KCRag Forum

If pictures are missing, find them at http://www.flickr.com/photos/115393943@ ... 070603504/.

Our destination is Niagara Falls, but we took time to visit Mount Vernon, George Washington's home.

It is 7/29/08, and we have just arrived. What a place!




We start with the visitor center.










The main attraction.


Closer now.




I like the way the foreground is darker than the subject here.


Costumes of the day.


Everybody should visit this place at least once.

totally amazing home, and so much original about it. more inside is original than thomas jefferson's monticello ( which, i should do a trip report on, wife and i just went last week ) they key to the bastille, is hanging inside george washingtons home. the bed he died in, complete with the same, unwashed, unchanged linens that he died in, are intact for you to look at. his and martha's remains, in stone coffins, sit above ground to look at. the view of the potomac river from the back, is out friecken standing. the man threw sand in the paint on his home as it was drying, running a finger every so many feet through the still wet paint, to make it look as if it were stone, he was soo smart and detailed, wow.

i went there in 1999, and they did a recreation, a complete recreation, of george washington's funeral, it was sooo awesome. they closed the shutters, draped black linen atop the mansion, did a carrying of a casket with a period recreation of GW lying in it, fired the original colonial muskets, all the virginia regiment soldiers standing at attention, actual candles lit in the home, it was something special.

something you got to see i have not, is the recreation of george washington's distillery. they are now producing whiskey at mount vernon, that to me is soo neat. many people either forget or dont know that about GW, he was a brewer at heart, loved alceehol.

i am soo jealous. if i get time, i will post my monticello pictures from last week.

I'll be moving back to the states this summer.  I think my first trip (provided I still have a job) will be up and down the east coast to see such places.  I've spent the last 10 years seeing places of historical significance in Europe and now it's time to see some in the states.  My kids have seen very little of the US.  Keep the ideas coming Roanoker.   

kcdcchef wrote: i am soo jealous. if i get time, i will post my monticello pictures from last week.

So where are they? 

Highlander wrote: Keep the ideas coming Roanoker.   

That's what I do. Thank you for your comments, guys. Now for the next installment.

George Washington had a nice house.


He had a nice, big lawn, too.


Breezeway.


How would you like to have the Potomac River in your back yard?


It's worth another view.


Back porch wasn't too bad, either.


He could get from here to there without getting wet.


Another view of the back yard. Those two big trees are carrying on a conversation.


And more.


My son took a bunch of pictures in the back of the house with my camera. Maybe he took most of these. The river is behind us.


This one catches the house and the river.


Now we wander off down a pretty path.

We are venturing into George's garden. He must have liked flowers.

Washington's estate has a very European feel, particularly the gardens.  Then again, in the mid 1700's, the US was not all that far removed from the old country.  I've travelled extensively around Europe at the expense of seeing much of the US.  I would really like to take my kids, that have been somewhat deprived of an education in US history, on a historical trip in the US to include Mt Vernon, Williamsburg, Monticello, Washington, Gettysburg etc... 

Folks who don't care much for flowers might want to skip this one. I was like a kid in a candy store while visiting the flower garden at Mount Vernon. The beauty is never-ending.

Roanoker- It would be a shame if someone dose'nt take time to smell the flowers. Thank you

K.C.Toga wrote: Roanoker- It would be a shame if someone dose'nt take time to smell the flowers. Thank you

You know, I didn't take the time to smell them! I should have. Thank you for the nice feedback!

one of those last pictures is one of the ones that weirds me out the most when i visit mount vernon. i have visited mount vernon i think 5 times, all when i lived in the dc area. anyways, the fact that the corpses of george and martha are just right there at the end, is to me, weird. i know they are inside the sarcophogus's, but still creepy. ( maybe just to me )

No pictures this week because my Mac Powerbook decided to ignore the power supply. I managed to get files I cared about copied to an external drive, call Apple Support, provide the necessary information, get instructions, agree to pay the fee (it is out of warranty) and hang up before it finally gave up the ghost. I'm using my husband's HP laptop to whimper. 

Hopefully I'll be back in business next weekend.

My Mac is back. Apple replaced the battery.













We left Mount Vernon and stopped by Washington D.C. to visit my other son, who was on a business trip. This is the lobby of the downtown hotel where we stayed.




On our way to dinner.