|
|
|
Elderhostel 2007 In Jefferson's Footsteps: A Journey of Discovery Virginia Commonwealth University March 4 - 9, 2007 Natural Bridge, Virginia
After spending the first months few of 2007 in Owego it was time to begin traveling. I was able to sign up for two Elderhostel programs held at Natural Bridge, Virginia. After a seven hour drive from Owego, the program began with the traditional Sunday evening dinner and orientation meeting. Our group of Jefferson scholars was thirty-three strong mostly from the east coast and the mid west.
The Natural Bridge sign that greeted my arrival.
The Natural Bridge Hotel and Conference Center where our program was headquartered. It was interesting to note that parking was at a premium on Sunday do to the fact that an all day bingo session was under way. On Monday and Tuesday, we were in sessions in which local experts lectured the group on topic such as "Life and Times of Jefferson" and "Jefferson the Architect". These topic were interesting but the fact we sat for several hours was less than exciting. On Tuesday afternoon, we had our first field trip of the program. It was to Jefferson's summer home at Poplar Forest outside of Lynchburg. The trip over and back, including time to explore the house, took all afternoon.
A view of Poplar Ridge from the front drive. The house was planned and built to Jefferson's specifications. Most of the rooms were eight sided octagon shaped. There was a large square room in the middle. Fifteen fire places were in the corners of the rooms.
It is possible to see the octagon shape in this side view. Thomas Jefferson and his wife Martha inherited the Bedford County plantation known as Poplar Forest from her Father in 1773. This house was begun in 1806 and was perhaps the first octagonal house in America. Jefferson would visit Poplar Forest three or fourth times a year. His last visit was in 1823 when he settled his grandson, Francis Eppes on the propriety. The property was sold by Eppes in 1828, two years after Jefferson's death to a neighbor.
One of the two out houses found on the property. They were placed one on each side of the building some distance away.
To the left of the building, archeologist's discovered the foot print of the wing of Poplar Ridge that housed the service areas, the kitchen. smoke room and storeroom for wines and beer. This is the reconstructed kitchen room. The house is being very carefully and painstakingly restored by the nonprofit Corporation for Jefferson's Poplar Forest which was formed in the 1980's to rescue the property from destruction.
The reconstructed kitchen. The three holes in the brick counter on the right are for a food warming arrangement.
Tuesday evening found our group being lecture to about Jefferson the Naturalist.
Wednesday dawned cool and sunny for our second field trip of the week.
The entrance building to the Natural Bridge park. It also houses a neat gift shop and food court. We hiked down to the gorge to see Natural Bridge that was part of an earlier Jefferson land holding dating back to 1774 when he bought is from King George III.
The span of the bridge rises 215 feet from the pathway through the top of the opening. I am hiking on Cedar Creek Nature Trail. George Washington surveyed the area including the bridge for Lord Fairfax.
Along the way there was a stop at Saltpeter Cave. The cave was mined for use in making gun powder for the War of 1812 and the Civil War.
At the end of the Cedar Creek Nature Trail was Lace Falls.
After my hike on the trail in the Gorge, I visited the Natural Bridge Gift Shop. I could not pass up the chance to be photographed in front of their stuffed bear. After our morning of hiking to the bridge we had a free afternoon to explore the local area. I visited Lexington, Virginia. It is a quaint town that is the locale for Virginia Military Institute and Washington and Lee University. Wednesday evening we were treated to a musical performance of Parlor Music by Professor Gibson and his wife. They were excellent, the program of period music was most enjoyable. Thursday morning found us on a bus heading for Charlottesville to visit Monticello and the University of Virginia.
We entered Monticello by walking up the east walk and then through the front door pictured here. We had a very good one hour tour of the various rooms in the house.
A photo of the rear of Monticello. It was a beautiful morning to explore the grounds and buildings of Monticello.
The South Pavilion was the first building erected on the mountaintop. Jefferson lived there from November 1770, while the first Monticello was under construction. Housed in this building was the Kitchen, smokehouse, slave quarters and the dairy.
A view of one of Monticello's many gardens. They are waiting for warm weather when they would be planted.
