(Archeologist Matt Greer points out the yellow and green flags that represent positive and negative hits from metal detectors operated by volunteers with thirty years experience. Matt is once of the resident interns at Montpelier and the son of an old shipmate and a great young man. He has completed his master’s degree in the […]

(This was the picture that changed everything. The annual tribute- decorating the graves at Arlington National Cemetery- was a quiet affair, and used unsold wreaths from the Worcester Wreath Company to decorate some of the older graves in the cemetery that were not visited as frequently as when the stones, and the memories, were new. […]

As my time in Washington starts to diminish, I have established a sort of modified bucket list. There are not a lot of items on it- I have been fairly diligent about getting things done that seemed to be worth doing, but this latest installment really kicked off the holiday season. It was tricky. The […]

(Marion DuPont Scott, owner of Montpelier for 55 years, longer than any other). The DuPont Family owned the house for nearly a century, and they made massive, though unobtrusive alterations to the existing Montpelier mansion. That dwelling had been sanitized with the demolition of the slave quarters off the right wing of the structure and […]

(Jimmy and Dolly’s Montpelier estate in Orange, VA. Photo courtesy Montpelier/Peggy Harrison). I was going to write about Jimmy and Dolly Madison’s house this morning, but that got derailed by facts. The stop at the legendary Montpelier Estate is worth an extended commentary, particularly with the Constitution so prominently in the news these days. Jimmy […]

(Looking upslope to the tasting room and Palladio Restaurant at Barboursville Vineyards. All photos courtesy Winery). It is sloppy out there this morning in Washington, ice in the western elevations, gray and rainy in town. What a contrast to the last best day of the Fall, and now we are into the winter. It was […]

(James Barbour’s magnificent home had an octagonal chamber designed by his pal Thomas Jefferson that was a wonder in its day. The home burned in 1884 and was never re-built. The Zonin Family stabilized the ruins when they bought the estate and began making wine. It is a wonderful place. Photo courtesy localectual in Charlottesville, […]

07 December 1941 (The people from the Washington Post failed to note that I cancelled my subscription years ago, and for some reason the Sunday advertising and comics has been showing up at my door. I took advantage of the freebie to sit down and read the comics, something I have not done in years. […]

 I have already written the equivalent of three stories this morning, and I can’t bring myself to till those particular furrows again in a less passionate and more objective fashion. I wish I had the emotion and articulation that H.L. Mencken had. He could skewer the ruling class like no one else. You have […]

(New York and Ferguson protesters tie up morning rush hour on the roadways in and around Washington. (Twitter photo by @NikkiBurdine)). I was listening to the radio yesterday afternoon- news and traffic on the eights and “as it happens-“ and discovered that demonstrators had blocked the 14th Street Bridge. I shivered with delight that I […]