In our quest for seeking out as many experiences as we can while still in this region, we spent Labor Day weekend in Lynchburg, VA (about 5 hours away from where we live in MD). This part of the country is so amazingly beautiful (and I'm truly being sincere here). There are rolling hills and lots of trees. We had two sights to see on our agenda: Appomattox and Poplar Forest. We began Saturday with the short drive from Lynchburg to Appomattox. Oh, this town is so cute! We enjoyed a cup of tea/coffee/pop while browsing through some books at a local bookstore followed by lunch at a place by the name of "Granny Bee's". Now you can just imagine the atmosphere of that place! Talk about getting back to basics where the company you're with supersedes the presentation of the food. Really.....my cheeseburger with two choices of sides was $2.35!! I was waiting for Opie to come around the corner with Andy Griffith. As you can imagine, as sick as we are of city/suburb living, we SOAKED this all up. It was great (and cheap!). Afterwards, it was only a few miles to Appomattox Courthouse (where the town of Appomattox used to be) where, in April 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant (it sure helps to hang on to those brochures for awhile =)...). We toured through the town and listened to soldiers from the Confederate and Union sides reenact life of that time period when the Civil War was drawing to a close. I didn't know that Lee surrendering to Grant was NOT the Confederates surrendering to the Union, but only the Army of Northern Virginia doing so. However, this surrender started the domino-effect of following surrenders which lead to the Union's victory of the Civil War. It was a surreal feeling walking dirt paths that great individuals in our nation's history had passed centuries before. As you can see from the photos, the scenery in this area is so serene....so unlike the battles fought here in the past.
Now THIS is my idea of country! Nice, huh?!
This is the McLean House where Lee and Grant negotiated the surrender.
The back of the McLean House...
The Tavern Guesthouse
Jones Law Office
This is the location where the Confederate soldiers surrendered their weapons. At the end of the day, 22,000 Confederate Soldiers had laid down their arms.
The Peers House. George Peers was the clerk of the Appomattox County Courthouse. On the last day of the war, moments before the surrender was declared, shots were fired from this lawn shooting and killing a Union Soldier.
Grant and Lee had a meeting in this location on Aril 10, 1865.
In the background is the actual Appomattox Courthouse (the back of it).
The front of the Courthouse is barely visible through the trees.
One Union solider is buried here in this Confederate cemetary.
And as they say on the Today Show..."and on a much lighter note".... as we were leaving, we saw this 7 license plate from MT (there were actually 2 MT motorhomes parked together). Imagine that?! And, I forgot to mention that when we first got to the park, we met a couple who were from Freeland on Whidbey Island (and, ironically, had banked at the very same bank that I used to work at there). No one can dispute how small of a world it can be!
The next day of our long weekend wasn't nearly as thought-provoking as our day in Appomattox. However, we did use this opportunity to learn a little more about this area's history. As the Poplar Forest brochure states, "At the age of 63, during the most challenging time of his presidency, he (Thomas Jefferson) began to construct a secluded retreat far from public scrutiny and the demands on his time. Drawing closely from Italian architect Andrea Palladio's seamless blending of landscape and architecture, Jefferson designed a neo-classical villa that was intensely personal, conceptual, and strikingly modern for its time." We couldn't miss this chance to see Poplar Forest since we had loved seeing Jefferson's Monticello. Jefferson definitely had a unique style, as proven by Monticello and Poplar Forest.
Even the outhouse was fancy! =)
Add in a some miniature golf, a trip to the park, daily swimming, and a whole lot of eating (we've GOT to stop going on vacation...) and that wraps up our Labor Day weekend. Summer's come to an end, autumn is just around the corner, and hopefully a new set of orders soon will be in hand! I'll keep you posted!