After a box lunch at Monticello, we venture on to Mr. Jefferson's University. This is the Rotunda building that was designed by Jefferson as the architectural and academic heart of his community of scholars, or what he termed "an Academical Village." The Rotunda was the focal point of the Academical Village which housed faculty, the Pavilion Gardens, student rooms and six hotels which originally served as dining halls. The Rotunda no longer serves as the university library. In 1853, an annex was added to the north facade of the building. On October 27, 1895 a fire destroyed the original Rotunda. It is said that Mr. Jefferson followed the construction on the campus by using a telescope at Monticello.
A view of one of the Pavilion buildings making up the Academical village.
Standing by a Jefferson statue that survived the fire of 1895.
One of Jefferson's curved walls that were designed to use less bricks than a straight wall.
The doorway to the dorm room of Edgar Allen Poe. He was a student at the University of Virginia for one year. Our Elderhostel program ended at noon on Friday.
It was a great week with good lecturers and field trips. ~ On Friday afternoon, I traveled to Bedford. Virginia to visit the National D-Day Memorial.
The entrance way into the Memorial. I took a very informative tour at the start of my visit. The Memorial was built as a place where the lessons and legacy of D-Day can be remembered and preserved. The memorial was dedicated on June 6, 2001 and it exists to tribute the valor, fidelity and sacrifice of the Allied Forces on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
Eisenhower's Order of the Day is place below a replica of the SHAEF patch that is visible on the wall of Reynold's garden. Directly below is General Eisenhower's D-Day Order of the Day, given to each troop as they filed into their transports
and landing crafts for the invasion. toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world." General Dwight D. Eisenhower
The Reynolds's English garden near the Eisenhower tribute. The statue is standing in an English folly. Flowers are planted either side of the white stones representing a mighty sword of battle. The garden represents the planning and preparation stage of the invasion
A statue of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Commander of Operation Overlord.
A statue of a U.S.A. Ranger depicting the scaling of the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc.
One of the L-3 Observation Plane that flew over the Normandy landscape identifying enemy targets.
A depiction of the beach landing. This spot is a large reflecting pool which was drained due to a leakage problem
Le Monument aux Morts, Created by sculptor Edmond de Laheudrie and dedicated on May 16, 1921 in memory of forty-four men of Treviere, France who died in World War I . This replica at the Memorial shows the statue after it was struck in D- Day battle. Bedford has the distinction of being the town that had the most soldiers killed in action on D-Day. Nineteen men were killed in the initial day of the landing and 3 more the next day. This Memorial is honors the Valor, Fidelity and Sacrifice of all the Allied Forces that on D-Day fought to free Europe from tyranny.
This a "do not miss spot" for travelers. Most moving and inspirational.
Saturday morning found me driving to Roanoke to visit two museums that had railroad displays. First stop was at the Virginia Transportation Museum located in the old Norfolk and Western freight yards. There were many locomotives and cars on display.
One of the last large steam locomotives built by the Norfolk and Western at their stops in Roanoke.
The famous passenger locomotive 611 was also built at the N & W shops in Roanoke. Like locomotive 1281 it was restored a few years but is now a static display at the museum.
Rolling stock on display included this heavy duty railroad crane used to lift derailed cars.
After delightful couple of hours at the Transportation Museum, I venture to the nearby former Norfolk and Western Passenger Station which is now a museum of the photography of O. Winston Link. Mr. Link created an extensive collection of black and white photographs of the last days of the use steam locomotives on the Norfolk and Western Railroad. The photos were truly outstanding in their composition and detail.
Sunday was a day of free time for me up to 5:00 pm when I had to register for my week long Elderhostel program at the Natural Bridge site. I elected to drive over to Appomattox Court house. It was only am hour and half away and it was a Civil War site I have always wanted to visit. t is truly interesting site that brought the war between the states to an end.
It was a beautiful sight to see Old Glory flying over the Appomattox Court House National Park .
The court house building which is the headquarters of the National Park. There were excellent displays about the battles that lead up to the surrender on the upper level. One of the displays was about the soldiers from Oneida, NY who fought on the area of the court house.
