CKT and I visited Monticello this weekend. We went last year, too. I think we will take a trip to Monticello together every summer until he gets too cool for me. I’ll probably still go every year after that.

Monticello is a three-story building, not including the cellar. CKT and I took the general tour, which takes you through the first floor, which includes the great room, Jefferson’s study and bedroom, the dining room, the Madison bedroom, and the dependencies. (The cellar level is a self-guided tour.) They also offer a “behind the scenes” tour, which includes the second and third floors. It’s a little more expensive, so I haven’t taken it with CKT yet. Plus, I didn’t think he would be interested. But on this trip he told me he wants to take the behind the scenes tour next year. So that’s what we’re going to do.

Monticello inspires me. I admire Thomas Jefferson’s belief that liberty and an effective democracy depend on an educated public. Monticello is a testament to his enlightenment ideals, and when I’ve walked through I become overwhelmed with the desire to write and read and think.