November (c) rush Day 8

 We said goodbye to Asheville before 7 a.m. heading north to Staunton, Virginia for the night.   We wanted to be in Staunton in time to visit the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library for the afternoon tour. 

It was a great museum.  Approaching from the back the first thing you see if the tiered garden area.   Due to a Boxwood blight a few years ago, all the plantings needed to be removed.   But it was not a total loss;  it allowed for archeological digs which turned up artifacts from the 1700’s. 

 

This is the view of the back of the home.

This is the home Woodrow Wilson was born in.   He lived here until he was about three at which time his father was offered a new position in a church in Atlanta.

This is the museum which is located to the left of his birthplace.

Look at this 1919 Pierce Arrow.   It was Wilson’s Presidential car.  It is still used today for local parades.

See the “AAA” on the front?   Wilson never had a driver’s license but felt it was important for the President to be a member of AAA.    

Look at that dashboard.   Just the essential gauges.  After his death, his long-time driver drove the Pierce Arrow from Washington DC to Staunton, VA.

It was kind of eerie to be in the Museum on Veteran’s Day and seeing this display in the basement.

There was a very realistic display you could walk through complete with sound 

effects.

 

In the house, linens of the period are laid out for pressing.

The chair above and the bed below are in the cook’s room.   The cook, being the most important person in the house as really a chief cook and bottle washer jack of all trades worker, had a room in the house.   The ‘contract’ with the cook allowed her to keep processions given to her.   The chair above is the original chair the cook had.   It dates to the late 1700’s.

Mary Baldwin University is on the opposite corner from Wilson’s birthplace.    This University played an important part in why Staunton, VA was not raised on General Hunter’s  march through the Shenandoah Valley.   The story goes that Hunter was told to destroy everything in his path.   When he came upon Staunton, Virginia, he sees an insane asylum, a school for the blind and  Baldwin Univeristy which was at the time a school for wealthy girls from both the north and the south.  He decided it would not look favorably towards him to attack the blind, the insane and the daughter’s of wealthy families.   He decided to march on to Lexington with there was a military school feeling it was a better target.   Because of that many buildings and homes pre-dating the Civil War are still standing.  

After visiting the Museum and home, we checked into our B & B.   I’ve got to tell you that the one night in this hotel was better than the week we spent in the Crown Plaza.   The Frederick House consists of five historic buildings that have been converted into rooms.   It was so adorable and I regret I carried my stuff up and dumped it out before thinking to take a picture.  More on where we stayed and the rest of the trip in my next post.

Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching.