2018 Spring Vacation - Charlottesville

We headed out from Richmond toward Charlottesville, but stopped at a Duck Donuts for breakfast. We had gone to a Duck Donuts several years ago at one of their original locations in the Outer Banks. At the time, we thought their freshly-made doughnuts were the best, and looked forward to see if we still thought so.

We were not disappointed.

At Duck, you choose your own topping and drizzle and the doughnuts are made to order. Kai chose chocolate while my wife had strawberry and vanilla icings. I had chocolate and glazed.

They were oh so good!

After that, we drove on toward Charlottesville. The main thing I wanted to see was Thomas Jefferson's plantation home, Monticello, which is a World Heritage site. Jefferson is my favorite hero from the American Revolution as his ideas on liberty helped shaped the country we became.

We took the 40-minute tour of the house. It was fascinating to see how intellectually curious Jefferson was, as the house was full of inventive devices or artifacts from around the world.

There were several kids on the tour who were as young or younger than Kai. Many of them asked great questions and showed much interest throughout the tour. And so it was particularly disheartening when Kai groaned loudly and asked "how much longer is this going to go on?" It was so rude to the tour guide who was doing such a great job of describing everything, and very embarrassing as well. I expressed my displeasure to Kai but am still frustrated that he doesn't show interest in things like this.

We did later walk around the outside of the house afterward. You may recognize Monticello from the back of the nickel.

Monticello is set on the top of a small mountain with a nice view of the surrounding landscape all around.

After visiting Monticello, we checked into our hotel in Charlottesville. With the colder than expected temperatures, my wife's cold from last week came back. She felt ill and rested in the hotel for the rest of the day.

Kai and I used the swimming pool, then walked around the campus of the University of Virginia which was founded by Jefferson. The most iconic part of the university is the Rotunda at the end of The Lawn.

54 dorm rooms line each side of The Lawn, and it is considered an honor to be selected to live in one of these rooms even though they are heated primarily by fireplaces.

In the evening, Kai and I walked to the downtown mall and had dinner. We brought back soup and dumplings for Mom.

We then rested up for a big next day in the mountains.