Cole and I enjoy touring James Monroe's local home — Highland.

Last weekend, Cole and I drove down the curvy roads (who am I kidding, all the roads are curvy around here). Last weekend, Cole and I drove down the road to James Monroe's former estate, Highland. Last fall on first arrival we stopped by Thomas Jefferson's place, so it was about time we made it over to his friend and neighbor's home.

We had heard great things from when my parent's visited, so we were pretty excited. While not as grand or detailed as Jefferson's, it was a quaint little place with character. He had pictures of his friends and mentors in his study and the retiring room had personal items from Napoleon. While, I don't have any pictures from the actual inside of the home, I do have some from the grounds.

We wandered around them, exploring the gardens, out buildings, slave quarters, basement, statues and a wedding. You heard right, someone was having their wedding while we were there touring. But they don't shut the place down, things just continue on like usual. Pretty place to get married though, and historic. Monroe's own daughter even got married there.

Honestly, I still favor Jefferson's place, but this president had a nice pad as well. I hope you enjoy the following photos, and feel free to check out my President James Monroe's Highland album.

Our tour guide, who had an interesting speaking voice, oozed Monroe knowledge.

Get ready for a bunch of flowers. They were just pretty.

This giant oak tree stands by the home and would have lived at the time of Monroe.

So big and so cool that Cole gave it a hug.

Darn stink bugs.

The property even has a few chickens.

Monroe's statue sits at the end of the path.

Cole admires Monroe's statue.

It's really starting to look fall-like around here.

Guess what these are for? They are called mounting stones. Climb to the top and mount your horse just like Cole demonstrates.