Virginia is absolutely beautiful. Compared to the Northeast where foliage has not come out yet, Virginia is in full bloom. Flowering trees are brilliant in white and purple. The grass is lush green. The rolling hills are beautiful, particularly with the lush green grass. I've been in Virginia primarily in the fall and winter in past trips. The grass was of course yellowed or dead in those times, and looked similar to what one might see in treeless areas of the Rocky Mountain West where the sun beats down on the grass and burns it. But today, the color was brilliant green.
Photographs from this day will be posted soon.
My first stop was the birthplace of Woodrow Wilson in Staunton, VA (pronounced like "Stanton"). This fills in a gap in my list of presidential home visits. I have now seen at least one home related to all presidents who have homes available between Rutherford Hayes (#19) and Harry Truman (#33). Grover Cleveland (#22 and #24) does not have a home available to tour. For the earlier presidents, I'm only missing a visit to Grant's home in Illinois.
The ticket for entrance into the Wilson museum and to tour his birthplace home was a replica of the admission ticket to the Democrat National Convention of 1912, complete with a picture of Thomas Jefferson. The museum had panels and non-flash photography was allowed. So, I did what I typically do in that situation. I photographed many of the panels so I can read them at my leisure, saving time while traveling.
The home tour was interesting, though there was not a lot about Wilson himself. Wilson was born in the home and lived there until he was 1 1/2. His father was a pastor and the family moved to Georgia after that. The tour focused on what life was like in the 1840s and 1850s (Wilson was born in 1856), particularly for children. There were a few pieces from Wilson's family including a bed he slept in. But most of the pieces were period pieces. There a map of the United States made in the early 1840s. At that time, Wisconsin was still a territory. Florida had not become a state yet. Texas was an independent republic.
Wilson did return to the house after being elected president and spent a night there. He had a very short political career though he always wanted to be in politics. Wilson had been a professor and spent several years as president of Princeton. He was elected governor of New Jersey, and served only two years before being elected President of the United States. After serving two terms, he lasted only three more years. The mayor of Staunton wanted him to be buried in the city of his birth. However, he was instead interred at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
My next stop was supposed to be Poplar Forest, Thomas Jefferson's retreat. It's located near Lynchburg, VA. It looks like a smaller version of his main home, Monticello. Unfortunately, I must have missed the note on the web site saying it's closed on Tuesdays. When I arrived, I found the gate closed with a schedule listing that it's not open on Tuesdays.
The drive to Lynchburg was beautiful. Most of it was on local roads. The mountains were gorgeous and there were many scenic lookout points. The road twisted in a way that would make the backroads of West Virgina and southwestern Missouri look tame. Most of the time there were guard rails. The car had trouble climbing some of the hills. I would not want to try this in the winter! But for the most part the views were breathtaking. I have pictures which I will post soon.
After arriving in Lynchburg and finding Jefferson's Poplar Forest closed, I exoplored the city a bit. Then I began the trip to my next destination for the night, which was Knoxville, TN. The drive went well for the most part. However, I found the GPS is untrustworthy when it lists the speed limit for a stretch of road. Often it would claim the speed limit was 70 when many parts of I-81 in TN are at 65. Knoxville was basically a stopping off point on the way to Birmingham, Alabama.
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