Trip of a Lifetime
Monday, May 27
On our last day together we went to
Mount Vernon including the
Gristmill and Distillery. In the first building we saw a 18 minute video about Mount Vernon and
George Washington. The theater was in good repair and movie looked as if it had been made by the big boy professional studios. The introduction to Mount Vernon was presented by
Pat Sajak. After the movie we bustled pasted the upper garden and bowling green to George Washington's House to get a tour of the inside of the house. George Washington married one of the wealthiest women in Virginia and the size of house and estate (8,000 acres) showed the money. After the tour of the house we took pictures of the picturesque view of the Potomac River from the house and the house with us in the pictures. My Mom and Grandma were wearing matching outfits that can be seen in a below picture.
Next we walked past support buildings for the house such as the carriage house, compost building, and animal barn. At the end of the building was the burial place of Martha and George Washington. There was a short event commemorating Memorial Day at the burial place of George and Martha Washington. There was a reading, wreath laying, and recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Then we were able to right up to the sarcophagus (10 feet away with the gate open) and take pictures. Afterwards we went to the Pioneer Farm. We did not need to spend too much time there because my grandparents are farmers and my Mom grew up on a farm. They know all about farming. There was a 16 sided barn and slave quarters near or on the Pioneer Farm. Luckily for our travelers, the entire walk from the theater to the Pioneer Farm was downhill and there was bus that took us uphill from the Pioneer Farm to the Educational Center.
At the education center we were able to see and learn about George Washington. We saw a sculpture of George Washington by
Houdon. We also saw other items from or would have been in George Washington's house or possessions. We also learned when he was at Mount Vernon he would have
hoecakes made from corn meal with honey everyday for breakfast. There was also another section which goes through his entire life from birth to death to legacy. In that section we went into a 4-D theater where are seats shook and when the movie had snow, foam came down from the ceiling that looked like snow. We also saw George Washington's fake teeth. The teeth were not made of wood and his teeth were never made of wood. These fake teeth were made with ivory and hippopotamus bone along with possibly other material. It sounded like he, George Washington, had to deal with large amounts of pain. He had to have teeth pulled multiple times and he had infections in his mouth. The mouth is a sensitive area.
After seeing George Washington's Mount Vernon House we drove about 5 minutes to the Gristmill and Distillery. There is a reconstructed Gristmill that actual runs by a water wheel and produces flour. The flour is bagged up and sold in the gift shop. My Mom and Grandma bought a bag and received a piece of paper with recipes for the contents of the bag. When I am home in July my Mom will make one of the recipes, maybe it will the hoecakes George Washington ate. Next we went to entirely reconstructed Distillery were we given the history about the actual distillery in George Washington's time. At certain time throughout the year, a person can buy a bottle of
George Washington Whiskey made in the Distillery. It will only be $95 per bottle. Then we we left to get dinner at a Boston Market before going to my row house and parting ways.
My Grandma and Mom
