Monticello
I admit it. The homes of dead presidents are much more interesting to adults than to children. And it makes for a somewhat stressful visit when you go with a rambunctious 6-year-old. Monticello would have been even more stressful if I’d taken my younger two as well. Many museums and historic places are “Don’t touch” so I expected that but the direction seemed a bit stronger than is often the case. In the opening gambit by the guide for the house tour, she said not to lean against any walls or touch the doors as she would open and close them all for everyone. As my child started showing off before we even entered, the tour guide actually took her by the hand to lead her through the tour (which my kid liked, attention-hog that she is). I also stayed close by so as to avert destruction of any national treasures. Before the tour, we had gone to the gift shop and scoped out later purchases. I used the bribe/reward system to encourage good behavior on the tour. Now, while much of the house tour was kind of boring for a 6-year-old, there were some points of interest. In the front entrance of the house are replicas of a number of Native American artifacts brought back by Lewis & Clark. There are also the original horns of a number of animals mounted on the wall that were acquired on the expedition.
Included in the entry price was the house tour, plantation community tour and the garden tour. Considering I did this as a day trip (even though that was pushing it with it being 125 miles SW of DC), we didn’t have unlimited time so I skipped the garden tour in favor of the plantation community. This was an outside tour at the remains of a number of plantation building ruins. It went into the personal stories of several slaves who lived at Monticello, including some of the Hemings. Well worth the time. My daughter probably would have liked this 45 minute tour better if we hadn’t gone right after the 30 minute house tour. Monticello does offer children’s tours but only in the summer through mid-August so we weren’t able to take advantage of that. She did like the gardens where there was a fish pond and a massive tree stump.
Monticello tree stump
I may be cheap but I think Monticello is kind of expensive. $15 for adults, $8 for children (6-11). The gift shop is also a bit pricey. My daughter wanted a tricorn hat (almost $22) or one of the mop caps (about $8). I saw some wooden tongs that were $35. I often like to collect Christmas ornaments as souvenirs but the cheapest one I saw here (of about five different ones) was almost $20.
We spent almost 5 hours there but could have spent more. Next time, I think we’ll stay over somewhere nearby and maybe visit some other site around such as James Madison’s home, Montpelier.
