Mt. Vernon, George and today's inauguration

As thousands of people descend on Washington DC this week for the presidential inauguration, with January 20th almost here, I'm taking the opportunity to finish our trip to DC from last summer. I figured it was "fittin" for this week. In light of that, it just so happens the next stop on our trip was a visit to George's house, the first president of our country. What better way to celebrate our nation's inaugural and swearing in of our 45th president than that? 

I love George Washington. He's one of my all time faves. I'm not sure what he would think of our current political climate, but I'm also not sure any present day person could stand in the shadow of George Washington or Abraham Lincoln. Abraham is another of my faves. After reading a bit about both George and Abraham, turns out people hated them back in their day as well, so it seems not much has changed. 

For now, come back with me to July 2016 and take in the sights of Mt. Vernon on a warm summer's day. You may not remember but that same morning began with our tour of the White House, and after we finished there we went back to Emma's, loaded up the car and left for Mt. Vernon. The drive to George Washington's Mt. Vernon takes about an hour from Emma's house, and since we all needed some rest after our long morning, our air conditioned car was a nice way to spend the time. Because there was much more walking to do that afternoon. 

John and Owen had never been to Mt. Vernon and therefore they were looking forward to it, the girls not so much since they weren't first timers. But I was thrilled for all of us to be in such a place together. I had a very reflective time (not kidding) wandering about George's property thinking about him wandering about his property back in the day. It's really quite humbling to me when I walk in the footsteps of great people.

I think George Washington was a brilliant and humble man, who was amazingly concerned about having too much power in the political realm. Present day politicians could take a lesson. When asked to run for a third term as president, and because he wanted to spend all of his time at his beloved home, his response to the request included these words, "...my ardent wishes to pass through the vale of life in retiremt, undisturbed in the remnant of days I have to sojourn here, unless called upon to defend my country..." Sigh... people don't talk or write like that anymore. We might make fun of them if they did, but it sounds delightful when it was George. 

My interpretation of George's words are as follows, "Bug off people, I'm not running for president again. And don't call me unless an enemy shows up to try to mess with us." Clearly not as fancily worded as George could do. 

Now lets get past the welcoming statues and go see what we saw.

It's George and Martha and the kids welcoming all to Mt. Vernon. 

It's us in front of the house, after the welcoming statues.

Couldn't resist one more. 

That's my peeps on the path to the gardens. 

Those are George's cabbages, although I'm PRETTY sure he didn't plant them. 

Emma and Owen enjoying the scenery of the excellently growing cabbage. 

Some kind of fruit on a George tree. 

And artsy shot of leaves in the front, with John and Emma in the back. I like this pic. 

Being at George's house with present day technology is quite a contrast. 

Beba cooperated for me. Thanks Beba.

A wooden gate at George's.

A brick pathway at George's.

George's tomb at Mt. Vernon. When the United States Capitol was built in DC, it included a tomb two floors beneath the rotunda. The rotunda floor was to have glass in it so that you could see George Washington's tomb down below. But in accordance with George's will, he was buried at his Mt. Vernon home instead. 

With Martha by his side. 

There they are together in the hereafter. Although, no disrespect to anyone, the hereafter is not right there. It's somewhere else, up in the heavenlies. I guess anyway. Really the hereafter is not really here, it's there I guess. So it maybe should be called the thereafter. I'm gonna stop now. 

This says, "Tomb of Washington, Erected 1830-31. Site and material specified in Washington's will." George was quite particular. 

This place is like totally gorgeous in every aspect. 

Owen was moving fast. One minute he was there...

The next he was gone.

This path led to George's old tomb. The place he is now was not his first resting place. He moved around a lot. Or, just the one time. 

Oh look! Down by the Potomac. (Said in my head as Pot O Mack.) 

This is the original tomb. You have to walk down to the Pot O Mack and then back up to get to this tomb. It's LOTS of walking and stairs. 

One of George's carriages. 

