Mount Vernon, Virginia

September 9, 2018

Today was a sunless, wet, rainy day.

We entered Mt. Vernon with our jackets and umbrellas.

First we had a tour of the mansion where George Washington lived. Photographs were not allowed to be taken inside the mansion.

The original house was build by George’s father. George had two additions made to the mansion in order to accommodate all the guests that came to visit.

Here is the view from the back porch. That is the Potomac River and Maryland on the other side.

We were allowed to photograph the outbuildings.

The kitchen

Salt house (salt was their main means of preserving foods as they didn’t have electricity).

Spinning house (they had a slave that was a seamstress…she made clothes for the slaves but the Washingtons bought their clothes from England).

Slave quarters

Both George and Martha are buried on the property. George had it written in his will that all of his slaves were to be freed after he died.

Twice daily they hold a wreath laying ceremony at the tomb. They asked for a veteran to place the wreath beside the sarcophagus.

There is also a grave site and memorial for the slaves. They also had a ceremony in the afternoon.

Jeremiah and Jedidiah got to place the wreath on the memorial.

We then visited the Education Building where they have displays and videos of George’s life. Housed in this building are his false teeth. Contrary to popular myth, his teeth were NOT made of wood. They were made of hippopotamus ivory and human teeth.

Even though we got very wet, we had a good day.