Our last day on the road! Not that there wasn't still more to see. We started out by driving into nearby Fredericksburg, VA, a small town with a very attractive historic business center of small shops. We walked along the main street and then stopped in at the James Monroe Museum on the site where Monroe had practiced law from 1786-1789, before becoming the fifth president of the United States. Monroe achieved an important role in American history via his negotiations with France, which led to the purchase of the Louisiana Territory, and his presidential proclamation of what became known as the Monroe Doctrine, which stated that the United States would not look kindly upon the interference of European countries in the affairs of countries in the western hemisphere - a doctrine used and misused by various American presidents over the course of American history.
The building was fairly small, but a docent took us around to the various rooms and brought the various objects to life by explaining them in the context of Monroe's life and accomplishments.
From there we continued on our way home via Rt. 301, which proved quite slow due to all of the traffic lights. We finally arrived home at 6:30 to a warm welcome by Ilana and Miriam, concluding my journey across America and this series of blogs.
