9/4/2011
Staunton, Virginia is pronounced STAN-ton. Our GPS knows this, yet it can’t pronounce Chicago correctly. It doesn’t know Staunton too well though, since it tried to drive us down one of those great country roads that just suddenly ends in overgrown vegetation. Daniel found it exciting as Mommy tried to back-up out of this non-road without running into out of control tree branches and back to society.
We went to Mass at St. Francis of Assisi, which gave us a chance to take a peek at the historic district of town. The priest there seemed like a funny guy, which helped us try to ignore the sweltering heat. (What do you expect in a hundred and twenty year old building?) We sat in the cry room and every few minutes teenagers and old ladies would try to come in, would look annoyed that we were in there, and then scurry back downstairs.
After Mass we headed to the Woodrow Wilson Birthplace, Museum and Library. Both Laura and I agreed on this one: what a rip-off! It costs $14 a person ($12 with AAA) for a 35-minute tour of the birthplace, which consists of two rooms and the kitchen in the basement. While there we discovered that Wilson’s parents only lived in the house for about two years and Wilson himself until he was 15-months old. Although we appreciate that Wilson was born there, his connection to the house was so slight it seemed a bit pricey for the pleasure of seeing it. We thought we’d be vindicated by the library. What we got was a mall room with a small selection of recent books about Wilson and things like those “all the presidents” tablemats.
We don’t want to be overly negative, since we know these places need to charge money for the upkeep of these historic sites. However, in this case, we feel like a large amount of advantage has been taken of Staunton’s brief connection to one of the most famous American presidents.
From Laura: Okay, I would like a minute to rant about this place. I spent $24.00 to view a house [oh just the first floor] in which Woodrow Wilson spent the first 15 MONTHS of his life, and see a library full of expensive books about Woodrow Wilson, that I can buy on ebay for $2.37. I remember nothing about him, so I was fully prepared to receive a homily on the great Woodrow Wilson. Instead, I learned about his parents, grandparents, and their chinaware. Although, now that I think about it, I did like the pattern on the plates. And the fake food looked pretty yummy. Maybe I was just hungry for McDonalds. All the children behaved well during the tour, with the exception of Daniel trying to sit in one of the antique chairs. Oh, and why did he think the name Woodrow Wilson sound more important than Thomas Woodrow Wilson?
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