The Ultimate Presidential Road Trip

Attending a work conference in Washington, DC, presented an opportunity for me to take a little Virgina road trip and mark a TON of presidential sites off my list. Wow. I am totally set for a while.

First, though, I got to do some late afternoon/early evening sightseeing in DC when the conference finished up for the day. Mostly, I saw memorials because nothing else was open. Cool, but not my favorite thing ever. I did get to peek in on the Capitol and the Library of Congress, albeit briefly.

A two-fer. The Washington Monument as seen from the Lincoln Memorial. (What’s the difference between a monument and a memorial?)

Everything looked kind of shabby and lifeless. Perhaps the Reflecting Pool being empty added to the dead feel around here, but I was kind of depressed. Not pleased with the way MY Mall was taken care of.

For physical impact, it was a toss-up between the Korean War Memorial and the FDR Memorial. The Korean War Memorial was so haunting, but the FDR Memorial was so vast and covered so much, time wise. Both are quite breathtaking.

OK, so this might be tacky to say, but this soldier resembles Christopher Walken.

I love that his dog was also memorialized. Eleanor got some recognition, too.

Washington and Jefferson Face Off

Before leaving the city, we made a quick stop at Arlington to pay respects to our hometown prez, William H. Taft. We also almost had our rental backed into by a bus parked in the car parking area. The bus situation was seriously out of hand at Arlington. Someone needs to control that!

Upon leaving DC behind, we made a brief detour from presidential stalking and spent an afternoon at Manassas National Battlefield Park. Places like this are always so sobering. We mostly concentrated on the first battle of Manassas. Not really a conscious choice…it’s pretty much just the direction we took.

Stonewall Jackson got his nickname at Manassas

We visited Washington’s boyhood home and birthplace, both pretty close to each other. These are kind of out-of-the-way attractions but worth the trip to me. Neither had original buildings. At the Ferry Farm site, there was an archaeological dig going on, and we saw the workers sift out a wig curler. The birthplace was on Popes Creek, and it was fascinating to see how Washington’s family (and my ancestor, John Washington, who had a home nearby) lived in colonial times. A family cemetery holding the remains of some of my ancestors was also on the grounds.

Site of John Washington’s home; part of Washington Birthplace National Monument (Not Memorial).

After seeing where Washington got his start, we went to Charlottesville and visited the three presidents’ estates in the area: Jefferson’s Monticello, Monroe’s Ash Lawn-Highland, and Madison’s Montpelier. All on the same day. It was too much, really, and by the time I reached Montpelier, I really wanted to just nap in the parking lot. But, we pushed ourselves to take the tour, visited James and Dolley’s graves, and even perked up enough to wander out to Walton’s Mountain afterward. Somewhere in there we ate at the buffet at the Michie Tavern. Oddly, the only thing we wanted seconds on were the beets. I have probably only ever eaten beets once before—from a can—and found them repulsive, but for some reason, we found the Michie’s beets delish.

All of these homes are magnificent, but nothing can really top Monticello. We got the first tour of the day (booked in advance), and it was all misty on top of the mountain. It was kind of magical. Our guide was perfect. And, of course, Jefferson was such a brilliant man, which showed in so many aspects in the home. Truly a highlight of presidents’ homes, but probably equally as awesome for those who are only mildly interested in the lives of the presidents but want to see a cool historical home.

Monticello in the morning mist.

We rounded out our trip with a quick stop on the way home in Staunton, VA, at Woodrow Wilson’s birthplace. I finally reached my saturation point and opted for a photo and a pass through the gift shop. Sorry Woody!