Text Box: The home of James Madison Text Box: Home Montpelier Text Box: The only benefit to having friends who are moving away, is that you get to tag along on all of their last minute field trips! This week, we visited Montpelier, home to James Madison, our 4th president. We had a tour of the house, which has been gutted and is undergoing a complete restoration. The kids liked seeing the house down to the ’bones’, but the favorite part was James Madison’s gardens. The entire grounds were filled with amazing plants and hiding places. Text Box: The kids enter the house, and on the second floor library, we could see that the president had a view of the Blue Ridge Mts Text Box: One of many cool and old tree formations the kids played in. These were mostly boxwoods that were very old. Text Box: When I said the house was gutted...as you can see above, we mean GUTTED! It was very cool to the kids to see what is underneath all of the walls. Above you can see a drawing of a doorway as it will look in its finished state. The house was built in three sections: The main central part of the house had lots of pretty brick archways (above) and the rooms upstairs were cozier in feel. The photos on the left are both taken from the library. The house will not be finished until 2009, and is being done by private funds. Text Box: Outside of the main house was a learning station where the kids got to try and use many tools common in that day. To the left, he is making broomsticks at something called a ‘shaving horse.’ The kids liked all the hands on activities. In the GardenText Box: The garden was the kids favorite. Formal in feel, with lots of ‘secret’ places to run, hide and explore. The tree on the bottom left is a cedar-of-Lebanon thought to date back to Madisons time. Text Box: What we didn’t know before we went to Montpelier: Many times during the tour we heard about James Madison, and we learned a lot about the things he liked and collected. He collected artwork, especially portraits He wrote the framework for what was later written as the Constitution, giving him the title “Father of the Constitution” He had terrible arthritis in his older years and could barely make it to the library, his favorite room He collected many plants from all around the world, and in the gardens there are many plants that are there from his time owning the house. Many are gifts from famous founding fathers. He married Dolley Madison who was a widow and had one son. They were married 41 years. James Madison died at Montpelier Text Box: Equally interesting was the life of Dolley Madison, who was apparently equally well liked by the country at that time Dolley was the first woman to be called “First Lady” and was referred to as such at her funeral She was “Franked” which meant she never had to pay postage her entire life She was the first to hold an inaugural ball She held an honorary seat in the House of Representatives She would have been considered the “Jackie O’ “ of her time. Her son, (by her first husband) was a gambling alcoholic who ran the house into bankruptcy Text Box: We just can’t seem to figure out one thing… What does Minnesota have that we don’t?