Washington’s Mount Vernon, VA - July 5

Washington’s Mount Vernon, VA - July 5 (yes, I know I'm very behind in posting, we have been having long days in the National Park)

Today was hot and steamy. At least there was no rain today. I thought it was a great day.

George Washington's Mount Vernon is the historic home of George and Martha Washington. We spent the entire day there and could have used 1 more hour to take the boat ride on the Potomac River on such a beautiful day. I learned a lot about Washington today and the museum was very well done. 

We toured part of the museum since we had time before our Mansion Tour. 

There was a Revolutionary War 4D theater which was well done. The seats vibrated when there was cannon fire and snowflakes fell when it snowed.

The tours are self-guided, but there are people dressed in period garb at every area to tell you all about it. We toured the mansion (no photos allowed inside). The house looked like it was constructed of stone block, but it was really constructed with wood made to look like stone. The wood was shaped and then painted and then sand was thrown on it to give it that look. The front of the Mansion was being restored and it was down to the bare wood in the front. 92% of the wood is still the original wood. All renovating is done just as it originally was done when it was first built. 

 Bowling Green

front of the mansion under renovation

 the bare wood being renovated

 the wood made to look like stone blocks

 view from front to back

 back of the mansion

After the house tour we visited the out buildings.

 Clerk's quarters

 paint cellar

 Smokehouse

 Wash House

 Washington's vehicles

 a guys t-shirt in front of us

 stables

 Dung Repository

 Ha-ha Walls GW wanted to keep farm animals away from the mansion without obstructing the visitors' views of a pastoral landscape with animals grazing in the distance. Instead of fences he used ha-ha walls, which have a top level that is even with the Mansion's lawn, and a turf ditch on the pasture side.

 Icehouse

he was playing a fife

 the first Washington Family Vault

 the new Washington Family Vault (per his will)

cute dog in stroller in front of us

We had a nice lunch at the Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant. They use a lot of the vegetables from their garden. 

 Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant

 each room was decorated differently

 Steak Sandwich with home-made chips

fried chicken sandwich & home-made chips

Next, we grabbed the shuttle to visit the distillery and the grist mill. 

We then went to see the Slave Memorial & Cemetery.

 the Marina

We walked to the 4 acre demonstration farm. 

 16-sided treading barn

 Wattle Fencing

 Split Rail fencing

 Post & Rail Fencing

 Hurdle fence

 the horses ran in a circle to grind the wheat and it fell through to the bottom level

back of the barn

 slave quarters

Our afternoon snack was ice cream, but all they had was Hershey brand and it wasn't all that great, but it was cold. Now I know why they didn't serve their brand at Hersheypark. 

We went back to finish the museum and before we knew it, it was after 5:00. 

We quickly went through the last exhibit in the museum which was about the slaves that lived there. It was in his will that after his death the slaves were to be set free. He was very forward thinking for the times. He also was quite ingenious with crop rotation and other things that.

We grabbed salads at Panera on the way back to the hotel.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/NHxoADakELYRyeGJ8

Tomorrow, we leave for Waynesboro, VA via the rest of Skyline Drive in Shenandoah NP.