We Hold these Truths to be Self Evident

What a good day to get out of the city! With a car full of Texas Tech interns and a handful of good friends, we pulled out of D.C. yesterday morning, headed south to Monticello. Our friend Matt planned the perfect day: lunch at Mitchie Tavern, guided tour of the house, and a whole afternoon to explore the grounds. We finished up with dinner at Pig ‘n Steak Virginia barbeque.

We have to beg friends to travel with us because with as much gear as it takes to keep this kid happy, we'd never get any sightseeing done. Don't we look like tourists? By "we" I mean them.

Thomas Jefferson was a farmer and a gardener. He did intense horticultural testing in these gardens, which were maintained by slaves who lived in shacks located where I am standing. His garden not only fed the estate, but in it he experimented with new varieties and crop rotations.

There She Is...Miss America!

I don't know if little girls still get giddy about meeting Miss America, but they did when I was little. When I was about six years old we had an old TV where you used the rotary dial to change the channel. Actually, it was probably new at the time. My mom told me we were going to fudge bed time and watch Miss America. She spun that rotary dial through all the snowy channels (my child will never know about snowy channels since everything is digital now) until we heard the theme song. I don't know who won, but there's something magical about little girls and crowns. I ran to my dress up chest and fished out a white stretchy headband that Santa had brought adorned with pearls and sparkly pink and purple flowers. I'm sure I wore it proudly long after I fell asleep that night, which was probably about the time the talent competition started.

Two years ago as a full-fledged, income earning, adult I was invited to a Miss America party with other full-fledged, income earning adults. It was impeccably planned and themed by state. Every girl was supposed to choose a state candidate to root for and wear something symbolizing that state. Did I go? You better believe I did!

Then, three weeks ago I got a Monday afternoon invitation to have dinner with royalty! Miss American 2011, Theresa Scanlan, was in town to meet with stakeholders in an agriculture movement.