A 17-Year Long (Distance) Friendship...

I have two very dear friendships that formed because of our year spent in Spoleto, Italy, one of most amazing events of our lives. David and Karen are Southern California friends whose story can be found here. Sharon's story hasn't been told in 10 years and it's time.

I 'met' Sharon 17 years ago via an email. Charleston was Spoleto's Sister City. Our plan was to spend a month in Charleston (prior to going abroad) volunteering for the annual Spoleto Festival. It was an opportunity to get involved and hopefully be their Sister City's representatives while in Italy. Sharon was my contact because of her work with the Spoleto-Charleston Initiative Steering Committee. Without her, our year in Spoleto could not have been nearly as magical. This is what I wrote then about Sharon upon finally meeting her, "The one person who made all of this happen, for us, is our friend Sharon. Since July (2009), we have been communicating about this adventure and she is the one who opened the door, put down the welcome mat and said, "Come".  I've been calling her friend, since the beginning, and when we met in May (2010), it was a title that fit perfectly.  She has been instrumental in so much of this and no amount of words can really express our gratitude."
Ten years ago, on a previous cross-country road trip, we had the opportunity to not only spend time with Sharon, but we got to get to know her husband, Michael. They were the hosts with the mosts then and really shared some amazing local sights with us.
It's hard to believe it has been a DECADE. Our long overdue reconnect happened at their lovely home where for hours we made an unsuccessful effort to get all caught up. Thankfully, we're here for a few days. Promises were made to not wait so long to do this again.

“Real friends were the kind
where you pick up where you’d left off,
whether it be a week since you’d seen each
other or two years.”
― Jojo Moyes

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CHERAW, SC... Who Knew?

We're officially on our way south. South Carolina is the state in which we will spend the most time.

Today was one of putting on some miles.
As mentioned before, we tend to take the road less traveled. The cotton fields we encountered were a surprise and seemed to be the conclusion for our recent history lessons.
I didn't realize that cotton was still a major agricultural commodity in South Carolina, ranking as the state's 3rd most valuable crop with an annual production value of roughly $174.6 million. Farmers harvest hundreds of thousands of bales annually (yielding over 400,000 bales in recent seasons). I loved the big, pink 'marshmallows'.

There were also fields which seemed to exist just to bring me JOY.

The road we were on was an unexpected history lesson, in and of itself. The Jefferson Davis Highway was a transcontinental road in the 1910s and 1920s that began in Arlington County, Virginia, and extended south and west to San Diego. It was named for Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States, United States senator, and Secretary of War. Because of unintended conflict between the National Auto Trail movement and the federal government, it is unclear whether it ever really existed in the complete form that its United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) founders originally intended but here it was and we were on it. Wow.
Cheraw, a historic town located on the Great Pee Dee River, is known locally as "The Prettiest Town in Dixie" which was what made us want to explore it. What we found was a town with an obvious heyday. Today it is very quiet while it features a 213-acre National Register Historic District with well-preserved antebellum homes and buildings dating back to the 1700s.
With over 300 years of history, the town began as a small trading post on the Great Pee Dee River. Joseph and Eli Kershaw were granted part of present day Cheraw in 1768. The brothers formally laid out the present wide streets and the town green. Since Cheraw was at the head of navigable waters on the river, the town became a bustling river port during the 19th century, boasting the largest bank in South Carolina outside of Charleston and the largest cotton market between Georgetown and Wilmington.



One always knows something is important if there is a vintage postcard depicting it. The Post Office, built in 1933 as part of the large-scale Federal building initiative during the Great Depression, was designed using a mix of Colonial Revival and Neo-Classical styles, featuring standard oversight from James A. Wetmore, then Supervising Architect for the U.S. Treasury Department. Located in the heart of town, the building stands as a landmark of mid-20th-century federal architecture and community history



I was intrigued by the B.C. Moore & Sons (1912) building in downtown. Our walking map didn't mention this 4-story historic building featuring 3 floors above street level plus a basement. I learned that it served as the main administrative offices—including the buying and advertising departments—for the regional B.C. Moore & Sons department store chain before the company was sold.


We strolled through the neighborhood, discovering so much history. This, the Lafayette House (c. 1823), was built by Dr. William Ellerbe. In 1825, when General Lafayette visited the United States, a public reception was held at the house all part of the Marquis' 1824–1825 farewell tour of the United States. Considered one of the largest national celebrations in early American history, he traveled as the "Nation's Guest" at the invitation of President James Monroe. The 67-year-old general embarked on a 13-month, 6,000-mile journey that took him to all 24 existing states. At Monticello, we were told, he and Jefferson completely exhausted the President's stock of wine.

