Mount Vernon

Today we explored Mount Vernon, which is the historic estate of George Washington.  It's a little bit outside of the city of DC, but I am ever so glad that we went, because it was super interesting.

There is a lovely welcome center and museum.

George Washington was very tall.  Especially for his day and age.

I love these stained glass windows that depict early American history.

This is the main house.

This is the greenhouse.

There were two kitchen gardens that supplied the estate with food, and there was an orchard. Most of the estate was a farm that grew crops.  But there was also room for a show garden that grew flowers.

This is the bathroom.  I would agree that it was necessary.  Aptly named, this place.

There is a colonial farm on the estate that still operates on a very tiny scale to give visitors a sense of what life would have been like in the late 1700s.  We spoke with two women who were cooking lunch for the farm employees.  There were making split pea soup and toast, all from things grown on the estate.

The Icehouse was right by the Potomic River.

This warf is on the estate, and you can take river boat cruises that depart from this location. Washington ate a lot of fish that came from this river.

The wash house was next to the kitchen building.

The entire estate was something of a small town, with little shops and houses for all sorts of different activities.

We also toured the main house, but there is no photography allowed inside.  It was incredibly beautiful, and you should definitely go, if you ever have the opportunity.

After we were done exploring, we ate lunch at the Mount Vernon Inn that is near the visitor center, and the multitudinous gift shops.

Lex bought a tricorn hat and a wooden sword.  Connor picked out a cookbook about different hamburgers from all over the United States.