We then went to Ash Lawn/Highlands, the James Monroe home, where the home was smaller than Monticello, but the tour was quite informative. Both Monticello and the Highlands all but bankrupted their owners in the long run, which intrigued me.
We drove into Charlottesville, where we ate outdoors in a downtown walking mall at a very good restaurant called something like Bizot. We loved the people watching in this college town, partaken while cicadas sang all around.
I ate roast chicken and mixed vegetables. We browsed a quilt store, and then a used bookstore. I bought four small press poetry chapbooks and a volume of Muriel Spark stories.
I learned that the restaurant I picked in Silver Spring does not have tables at the time I named. I will find another locale. Meanwhile, our other plans, for a more distant trip Friday, are in the air, and may not come off after all. So if I can solve the Thursday night scheduling, then the trip remains relatively stress-free.