Washington DC - Day 4

We started this morning by visiting the Jefferson Memorial, which we ran out of time to do yesterday. It is not really in the thick of the DC traffic and is pretty far from a Metro stop, so we drove over. There are wonderful exhibits in each memorial. If only we had the time to really read everything and watch every movie!





There are some really awesome quotes from the speeches and writings of the Founding Fathers in each memorial. I wonder how many of our current political leaders have actually read these quotes. I found this one in the Jefferson Memorial today. Jefferson was supposedly a Deist rather than a Christian and is the hero of liberals (according to Landon) in part because of his phrase "separation of church and state". It seems obvious, though, that what Jefferson meant and what today's liberals mean are two entirely different things! I, too, "tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever."



Next, we headed to Mount Vernon to spend the afternoon. We visited the Orientation Center first where the kids had their picture taken with George, Martha, and their two grandchildren, Nelly and "Washy".



Carys was particularly fond of Washy.



The next stop was the Education Center (which is actually named after someone!) and Museum. That place was fabulous! It is relatively new and is so kid-friendly! It was filled with short movies. One included scenes from the Revolutionary War along with movie theater seats that rumbled, lights that flashed, and even fog. There wasn't too much information to read in any one spot and lots of life-size displays and things for the kids to touch. It was really a "must see". The first thing we saw in the lobby of this building was this gingerbread replica of the mansion created by a former White House pastry chef.


This was the actual sword George Washington carried during the Revolutionary War.


They even had his actual dentures in the museum, although we were not allowed to take pictures of them. And, no, they are not made of wood.

After exploring the museum for quite a while, we headed out onto the estate. We visited many outbuildings and the tomb where George, Martha and 25 other family members are buried. Greg's great uncle, Bob, was a guard at the tomb for 25 years. Greg surprised me in this picture. Awful!


We finally got in to see the mansion. There were a couple of very large school groups there today. Gerren is missing in this picture, because he disobeyed us and wandered away in the museum. Greg decided to teach him a lesson in a safe place, and we went on without him. He was slightly more humble when we rescued him later. You are not allowed to take pictures inside the mansion, but here we are standing in front of the lawn.


Over 50% of the furnishings in the mansion are original. We were privileged to be here at Christmas because it is one of only two times each year that the third floor is open to visitors. After George died (2-1/2 years after his presidency ended), Martha closed the bedroom they shared on the 2nd floor and moved up to the 3rd floor/attic. She died 2-1/2 years after George.

This is the view of the Potomac River from the back porch of the house. It was gorgeous!


After we left Mount Vernon, we did something really fun. We drove past the house where Greg lived until he was almost five, when his family moved to Florida. It was only a mile or so down the road from Mount Vernon. It was a small house when they lived there. His dad had added on to it, and it looked like the current owner is doing the same. Greg said he thinks they sold it for $20,000 in 1968. The last time he looked on zillow.com, the house had a market value of $425,000. Here it is!



We ate dinner at a place in Alexandria that I dug up in a book called Going Places With Children in Washington, DC. I have an older edition that I bought used somewhere. Anyway it was called Generous George's Positive Pizza and Pasta Place. It was a good recommendation and fun to skip eating at an overpriced food court or a chain restaurant that we have in Florida.

Tomorrow we head to Manassas and to the new part of the National Air and Space Museum.