As you can imagine, Todd has had all sorts of playthings on this trip that we would ordinarily discourage. Barbie is one. And he got a Happy Meal toy of the Thing from the Fantastic Four (so Timothy tells me), which talks when you bang it into the buckle of your carseat, alot. You need a video to appreciate it, but after ten minutes of "It's clobbering time!!!!!" in the growliest voice imaginable, it's time to flip the switch, which Thomas is able to do without Todd having the faintest idea what's happened.
And so we arrived, after a few u-turns, at James Madison's home. I admire this wise and humble man more now that I've read "The Great Little Madison." Montpelier is being restored to it's glory, the way James and Dolley built it up before and after his presidency. Did you know it was actually converted to a duplex when James moved his new wife and her young son there? The Montpelier foundation is spending millions putting things to rights. There were actually 31 layers of paint and paper in one room! An analysis determined that the original color was red.
These wings were added by James and Dolley...
Mr. Madison had this inspiring view of the Blue Ridge Mountains from his second floor library.
Timothy and Laura actually became quite intimate with James and Dolley. They really are precious people...
Dolley Payne Madison's father, a devout Quaker, freed his slaves and gave up his livelihood rather than betray his principles. He started a starch business, which soon went bankrupt--but the Quakers disapproved of bankruptcy, so they disowned him. John Payne was so depressed that he shut himself up in his bedroom and never came out. Two years later he died!
And James Madison worked tirelessly on the passing of the Constitution, pushing himself for one hundred days--writing, talking by day, talking again in the evening at informal meetings, and then late at night transcribing and filling out his notes. It almost killed him, he said.
The Madison yard...
Montpelier's front porch, with the door painted in Dolley's original yellow!
Monument at Madison's grave...
Although he earned the nickname of "The Great Little Madison," no leader in American history has had less vanity or desire for praise than James Madison. (from The Great Little Madison)
