Before launching into the day's summary, a very happy birthday to Adam is at the very top of the agenda. What a great young man he is and how happy we are to spend this special day with him. A couple of moments captured:
Adam's friends secretly decorated his room last night
Here's the reaction in the morning:
And here's the birthday boy blowing out candles at dinner this evening:
We hope he had a great day!!
And now for the rest of the summary...
Welcome to another wonderful day in the life of our little band of patriots! It was another active one. A little bit of rain, but nothing that could dampen our spirits. Our itinerary took us from Williamsburg, VA to Charlottesville, VA, about 120 miles. Along the way we stopped at:
Berkley Plantation - Home of Benjamin Harrison, the father of President William Henry Harrison and grandfather of President Benjamin Harrison and also the site where the first Thanksgiving was held, the music for "Taps" was composed and numerous other significant historical events
The hour is already quite late so I will refrain from adding a lot of color to the summary this evening and let the pictures and videos speak for themselves - much more effective than I anyway.
At Berkeley Plantation listening to the story of how "Taps" was composed
A view of the James River from the Plantation grounds
Harrison Graves
Students on the shore of the James River
Can you spot the Cardinal in the tree?
Same picture zoomed in on this beautiful little fellow
The lovely Courtney, Anne, and Anneliese by a beautiful plant on the grounds
Our group's motto is quickly becoming "Have stairs, will group-pose" More examples of this odd clustering behavior follow
"The Boys" touring the plantation home
An actual cannon ball embedded in the side of one of the plantation buildings - really cool!
Another view of the cannon ball zoomed out for context
At St. John's Church just before the Patrick Henry "Give me liberty ... or give me death!" speech re-enactment
The cast of the re-enactment. Hey, who's the guy second from the left? Why, it's our own birthday boy, Adam, who played a starring role in the show!
Girls on the grounds of Monticello (Allyson, Madeleine, Emily, Kate)
Boys in the meat locker at Monticello. Mmm, good. (James, Sam, Andrew)
Yet another view of Monticello. It really is quite spectacular.
We weren't allowed to take any pictures inside, so I threw in one more from outside. For the inside, close your eyes and imagine great things...or just google it like everyone else. Here, I'll make it easy. Click HERE!
Kyli found the best spot in the whole place to take a (very light) load off
Guys doing what they do best...staring listlessly straight ahead. "Hey, look behind you! It's Monticello for crying out loud! You know, the UNESCO World Heritage Site? On par with the Taj Mahal? Why are you looking at me?"
Lily and Savannah reflect on Monticello:
The Rotunda at University of Virginia - under heavy renovation
More Rotunda
Our amazing guide, Rob Masri, flew in all the way from Africa to meet with us...not kidding...20+ hours on a plane just to make it to UVA to keep his commitment to meet with us. GREAT guy!
Rob had great stories to share about UVA and Thomas Jefferson
Few people realize that in Virginia, you ride your rocking chair to class and then lock it up outside just like a bicycle. You rock it back and forth very quickly until it begins to roll along. That's actually where we get the phrase Rock & Roll. Early colonials were some of the best "Rockers" around and often kept their "rides" on their porches, a very common site in the South.
The group at the site of the UVA cornerstone
Sam deep in thought under a UVA archway
The dorm room of Edgar Allen Poe - now sealed but available to look into. I swear I heard a beating heart under those floor boards.
Waiting for Bob to collect us from UVA
I will leave you last with a glimps into our evening meetings where Mrs. Lund leads us in a recap of the day and outlines the coming day. She is so wonderful and instructive. It is so fun to be a part of the energy of these amazing youth. Hope you enjoy this clip. It is a little long but a lot of fun. See you tomorrow!
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