This was yet another fun discovery. Jazz King Dizzy Gillespie is Cheraw’s most famous son. This founder of modern jazz was an innovative trumpeter known for his bent horn, bulging cheeks, and sense of humor. Born here on Oct. 21, 1917, he was the ninth and last child of James and Lottie Gillespie. His given name was John Birks Gillespie, and many of his old friends still refer to him as John Birks. In his autobiography Dizzy says, “In Cheraw mischief, money making and music captured all my attention."


This was the site of the Gillespie family home. A park and SC Historic Marker honoring Gillespie were dedicated at this site in October 2002. Artist Bob Doster crafted a stainless steel fence, surrounding the park, depicting the notes to “Salt Peanuts”, one of Gillespie’s best known works.
Our last stop was at Old St. David's Church, the last Anglican parish established in South Carolina under British rule. The church was established in 1768 and the building completed in 1774.
After the Revolutionary War, in which St. David's served as a hospital for both sides, the church ended its affiliation with the Church of England.

In June 1780, roughly 300 soldiers of the 71st Regiment of Foot (Fraser's Highlanders), led by Major Archibald McArthur, encamped at Laney Landing on the Great Pee Dee River following the Siege of Charleston. A severe outbreak of suspected mosquito-borne illness (malaria or swamp fever) struck the Scottish troops shortly after their arrival. Old St. David's Episcopal Church served as a hospital for the sick and dying soldiers. Deceased officers and men of the 71st were buried in the churchyard.

This grave marker introduced us to Captain Moses Rogers, a globally-recognized steamship captain. Captain Rogers is credited with the commercial boom enjoyed by Cheraw in the early part of the nineteenth century.
“Cemeteries are like a giant library of stories.”
― A.L. Mengel, The Mortician
Our home for the evening could not have been more idyllic!
Cool spaces. Natural setting. Animal feeding and cuddling. What a perfect start to our time in South Carolina.








We've traversed 7,457 miles of America with so much farther to go. New vistas continue to surprise and delight.

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Thomas Jefferson's MONTICELLO

For more than forty years (1768-1809), Thomas Jefferson designed and redesigned his mountaintop home, creating an architectural masterpiece that reflects his ideas and evolving vision. Monticello was home to Jefferson and his family, generations of enslaved people, and a house that welcomed visitors from around the globe. Through a century of research, Monticello is restored to how it appeared during Thomas Jefferson's retirement years (1809 - 1826).

Monticello is where Jefferson refined the ideas of freedom established in the Declaration. It is both a tribute to, and the embodiment of, the American experiment and we were so excited to return after a 28 year absence.
We were here for a very special new tour. "On July 4, 1826, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. In commemoration of the 250th, Founding Friends, Founding Foes explores Adams and Jefferson's complicated relationship. In this 60 minute tour of the first floor of the house, visitors will learn how these founders became allies in 1776, bitter rivals in an age of partisanship, and friends again in retirement.

By considering the challenges and triumphs of the American Revolution and the early United States, this tour reveals how ordinary people became leaders and encourages visitors to consider how a democracy was born through disagreement, civil discourse, and dedication to shared value."
We arrived early for our timed tour so we explored under Monticello.
The cellar level of the house was a horizontal and vertical crossroads constantly in motion. Here, enslaved domestic workers, Jefferson family members, slaves accompanying Monticello visitors, waggoners delivering supplies, and anyone else using Monticello's work spaces crossed paths.
Steve is standing directly below the dining room in the Wine Cellar. This exhibit showcases Thomas Jefferson’s work as a wine maker (and a wine drinker) and  featured interpretive signs, bottle reproductions, and a restored dumbwaiter.
The last time we were here, the one thing that really stood out was the dumbwaiter.  Located on both sides of the dining room fireplace mantel, these systems used ropes and pulleys connected to the wine cellar directly below. Wine bottles were loaded up in the cellar so they could be raised up into the dining room on demand (photo below in dining room). So dang clever.

I was intrigued by these weights of the Great Clock that shows the second, minute, hour, and day of the week. It is showcased in the Entrance Hall (below).
Just a side note about the Jefferson nickel. Designed by sculptor Felix Schlag following a national contest in 1938, it was FDR who thought that America needed to go back to Jeffersonian ideals. It was his idea to put our 3rd president's face on the front of the 5¢ coin and Monticello on the back. Interesting, right?
A fun explore was had in the Vegetable Garden. The 1,000-foot long garden terrace served as both a source of food and an experimental laboratory where Jefferson experimented with 330 vegetable varieties.


I could envision him sitting in this pavillion, admiring all around him. I know we did.



It's 10:30 and the tour has begun. We start as most visitors to Monticello do, in the Entrance Hall.
The Entrance Hall was the only room in Monticello that guests were guaranteed to see. Thomas Jefferson, always eager to educate, filled the room with such a variety of natural, historic, and artistic pieces that several guests described the room as a "museum" in their letters.

