Playing “I Spy” at Jefferson’s Monticello in Charlottesville, VA

On a recent visit to Charlottesville, Virginia (check out our posts featuring James Monroe’s Highland and one of my most favorite resorts, the Omni Homestead), we spent a wonderful afternoon at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello (see ALL the ways to explore Monticello here).

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James Monroe’s Highland in Charlottesville, Virginia

Highland, a 535 acre former plantation resting in the hills of Charlottesville, Virginia, was the home of America’s fifth president, James Monroe. While Monroe never lived at Highland full time, he spent significant time (sometimes for months at one time) from 1799-1826 with his wife and three children. The main house was built in 1799…

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10 Places to Explore at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in Charlottesville, VA

In addition to being America’s 3rd President (from 1801-1809) Thomas Jefferson is also known for prestigious roles include Governor of Virginia, writer of the Declaration of Independence, the first Secretary of State, the second Vice President, and the founder of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. Jefferson’s Monticello (pronounced “ch-ello” not “cell-o”) is Italian…

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Playing “I Spy” At the Pierce Manse in Concord, NH

On a recent visit to New Hampshire’s state Capital of Concord, we wanted to learn more about the only US President to come from New Hampshire: Franklin Pierce and his estate, the Pierce Manse.  America’s 14th president, serving one term from 1853 to 1857, Franklin Pierce was born in Hillsboro, New Hampshire and later served…

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2019 Year in Review: 65 Highlights

2019 was a year for the record books. We travelled over 25,000 miles from TopSail, North Carolina to Gloucester, Massachusetts and a ton of places in between those spots. We had a few common themes (you’ll notice them below) and no matter where we travelled, we found friendly locals, rich history, and tons of fun.…

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Federal Hall National Memorial in New York City

Regular readers will recall my passionate enthusiasm for the National Park Service. A quick search on my blog and you will find dozens of sites we have visited- check them out here. Whenever we travel or visit  a new area, I always check for any nearby site- the Park Service has an app and website…

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