Monthly Archives: July 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.
Night (or Day) at the Museums…
We have really been enjoying the unseasonable cool temperatures here in Washington. Normally, it would be in the mid 90’s here in the day time and in the 70’s at night.
Instead, it has been in the low 80’s in the day time and the low 60’s at night. I just read that New York City had its coolest June since 1958.
So much for Global Warming.
We took the Metro into DC again this morning, but only the Orange line. We didn’t have to change trains this time since the Orange goes right past the main Smithsonian museums, the Museum of American History, and the Museum of Natural History.
We started out with the American History Museum in the Contemorary Culture area.
Besides Archie Bunker’s chair, they also had Jerry Seinfeld’s infamous “Puffy Shirt”.
Puffy Shirt
And, of course, Judy Garland’s Ruby Slippers from the “Wizard of Oz”.
Ruby Slippers
They also had a entire Lincoln exhibit, including the derringer that John Wilkes Booth used to kill him, and the top hat Lincoln was wearing when he was shot.
Lincoln's Hat
They also had a large piece of the Berlin Wall, complete with graffiti.
Berlin Wall
In the Transportation exhibit, they had a Travel Trailer from the 1930’s that it looks like we could be right at home in.
A little cramped, maybe, but right at home.
Travel Trailer
In the History section they had the gunboat “Philadelphia” that was built and sunk in 1776. The “Philadelphia” is the only surviving gunboat built and manned by American Forces during the Revolutionary War. Salvaged from Lake Champlain in 1935, hundreds of items were recovered from the vessel. These relics included shot, cooking utensils, tools, buttons, buckles and human bones.
Gunboat
But Jan and I both agree that the most impressive exhibit was the actual flag that flew over Fort McHenry in 1814 during the British attack that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the “Star Spangled Banner”.
This is a picture from the Internet since they don’t allow photographs any longer.
Fort McHenry Flag
The original flag was 30 by 42 feet with 15 stars and 15 stripes. At the time it was the practice to add a star and a stripe for each new state.
I guess they didn’t anticipate 50 states some day. It was 1818 before the flag was standardized at 13 strips
The flag is now about 30 x 38 feet and has a star missing due to souvenirs being cut off before the 1880’s.
It’s hard to look at this flag and not get a catch in your throat.
After lunch at the Museum Cafeteria, we headed down the street to the Museum of Natural History.
Maybe the most impressive thing we saw was the Hope Diamond.
Hope Diamond
The deep blue Hope Diamond is presently 45.52 carats, but its first known precursor was the 115 carat Tavernier Blue that was sold to Louis XIV of France in 1669. It was apparently brought back from India by a French merchant-traveler named Jean-Baptiste Tavernier.
It was later cut down to a 67-1/8 carat stone called the French Blue.
It is not known when the French Blue was cut down to the Hope Diamond, but the first time it was seen in its present form was in 1812.
After wandering thru more exhibits than I can remember, we headed back to the Metro station to catch a train home before the going-home rush hit.
We got on the first train and headed out…for one stop.
Then our train broke down. And we all had to get off the train.
Luckily, we were at a station when it died. It was a half hour before they got our broke train out of the way. And then it was another 15 minutes before another train pulled in. And it was full. And so were the next 3 or 4.
So an hour later, we were finally on our way. So much for getting an early start.
Tomorrow, we plan to see George Washington’s home, Mount Vernon.
More later…
