Mt. Vernon

Tuesday, July 29th

This was breakfast this morning:

Bob had stopped at the store last night and bought eggs, cheese, bacon, and sausage, but we had no pan to cook them in, so he improvised! The foil worked quite well! The cheesy eggs were delicious ... mmm.

After lots of indecision about what to do today, we finally decided that Bob would stay at the cabin for an "alone" day, and the kids and I would experience Mt. Vernon, the home of George Washington.

We had no problems getting there. The George Washington Memorial Parkway is a beautiful drive with little traffic (at least when we went through). But when we got parked and I went to make sure I had everything before locking up the car, I found I had my Canon camera but no card for it, and I had a memory stick but no Kodak camera. Grrr! So our first stop was at the gift shop to see if they carried camera cards. Of course, they did not, so I had to buy a disposable digital camera. So I have no photos of Mt. Vernon to post yet, until I get them developed. Ugh.

The house and grounds were breathtaking. It's so interesting to me to see how people lived in the 18th and 19th centuries. Things were so different then. I did think they tried to squeeze too many people into the tours, and most guides spoke too fast, but when we came out of the house, I realized why. There had been no line when we arrived, but now there was a huge line. We toured the grounds on our own, seeing the buildings where the slaves would have worked, the stables where the horses and buggies were kept, and the old location of the graves of George and Martha.

Then it was back to the museum and gift shop. The museum had lots of exhibits and photographs, but the thing we liked best, and had originally decided not to do, was the "4-D" theater! The movie highlighted Washington's role in the Revolutionary War, and the theater even "blew" when there was wind, "snowed" during the part about crossing the Delaware, and the seats "rumbled" when the canons and shotguns rang out! Just one more way history is brought to life for our children.

After the movie, it was getting close to closing time, so we hit the gift shop again. I found an owl puppet that can turn its head all the way around, a Washington DC ABC book, and a dice game with letters on the dice - there I go, buying more things for school! I also bought a beautiful porcelain Christmas tree ornament as a memento of our trip. Morgan got a sweatshirt, and Aidan got a toy shotgun (ugh...) and a tricorne. Ever since, he's been using the gun and hat to pretend he's the soldier guarding the Tomb of the Unknowns, complete with clicking his heels together!

It was our intent when we left Mt. Vernon to find the southernmost metro station and park, and ride the metro to the National Air & Space Museum to finish what we didn't see before. However, I misinterpreted my map (imagine that!), and found myself in the center of Alexandria at rush hour. Can you say parking lot? Or gridlock? I probably spent an hour trying to find the metro station. Finally I gave up trying to find the one I was looking for when I saw the sign for King St. I remembered that we had ridden the metro to King St. to see the Washington Masonic Museum, so there must be a station on this street. I finally found the station, but spent another 20 minutes trying to find a parking place. I'm so glad I don't have to deal with this every day! I'll take the ease of small-town driving and parking any day!

Anyway, by the time we made it onto the metro and started on our way, we decided it was getting too close to closing time at the Air & Space Museum, and we really wouldn't have any time to see the exhibits, so we decided to do a little more walking around town again. We hiked to Ford's Theater and the house where President Lincoln died. The house is not open to the public, and the theater was closed for renovations, but at least we got pictures from the outside. Then we walked back to the White House and took pictures from the back, which you can get closer to than the front.

During our tour, part of G street was closed to traffic by police and secret service - they look just like they do in the movies - dark suits and sunglasses! There was a tented walk-through from the hotel to the area where a limo was parked, but we never saw anyone come out of it. Aidan and I had to use the restroom, so we went into the bookstore on the corner of that block, and Morgan kept lookout for us, but to no avail.

Speaking of the restroom in that bookstore, that's the first restroom I've ever had to "pay" to use! To get in, you had to get a token from the checkout counter, and insert it just like money.

Well, it was getting late, we hadn't had dinner, we knew Bob would be starting to worry, and we still had to ride back to King St. in Alexandria, then drive the half hour to the campground, so we didn't wait around to see who might emerge from the hotel.

On the way home, we picked up Popeye's Chicken (similar to KFC) and took it back to the cabin. We ate on the picnic table in the dark - what fun!