Sunday Drive and Sunday Fleurs

Yesterday in the late afternoon, we were kind of bored so we decided to take a drive out towards Middleburg, a sleepy little town (at least on a Sunday afternoon in August) about 20 miles west of here. There's a coffee shop we like there (we'll go anywhere for good coffee) and it's a nice little town to walk around for an hour or so. I had fun taking pictures of some of the flowers around town, and peeking in shops.  It was very quiet, not a lot of people out and about-- it felt like the end of summer.

Montpelier

Back on Saturday, when it was 70 degrees and feeling like spring, we took a day trip to Montpelier,  home of James Madison, about a one and a half hours drive west of DC.  We had always passed signs for it on the way to Charlottesville, and I have been wanting to visit for a long time. The home was built by James Madison's father, around 1763, and is situated in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  James Madison was born and grew up at Montpelier, lived here with his wife Dolley Madison, and returned here in 1817 after serving as our fourth President. James Madison died at Montpelier in 1836. The home was purchased by the William du Pont family in 1901. The du Ponts lived there for nearly 80 years and donated the house to the National Trust for Historical Preservation in 1984. The home went through an extensive restoration which was only completed about five years ago and now shows the mansion as it was when James and Dolley Madison lived there in the years after his presidency.  No photos are allowed inside the mansion, which is still being furnished with pieces authentic to Madison's time.  In one of the front rooms there is a chess table set up by the back windows,  where Madison reportedly had many a chess match with his good friend, Thomas Jefferson.

Front of the house

We toured the house and we especially liked Madison's second-floor library, where he spent many hours reading and studying history, while forming his ideas on how our government should be structured. His study and thought formed many of the principles of our government and our Constitution. James Madison wrote the Bill of Rights, the Federalist Papers, and is called the 'Father of the Constitution.' Much of his writing was done in the library at Montpelier, overlooking this beautiful Virginia countryside.

Looking west from the house toward the Blue Ridge Mountains

Walt reading with James and Dolley

Framed structures on the site of the old slave quarters

I loved loved loved this Cedar of Lebanon tree, and it is believed to have been a gift to James Madison from the Marquis de Lafayette around 1824.

The cedar of Lebanon tree stands at the entrance to the walled gardens, which were designed by the du Ponts, but the pathways and parterres are from Madison's design. The walled garden was restored in 1992 by the Garden Club of Virginia, to reflect Madison's garden of fruit trees, vegetables, herbs, and flowers.  While obviously nothing was in bloom when we visited, it was still interesting to see the structure of the garden, the parterres, and the hardscape. I loved the boxwood allée and all the garden urns and ornament. There was a row of tree peonies that I was drooling over, would love to come back and see those beauties in bloom.

This boxwood allée is amazing

Loved this moss-covered urn

It's always kind of a thrill to visit the homes of our Founding Fathers, and walk around the homes and gardens where they spent so much time and thought.

Sunday Drive

On Sunday Walt and I took a break from painting our bedroom and took a drive out into the Virginia countryside, stopping for lunch in Purcellville and then just driving around back roads, passing through the towns of Hillsboro, Waterford, Taylorstown, Stumptown, Lucketts. We saw lots of big open land, farms, and several wineries. And we used a map~no GPS~ sometimes I just like looking at a map and seeing where we are instead of listening to that annoying voice telling me where to turn. And what if you don't know where you are going?

I didn't take many photos, but I liked how this first photo turned out. Virginia sure is pretty country, even in the winter.

Sunday Drive, Fall

Yesterday was such a beautiful fall day, so we decided to take a drive out Route 7 towards Round Hill and get some apples. After getting the apples (and an apple pie, too), we took some back roads through horse country and got some beautiful views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The leaves are still a week or so away from peak color, but it's always such a joy to see our beautiful Virginia countryside with its wide open spaces, miles and miles of stacked stone walls, the allées of trees,  the horse farms, the big old trees, the little stone buildings and houses, and always the backdrop of the mountains. After the congestion and craziness of Northern Virginia, it feels so good to know there is still all this beautiful open land not so far away.  We ended up in Middleburg, walked around for a bit and had a coffee, and then headed home.

Sunday Drive

Yesterday was a really cold day, and Walt and I decided to take a drive out towards Aldie, Middleburg, and The Plains, taking back roads as much as we could and trying to find our way without the GPS. We kept crossing over this creek and of course I stopped the car every time to take a picture. We saw lots of horses and cows, lots of open fields, and of course my favorite stacked stone walls. We got out in Middleburg and walked around for awhile, stopping in a few shops and a cute little coffee shop for cappucinno. We also stopped in The Plains, one of my favorite little towns. There's not much there, just a few restaurants and a shop or two, but for some reason I really like that town, must be because they have one of the best little garden shops in Virginia, The Bittersweet Garden.

I could take pictures of these walls all day long, and especially the flower-like lichen. What a great color.