass to create 33 different masterpieces to memorialize our Bridge Tour. We also enjoyed pizza, again, at the Glass Palette.

The evening ended at the Downtown Charlottesville Mall. This was not a mall like we think of at home, but an outdoor street lined with shops restaurants and ice cream parlors. The weather was cool and brisk and we spent an hour there and had a ball.

When we returned to the hotel, Lauren Sudduth lead our devotion and a wonderful discussion.