A Road Trip

I'm off to Orange, VA for a day of rest and relaxation.  I will be visiting my favorite aunt and having lunch with my mother and grandmother.  Orange is my hometown.

I was born at the Martha Jefferson Hospital, November, 1959, in Charlottesville, VA, but raised in and around Orange.  Those halcyon days of youth.





Orange is also home to James Madison, the 4th President of the United States who was raised there on the Montpelier Plantation.  Although born at Belle Grove, his mother's family estate in Port Conway, mother and son soon returned to Montpelier which was then called Mount Pleasant.  Many years later after he first retired from politics, Madison added single-story, flat roofed extensions to either side of the house as seen below.



This is how I remember the house during my years growing up when it was owned by Marion duPont-Scott.  Mrs. duPont-Scott died in 1983 and bequeathed the property to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, along with a 10 million dollar endowment.

The property has gone through a major renovation in recent years as seen in this 2011 photograph.

There is now a visitor center for patrons to enjoy.  And many other activities during the year to include the Montpelier Hunt Races, the Montpelier Wine Festival and the Fiber Festival.  For more information on these events, you can log onto http://www.montpelier.org/.