After four years of war and over 630,000 casualties Generals Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant met in the parlor of the McLean Home in the village of Appomattox Court House, Virginia and agreed to terms which would make reunification of the Nation possible.
This is the room that Grant and Lee worked out the details and terms of the surrender. Grant sat at the small wooden table to the right and Lee used the marble topped table at the left. These are reproductions as the Lee table is in a museum in Chicago and the Grant table is on display on Washington, DC.
After an pleasant visit to Appomattox, it was time to enjoy the balance of this beautiful day on a slow curvy road drive back to Natural Bridge. ~ The Civil War In The Shenandoah Valley, The Lees Of Virginia and Appalachian Origins Virginia Commonwealth University March 11 - 16, 2007 Natural Bridge, Virginia
This Elderhostel was somewhat disappointing in that we spent almost of the first three days sitting listening to lectures about the Lee's and the origins of the Appalachians. Some what interesting information but it was hard to keep from dosing off on occasion. The speakers were not very inspiring. We had the traditional visit to the Natural Bridge on Tuesday Afternoon. Since I did that field trip last week I did not venture down the path to Cedar Creek. Instead I used the free time to visit Lexington and the Virginia Military Institute campus.
The entrance to the VMI campus. The institute is a part of the Virginia State higher education system and was founded in 1839. It offers a four year degree within the framework of military discipline that emphasizes the qualities of honor, integrity and responsibility.
My first stop was at the General George C. Marshall Museum on campus. It was a very interesting museum that documented the outstanding contributions of General Marshall. The most interesting exhibit was a large map that displayed the events of World War II. General was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his development of the Marshall Plan after World War II.
The statue of General George C. Marshall overlooking the VMI parade ground.
The house where General Marshall and is future wife were married. It is now the Institute's admissions office.
The statue of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson in front of the student residence hall. Jackson was one of the south's leading generals in the civil war. He was a teacher at VMI at the out break of the civil war.
The VMI chapel. There is a very good museum with displays about VMI students and graduates on the second level of the chapel. There was a display of the seven Medals of Honor that were awarded to VMI graduates over the years.
It was a warm and sunny spring day in Lexington and some of the VMI cadets were out for a run. The run through downtown Lexington involve lots of yelling and traffic disruption.
On our last full day of our Elderhostel we finally got out of the meeting room and to have a field trip up to New Market where we viewed several battle sites. On Wednesday morning, we had two sessions with Major Keith Gibson of VMI that set the stage for our field trip. He presented the topic, "Civil War in the Valley." He was an outstanding presenter.
Our day long field trip started at Washington and Lee University where we visited the Lee Chapel & Museum. General Lee is buried in the family crypt in the basement of the Chapel. There is a stunning recumbent statue of the late general and college president in the front of the chapel. There were portraits of George Washington and Robert E. Lee hung in the Chapel.
The spot where the bones of "Traveler" General Lee's horse were buried. It is next to the Lee Chapel.
Our next stop was at New Market, Virginia the site of the Virginia Military Institute, Hall of Valor. There was a super Civil War Museum on the site where 257 VMI Cadets made the difference between Victory and Defeat. During the battle, fifty-seven Cadets were wounded and ten would die. This battle of May 15, 1864 blunted General Grant's Federal foray up the Shenandoah Valley. The battle occurred on the Bushong Farm and many Cadets and soldiers lost their shoes in the mud of the battlefield. Today the area is know as the "Field of Lost Shoes ."
A beautiful stained glass mural celebrating the battle and the Cadets who died that day.
One of several well done diorama in the museum.
The Bushong farm house which was built in 1825, where the battle took place. The Bushong family took refuge in the basement during the battle, the house became a hospital for a week after the battle.
We had other stops at Port Republic and Cross Keys battlefields on our return trip to Natural Bridge.
This was the end of the Elderhostel program for me, as I was driving to Tuscaloosa, Alabama the next morning to visit my grandchildren and their parents. The program was just average except for the last day and a half when we finally got into the study of the Civil War in the Shenandoah Valley.
|
