Food & Wine Fit for Presidents, Generals, & Gentlemen

Estimated Tour Pricing Inclusions: 5 nights’ accommodation; 5 breakfasts; 5 lunches; 3 dinners; admissions, entrance, and guide fees as stated in the itinerary, including taxes, and gratuity. Except gratuity for guide fees is not included on adult tours unless otherwise requested.

• Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello
• Michie Tavern
• Academical Village
• James Madison's Montpelier
• Historic Silk Mill
• Stratford Hall
• George Washington’s Birthplace National Monument
• The Hague Winery
• Mary Washington’s House
• Rising Sun Tavern
• Historic Kenmore
• Escape Route Tour of John Wilkes Booth
• Dr. Samuel A. Mudd House
• Surratt Museum
• Gadsby's Tavern Museum
• Mount Vernon
• George Washington’s Distillery & Grist Mill
• Old Town Alexandria
• Robert E. Lee’s Boyhood Home
• George Washington Masonic National Memorial
• Gunston Hall

• Arrive in Charlottesville, VA, and enjoy lunch included at the historic Michie Tavern. The Tavern and its outbuildings offer a glimpse of 18th century life through the exhibit of handcrafted furnishings and artifacts & is one of the oldest homesteads remaining in Virginia.
• Arrive at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, the mountaintop home of Thomas Jefferson. The house is a remarkable integration of classical architecture and modern innovation designed by Jefferson and built on the mountain top where he played as a boy. Mr. Jefferson named his home Monticello, meaning Little Mountain, and always used the Italian pronunciation of Monticello (mon-ti-chel-oh). See the film Thomas Jefferson's World in the Carl and Hunter Smith Education Center as it dramatically presents Jefferson’s ideals and accomplishments and illustrates Monticello’s central importance to his life and work. Making Monticello: Jefferson’s ‘Essay in Architecture,’ an exhibition covering the architectural origins, construction, and 40-year evolution of the iconic Monticello house.
• Visit the Academical Village at The University of Virginia. The Rotunda was designed by Thomas Jefferson as the architectural and academic heart of the University’s community of scholars. He named the University’s original buildings the “Academical Village.” As the phrase suggests, the Academical Village is based on the Jeffersonian principle that learning is a lifelong process and interaction between faculty and students is vital to the pursuit of knowledge.
• Check-in to your local hotel to refresh. Enjoy exploring the Pedestrian Mall in downtown Charlottesville and have dinner on own. Find more than 120 shops and over 30 restaurants.
• Return to the hotel for the evening. (Meals: L)

• Enjoy breakfast at the hotel this morning.
• Visit Montpelier, the home of James and Dolly Madison. Madison was the 4th President of the United States and Father of the Constitution. It is here at Montpelier where James Madison shaped the ideas that would become the U.S. Constitution. For six months Madison sat in his upstairs library, where he meticulously studied past forms of governments and organized his thoughts into what he believed were the ideal principles for a representative democracy. Madison’s ideas would become the “Virginia Plan”, and later the framework for the Constitution. Enjoy a guided tour of the mansion and learn about the fascinating lives of James and Dolley Madison, America’s beloved “First Lady”.
• After the tour, enjoy time to take a self-guided stroll through the gardens and grounds, explore the indoor and outdoor exhibits, and the museum gift shop.
• Arrive at the Silk Mill Grille for lunch included today. Historically, Orange County has been agricultural and while on the edge of the Great Depression, seized an opportunity that was to provide the salvation of many farms and families. Milton Rubin, an entrepreneur looking for cheap labor, posted he was looking for a southern town interested in developing a silk mill and chose Orange County because, “The people here were so nice to me”. Shortly after the mill opened, the Great Depression began in October of 1929. Because of the American Silk Mill, farms were saved and a community was left intact. American Silk Mills, Inc. was the nation’s largest producer of silk for parachute cloth during the Second World War. More than 1000 employees took part in the project which won a Presidential Citation for their part in making parachutes.
• Depart and tour Stratford Hall, a National Historic Landmark preserving the legacy of the Lee family and its surrounding community, inspires an appreciation of America’s past, and encourages commitment to the ideals of leadership, and honor. Four generations of the Lee family passed through its stately doors including Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee, the only two brothers to sign the Declaration of Independence. Revolutionary War hero “Light Horse Harry” Lee, and his son, Civil War General Robert E. Lee, who was born at Stratford Hall in 1807.
• Check-in to the Guest House and then enjoy dinner included at Stratford Hall. (Meals: B, L, D)

