Montpelier Field Trip

Last week we went to Montpelier with our homeschool history club. We've been a time or two before,  but it's been a few years since we last visited.

Sunshine toured the house with the other older kids while Mr M and I took the boys on a tour of the house aimed at the younger kids in the group. Our guide did a good job of simplifying things and keeping them engaged.

After the house tours we ate lunch and the kids ran around and got some of their wiggles out. After lunch we headed out for a hike through the forest behind the house.

view from the front porch

After the hike we went to the archeology building, where they organize the digs done on the property. The boys dug for pottery shards and such in the "sand box" outside while Sunshine and Mr M went inside for a presentation on items that have been found on the estate. Sunshine really enjoyed this portion.

looking down the path the bisects the walled garden

Then we headed to the Annie duPont Formal Garden, which is a walled garden with quite the variety of plants that were brought in about a hundred years ago. River proved to be very observant and was able to find the different architectural details in the scavenger hunt we did in the enclosed garden.

the garden beds are lined with hashtags- long before hashtags were a thing

House tours aren't cheap (though not as expensive as Monticello), but most of the grounds are open for free. Since our last visit they've marked and opened up a number of hiking trails that intersect the grounds and the forests, so we'll be back to do some hiking and exploring.

loved the detail on the back gate

we left via the back gate in the center of the brick wall. 

the round thing looked like an old, out-of-commission fountain.