This is the Great Clock whose weights are in the cellar. "The face has a main dial with hour and minute hands with a small secondary dial with a sweeping seconds hand. The clock is powered by two sets of cannonball-like weights (eighteen pounds each) strung on ropes, which independently drive its ticking and the striking of a gong on the roof. As the clock winds down, the weights descend on either side of the clock via a pulley system and travel down the corners of the room, passing through holes in the floor to the cellar below. Labels are affixed on the wall along the path of the running ("ticking") weights and indicate the days of the week." Truthfully, that would be so handy, especially on this trip
Thomas Jefferson displayed a bust of his archenemy Alexander Hamilton in the Hall directly opposite his own bust so the two political rivals would remain "opposed in death as in life". We've learned that Jefferson was a funny guy.


Our tour shared so much about the man as we explored the important spaces in his life. After his morning routine, Thomas Jefferson settled into a lengthy period of letter-writing. Jefferson wrote almost 20,000 letters in his lifetime, among them, scholarly musings to colleagues, affectionate notes to his family, and civil responses to admirers. He wrote John Adams that he suffered "under the persecution of letters," calculating that he received 1,267 letters in the year 1820, "many of them requiring answers of elaborate research, and all to be answered with due attention and consideration."
And this gadget (he was very fond of gadgets) made me envious. Jefferson used a copying machine to make duplicate sets of his letters, which he kept in filing presses, tying them into bundles organized alphabetically and chronologically. This arrangement allowed Jefferson to pinpoint the location of any given letter, and even send for a particular one when he was away from Monticello.

In 1823 Jefferson wrote that "The letters of a person, especially one whose business has been chiefly transacted by letters, form the only full and genuine journal of his life." His surviving letters give insight into Jefferson's vast interests and reveal much about his personality.
I also loved his bedroom. Jefferson saw alcove beds during his years in France, and admired the space-saving qualities of these beds built into walls. Upon his return from Europe, Jefferson redesigned Monticello, adding at least one alcove (and sometimes two) in every bedroom. A continual innovator, he varied the design for his own bed, leaving both sides open to loosely connect his bedroom with his study. He also saved space by placing closets in the walls over his and other beds. His closet -- which has openings for air and light -- was accessible via a small ladder kept at the head of the bed. The man was so forward thinking. Wow.






In the Dining Room, Jefferson, his family, and many guests took meals twice a day. Common to the time, Jefferson used folding tables so that, after meals were finished, the room could be used to entertain. I love the color.
Yes, this is the famous dumbwaiter!
Back to the topic of this tour. Adams and Jefferson met at the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1775. They served on the Committee of Five in 1776, where Jefferson wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence and Adams strongly championed its adoption on the floor of Congress. In addition, they worked closely together in Europe representing the fledgling United States. Their families traveled together and by all accounts they were buddies. Jefferson wrote that he and Adams were often separated by "different conclusions we had drawn from our political reading." The two maintained their friendship despite their political differences until 1801, the year that Jefferson became president. It was a very bitter election, which Jefferson won, leading to a decade-long estrangement. 

Encouraged by mutual friend Benjamin Rush, they resumed their correspondence in 1811, exchanging roughly 380 rich, philosophical letters that healed their bond. Weirdly, both men died on July 4, 1826. Jefferson died earlier in the day at Monticello, while Adams died hours later in Massachusetts, famously not knowing Jefferson had already passed, uttering his last words: "At least Jefferson still lives."
Our tour ended with the story of this chair. 
The Rising Sun Chair was crafted in 1779 by Philadelphia cabinetmaker John Folwell. George Washington sat in the chair as the presiding officer throughout the Constitutional Convention at Independence Hall. At the close of the convention on September 17, 1787, Benjamin Franklin observed the half-sun carved into the chair's crest rail and famously remarked: "I have often looked at that picture behind the president without being able to tell whether it was a rising or a setting sun. But now at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting sun."  He said it to symbolize his shift from doubt to hope for the new American republic. It was with this quote that the tour ended.
How fun it was to meet Thomas Jefferson (as portrayed by veteran historical actor-interpreter Bill Barker). For 30 minutes, it was like we were in the company of our President.

No history lesson is complete without a visit to the cemetery. Before his death, Thomas Jefferson left explicit instructions regarding the monument to be erected over his grave. In this undated document, Jefferson supplied a sketch of the shape of the marker, and the epitaph with which he wanted it to be inscribed: "... on the faces of the Obelisk the following inscription, & not a word more: Here was buried Thomas Jefferson  Author of the Declaration of American Independence of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom & Father of the University of Virginia "because by these," he explained, "as testimonials that I have lived, I wish most to be remembered." I believe he got his wish!
In an 1816 letter to John Adams, Thomas Jefferson wrote, "I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past." While I can somewhat agree with his sentiment, today's immersion in the 'history of the past' is one which was not only thought provoking but thoroughly enjoyable as well. I💛History!

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