• Enjoy breakfast at the hotel this morning.
• Depart for George Washington’s Birthplace National Monument, meet your GUIDE, and enjoy a tour. The monument preserves the heart of Washington's plantation and the Washington Family Burial Ground. A Memorial House and dependencies were constructed in 1931 near the location of the original Washington home.
• Visit The Hague Winery, stop for a tasting and tour. Enjoy lunch included while visiting.
• Continue to Mary Washington’s House in Fredericksburg, VA. Purchased by her son, George Washington, in 1772, Mary spent her last 17 years here. Opened to the public in 1903 and was restored in 1931.
• Visit the Rising Sun Tavern, built by George Washington’s youngest brother Charles around 1760 as his home, this frame building became a tavern in 1792 when it was purchased by the Wallace family. It operated for 35 years as a stopover for travelers and in 1907, Preservation Virginia acquired the tavern and completed a series of restorations including the front porch. Much of the beautiful woodwork in the tavern is original.
• After visiting, enjoy free time to shop & stroll in Downtown Fredericksburg.
• This evening, enjoy dinner included at the historic Kenmore. Built by George Washington's sister, Betty Washington Lewis, and her husband, Fielding Lewis, this Georgian-style, brick mansion reflects the pre-Revolutionary-War wealth and status of the Fredericksburg merchant. The mansion has undergone a comprehensive refurnishing, period furniture, and interior details offer a descriptive setting for this historic story.
• After dinner, return to the Guest House at Stratford Hall. (Meals: B, L, D)

• After breakfast, checkout and depart on an Escape Route Tour of John Wilkes Booth in reverse!
• Depart for the Thomas Stone House in Port Tobacco, MD. Tour, walk around, see old farm trace roads, and imagine the past.
• Explore history and then enjoy lunch included at Captain Billy’s Crab House where John Wilkes Booth attempted to cross the Potomac River.
• Visit Dr. Samuel A. Mudd House, the official site of where Dr. Mudd set the leg of John Wilkes Booth the morning after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Visit the Surratt Museum. During Booth's flight out of Washington, the assassin stopped at the Surratt tavern to retrieve weapons and supplies which had been hidden there. As a result, Mary Surratt was tried and convicted of conspiracy to assassinate the President. On July 7, 1865, she became the first woman to be executed by the United States government.
• Depart for your local area hotel, check-in, and then prepare for dinner included at Gadsby's Tavern Museum. Look out for our historical special guest, Martha Washington. The museum consists of two buildings, a 1785 Tavern and the 1792 City Tavern and Hotel. (Meals: B, L, D)

• Enjoy breakfast at the hotel this morning.
• Visit Mount Vernon, the estate of George Washington. Here, he escaped the rigors of public office and enjoyed the life of a successful Virginia planter. America’s most visited historic house, Mount Vernon sits on a grassy, shaded slope overlooking the Potomac River. Many of the furnishings are original pieces acquired by Washington himself. Mount Vernon is both George Washington’s home and final resting-place. This Southern plantation standing on the banks of the Potomac River details the life of the “Father of Our Country” while providing fascinating insights into Colonial times.
• Visit the Ford Orientation Center & Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center at Mount Vernon. The center contains sculptures, paintings, portraits, models, photos, films, documents, and diverse artifacts, with succinct descriptions and pithy quotations describing the life, times, and accomplishments of our nation's first president. With 25 state-of-the-art galleries, the museum displays many objects shown at Mount Vernon for the first time.
• Lunch today will be included at the Mount Vernon Inn. Visit the George Washington’s Distillery and Grist Mill. Visit Washington’s large stone gristmill, built in 1770 and 1771 to increase his production of flour and cornmeal and thus increase his export of these products to the West Indies, England, and Europe. In 1797 his Scottish farm manager, James Anderson, encouraged him to build a distillery next to the gristmill. The distillery produced nearly 11,000 gallons of rye whiskey and other products in 1799, making it one of the most successful operations of its kind in America. Fully functioning reconstructions of both buildings are located near the estate’s main entrance. Take an Escort-led tour of Old Town Alexandria.
• Visit Christ Church, a beautiful example of Georgian church architecture, dating from 1773. Silver plaques mark the pews of George Washington, who served as a vestryman, and of Robert E. Lee. See Robert E. Lee’s Boyhood Home, the Georgian townhouse where he lived off and on for 13 years.
• Visit the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Shop, run for five generations by a Quaker family, was the second oldest drugstore in the nation until it closed in 1933, & is now open as a museum and gift shop.
• Lastly, see George Washington Masonic National Memorial offers one of the finest views of Washington, plus an extraordinary collection of Colonial-era treasures. Located on the site proposed for the national capitol building. Dinner on own while exploring Old Town Alexandria. (Meals: B, L)

• Enjoy breakfast at the hotel before checking out.
• Visit Gunston Hall, the home of Founding Father George Mason. After exploring, depart for home. (Meals: B)

Base rate does not include motor coach transportation, airfare, airport transfers, driver gratuity, guide gratuity, (student groups exempt) or any upgrades or add-ons unlisted from itinerary as stated. Pricing may vary based on day of arrival or other conditions. Personalized itineraries with custom pricing and/or additional transportation can be created and added based on client needs and upon client’s request. MARS will customize quotes or personalize itineraries for FREE.