Daily Archives: July 11, 2009
Mt. Vernon, George Washington, but no cherry tree…
This is our last full day here in the Washington DC area, so we started it with breakfast for one last time at the Silver Diner.
After that we drove down to Mt Vernon to vist George Washington’s home on the Potomac River.
Mount Vernon
We got there about 11 am and the place was packed. They were already into overflow parking.
After watching a very good film at the Welcome Center on George Washington in the French and Indian War, and the Revolutionary War, we headed up the house itself.
And ran into a very long line.
Line
They said it would take about 55 minutes to get into the house.
They lied. It took over 90 minutes to get in.
But in the meantime, we got to see some very old trees lining the path that were planted by George Washington.
Tree
Plaque
They even have these old trees protected with lightning rods to keep them safe.
Lightning Rod
Finally we got within sight of the actual house itself.
Mount Vernon2
After touring the very large house (over 9000 square feet in three floors) we got to sit on the wide front porch and look out on the same river view that George Washington used to enjoy.
One interesting tidbit we learned from one of the guides during the house tour was that George and Martha must have presented a somewhat odd appearance as a couple.
George was about 6′ 3″ and Martha was 4′ 11″. Talk about ‘stooping to conquer”.
View from porch
And from the big smile on her face, Jan enjoys it too.
Jan on Porch
After leaving Mount Vernon, we drove over to Alexandria, VA to eat at the Chart House restaurant on the Potomac River.
After a very good meal we headed back to the coach to get ready to leave tomorrow morning.
