A government shut down and a holiday……holy crap there were a lot of kids and people in general at Mount Vernon today.
Showed up at 10:45, bought our tickets and the tickets said we could get in line for the house tour at 1:55. Talk about a wait to get to walk through the house. So, we walked around the grounds and took our time. Took a lot of pictures.
First up was Washington’s tomb. Well actually the new tomb. This was his original tomb and it was closer to the actual house.
Old tomb from 1799 to 1831 when he was moved to the new tomb
Here is the new tomb. Both Martha and George are in the front of the tomb and visible when you look in. 25 other members of the family are entombed behind a door between George and Martha and another 3 are entombed off to the right.
New tomb finished 1831
George Washington – right side
You can see the door in the back where the other 25 members of his family are entombed
Martha Washington – left side
Then there was the slave graveyard.
Memorial erected by the Mount Vernon Ladies Association in 1929
We wandered down the path to the dock and around the corner is a farm that’s sole purpose was to grow food for the main house. George envisioned a 2 story 16 sided barn where the planks on the upper floor had small gaps between the boards. You would throw the wheat after it was harvested on the floor and let horsed walk across it to break the wheat kernels off from the strand they would fall through the floor to the bottom floor leaving only the stems on the upper floor. They would then round up the the wheat off the bottom floor and prepare it for winter. Whether they ground if for flour or left it as is.
bottom floor where the wheat was gathered up
George was a surveyor when he first started out and you can tell when you walk around the grounds. Everything is layed out nicely and everything is in it’s place.
In the stables they still have a carriage that belonged to Washington.
Along with some other interesting stuff. I think the sign said it was a riding chair.
riding chair could more easily travel country roads than the bulkier coaches
When it came time for us to get into line to make our way into the house we both looked at the line and said to hell with it. The line was ridiculous and there was no way either of us wanted to stand in line. We have been through the house before and then we learned that the main dining room (which in my opinion is the best room in the house) was closed for restoration. That decided it for us. You also can’t take pictures inside so since I’ve seen it before i wasn’t going to gain anything. Here are some pictures of the house and in the first one you can see the line of people on the left side.
notice the line on the left side? Hell no i was not standing in that line.
the back side of the house. see the line? that’s the line from the front of the house. they are bypassing the dining room and entering from the back instead.
I have lots more pictures if anyone wants to see them but there are just too many to put up on the blog.
Tomorrow we are off to Arlington National Cemetery and possibly a night tour of the city. Still deciding on that one.