This area is laden with American history. Ash Lawn - Highland is the home of President James Monroe, President Thomas Jefferson's Monticello is a 5 minute drive from there, and President James Madison's Montpelier is 45 minutes North of the Charlottesville area.
Mike @ MonticelloIn the craze of performances (and the subsequent need for rest and downtime), we didn't visit any of these sites last summer. This year I planned our free time a bit more wisely and managed to get to all three! Mike went on the Ash Lawn tour, and then he and I visited Monticello. The following weekend I visited Montpelier with my family. All three sites were interesting and especially beautiful!
And a (blurry) photo from our opera scenes concert in mid-July...
Emoting. :)