Steven and Betty RV Adventures

SPOUT SPRING, VA Day 3. Worshiped at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Lynchburg. After church we drove to Poplar Forest and then to Natural Bridge State Park.

Grace OPC had been meeting in a local school until a few years ago when a Disciples of Christ congregation sold them their building (see below).

Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Lynchburg, VA

Poplar Forest is much talked about at Monticello because it was Jefferson's getaway home when too many visitors or the noise of constant reworking the design of Monticello would drive him away. One is given the impression that it is in the same condition as is Monticello, but that is not true, as one finds out when he pays the admission price and is taken on a tour through the building.

The back exterior of the house is in good condition, but as one goes around to the front, one finds a lot of excavation work still in progress. Inside one finds the result of years of fire and decay as the organization that controls the property now slowly works to reconstruct the mansion to its original condition. As funds become available and research continues the work continues but at a very slow pace. Visitors who come, and pay to see something like Monticello, are very disappointed. The tour guide we had, unlike the guide at Monticello, was a local volunteer with much less ability. It will likely be many years before one can expect to see a completed structure here comparable to Monticello.

Back Exterior View of Poplar Forest

Another View of Back Exterior

Front Exterior View of Poplar Forest

Once Inside All Is Under Recovery

Note the Unfinished Trim, Walls, Fireplace, etc.
And This Is One of the Better Rooms

A Mighty Classy Outhouse

After we left Poplar Forest, we drove to Natural Bridge State Park. This has been a state park for two years. Before that a private firm operated it. I saw it years ago, and it is far better run now. I only wish it were a national park so that our senior pass would get us in free.

Once again it was a shame that the weather was so overcast with poor lighting for photography. The bridge is amazing in good light, but I did what I could this day.

One enters a building where tickets and gifts are sold. Out the back one descends many stairways (which one later must ascend in return) to reach the bridge area. Thomas Jefferson's father was a surveyor who told his son about this bridge. Later Jefferson bought the bridge and 157 acres of surrounding land from King George III for 20 shillings on July 5, 1774 and owned it until his death on July 4, 1826. He and King George seemed to get along quite well only a couple years before Jefferson penned his Declaration of Independence from from king and kingdom.