The grounds and gardens of Monticello are a living monument to Thomas Jefferson’s interest in nature, including his methodical study of the plants on his property.

After touring the house, we took a separate tour of Monticello’s gardens (offered April through October) where we learned that there are plants growing there today that descended from Jefferson’s time.

After touring the house, we took a separate tour of Monticello’s gardens (offered April through October) where we learned that there are plants growing there today that descended from Jefferson’s time.

We started our trip heading to Charlottesville and the campus of the University of Virginia, historic in itself, but our real purpose was food, specifically bread ends and House Dressing, a specialty of the Cheese Shop in Williamsburg, Virginia where I went to college. I knew a sandwich shop near the UVA campus, the Take It Away Sandwich Shop, also had this “delicacy,” a tangy tub of mayonnaise and bread. After securing our tub of mayonaissey goodness, Julie and I proceeded UVA’s famous lawn (in the shadow of Mr. Jefferson’s Rotunda) for a picnic and preparation for our three days of “nerdvana.”