I am savage enough to prefer the woods, the wilds, & the independance of Monticello, to all the brilliant pleasures of this gay capital. … for tho’ there is less wealth there, there is more freedom, more ease & less misery.
–Paris Sep. 6. 1785, letter to Baron von Geismar
The East coast is rich in touchable history. Growing up on the West coast, I learned stories of the early United States in history class, but it was all from afar. Oregon is decidedly younger than Virginia. Having the opportunity to stand where great men and women of the past have lived and worked, made decisions, rallied support, and even bled and died in heart-wrenching pursuit of goals makes those events feel very much more real- and creates a deepened sense of how the past connects to the present and future.
Monticello is beautifully preserved and restored. It isn’t hard to see why Mr. Jefferson was so reverent about his home.
Oh, these made me happy!! We lived about a half hour from DC for a year and gosh was that a good year. We did so much traveling on the east coast because we didn’t know when we would be back. It was a slight shock to me, scrolling through your pictures that I REMEMBERED THAT GAZEBO! I didn’t know we had gone to Monticello (I was only five when we moved back to California) but to my surprise I distinctly remember sitting in there while my mom nursed my baby sister! Ha! You got me all inspired to go pull out our Virginia photo album and reminisce over our beautiful year on the east coast!
Now, 10+ years later, living in Kentucky, we’ve had countless conversations on the different things to see and do on the east coast vs the west coast vs just plain, “this side of the rookies.” The East Coast is so rich with history, but it’s a lot of seeing and not much doing (provides a great history lesson for those homeschool field trips – ask me how I know haha!) while on the West Coast there’s less history, but a ton to do (hiking, camping, beaching, around-the-towning, museums, and live music and mountains to drive through and lots of sports -like BASEBALL – and the national parks are whoooooa to die for!!) while here in kentucky, it’s just a lot of… bluegrass. haha. We don’t even get a professional sports team! Love, love seeing your Virginia photos – makes me so badly want to take a east coast road trip!! ♥
But, the bluegrass and rolling hills are SO pretty ;) There are things to enjoy about each area of the country, I agree!