The wash house. This would not be a good job. Plunging dirty clothes into hot water you had to boil and then hand scrub the clothes with lye and animal fat soap. MMM delicious. 

I would like all those containers though. 

The smoke house with the hanging meats. Yum.

George had a paint cellar. Again the wooden barrels. I want them!

The clerk's quarters. I'm thinking a space heater would come in handy in the cold Virginia winters. 

In line to go inside the house. 

This was weird. This guy, God love him, was in character as the clerk of Mt. Vernon. He talked to people as the clerk. It's probably normal for theater people. For me, it was weird.  

Had to take another house pic.

I am now in the no picture zone. I may not have obeyed the no picture taking rule. I want that satchel!

The view from the front of the house.

Almost inside. 

This is called the New Room.

This was a "statement" room to look grandiose for visitors. 

Look at George getting all fancy.

He and Beba share a love of green.

The view from the New Room. Not bad.

The Little Parlor.

The downstairs bedchamber...and my finger.

The Blue room.

The Small room had no fireplace. Yikes! That had to be cold. I'll need a space heater if I ever go visit and sleep there. 

George's bedchamber, where he passed away. On the day before he died he'd been supervising things on his estate on horseback in snow, rain and hail. Because he was late for dinner, he stayed in his wet clothes and ate supper. Early the next morning he was terribly ill. (Duh) I read the details of his treatment by three doctors which involved bloodletting and other weird stuff. It was disturbing. He died in this bed on December 14, 1799, 30 months into his retirement. It makes me sad for he and Martha.   

George's study. He shaved and got dressed here.

The kitchen.

Also the kitchen with more things I want.

That's quite a backyard.

George was set up for all things.

If you wanted to do some spinning back then, I guess you came here. If you want to do some spinning today, you go to a gym or hop on a bike. My point is, it's two very different versions of spinning. 

The Men's Bunk Room. No frills here.

The Stove Room was where they provided heat to use for tropical plants like lemons trees and such in the cold weather months. That couldn't have been fun for me.  

The shoe shop. That looks like a garment bag on the wall. It's leather for shoes, but garment bag is what speaks to me.

The Women's bunkhouse. 

An epic fail on my part was not using my tiny Washington monument more freely while at Mt. V.

Then I remembered.

Then I crammed a few in for good measure, but was devastated at the screw up. 

Then we were off to the restaurant and gift shop!

I'm always amazed that they cooperate with me on these kinds of requests. 

Farewell George Washington's Mt. Vernon. 

This is the gristmill that's down quite a ways from the estate. It could grind up to 5,000 to 8,000 pounds of cornmeal and flour a day. This sounds exhausting. The whole Colonial experience sounds exhausting. You have to plow the land to plant the crops to harvest the crops to take to the gristmill to make the cornmeal to make the cornbread. I just want to pop over to Brookshire's and buy some! I'm worn out just from typing this. I can't imagine doing all of that for the eating of food. I guess I might be skinny though. Eh, whatevs.  

On this inaugural day, January 20, 2017, I finished this post. I feel such an accomplishment. 

I really have enjoyed watching the pomp and circumstance of the day before Donald Trump is sworn into office. I consider myself very patriotic, and I have to say the fireworks behind the Lincoln Memorial made me tear up and feel very proud to be an American. I'm very thankful for my country and believe God has blessed us abundantly. But we have to be a friend and protector of Israel. We must. 

In less than 9 hours we will have a new president. God I ask you to protect him and his family and the Obamas as they leave the office. Lord God bless our country and thank you for keeping us safe. Keep all those in DC safe, especially Emma and Susan, but all the rest as well! Just everyone be covered by the precious blood of the Lamb who gave his life for me and all of us. 

And thank you Lord for George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. 

I'm proud to be an American. Just like Lee Greenwood says. 

Also bless Israel and protect them every day.  

Also, also Happy Birthday Mollie! 

It's 3:18 AM. 

Me and my bed have GOT to come together in the next few minutes.

God bless one more time. Someone else tag in on the praying. I'll start back up when I wake up.