Oot & Aboot: The house that Washington built

Another early start today to make my way to George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate. The tour company was to pick me up at 7.25am at my hotel. Well I was there at 7.25am in the lobby, only to be told that the bus had already left. I was so livered. Another screw up with my DC tours. I will never use them again! What is the point of confirming your attendance if they don’t even wait for you to show up! So, again, I had to make my way to Union station and meet up with the tour there. I got onto the tour in time only to have to wait for the tour company to get into gear and get going. We FINALLY left the station late and headed the roughly hour and a half drive to Mount Vernon estate.

On the way there we drove through Old Alexandria Town. Old Alexandria is recognized for its 18th and 19th century architecture, including several streets still cobbled. One interesting attraction in the town is the house that spite built. John Hollensbury wanted to keep carriages and loiterers out of the alley way next to his house so he built a house in the alley way. The house is 7 feet wide and two stories high. It looks pretty cool and was a fantastic idea!

We get to Mount Vernon not long after. The tour guides tells us that 80 million people have visited the home since its opening. Incredible. In case you didn’t know, George Washington was the first US president and according to what I read and hear, he was da man. Loved by many and after two terms in office, the public were saddened to hear he wouldn’t continue for a third.

The house is located alongside the Potomac River on 8,000 acres of land once owned by Washington and now run by Mount Vernon Ladies Association. The house takes up a small part of the estate, as well as upper and lower gardens which are quite extensive. Other out houses includes the kitchen, the gardener’s room, slaves quarters, laundry, smoke house, and the list goes on. It is exceptionally quiet at the estate which is a nice change. I ask someone who works there if this is common and I’m told it gets busierin the afternoon with kids. I was happy to hear that! I got straight into the house with a small group. In each room an employee was there to explain the surroundings. The tour started in a gorgeous dining room with bright blue walls. I know it doesn’t sound crash hot, but it was beautifully decorated. Washington’s taste was for the finer things in style. I like him already! We slowly move through the house which was often hosting many of Washington’s friends and colleagues, which is why he had it extended twice in his lifetime. We got to George and Martha’s bedroom where their bed still resides, the one that George died in after a short illness. After his death Martha never slept in it again and slept in another room of the house until her death two years later. After touring the house I continued to look around the grounds. I noticed it had started to get really busy with a huge line to get into the house. Suckers. I got to Washington’s original tomb where he was buried after his death. As per his wishes in his will, his body was moved to a tomb created years after his death, as Washington knew of the deterioration of the original tomb. The tomb where he now lies also contains Martha and some of the Washington family such as the estates later owners, nieces and nephews. George never had his own children.

After looking around the estate I headed to the museum and education centre. The museum section housed artifacts from George’s era and what they found that was his. About 40% of the artifacts in the house are from the time George lived there, the rest have been collected pieces from the time period. The museum also features some of Martha’s jewellery and paintings of George. The education centre next door is a lot more interesting. An American university collected all they could about George Washington’s physical appearance, mainly from sculptures, busts that are considered accurate by family members and paintings; and re-created George Washington as a man in his twenties, in his forties, and in his sixties. It was fascinating to see the result and kinda creepy too.

Speaking of creepy, the creepiest thing in the education centre is George Washington’s false teeth. Yep, that’s right, his dentures. They are made from wood and hippo ivory and I find it amazing that people would actually wear them in their mouth, Thank goodness for dental technology. George was plagued with problem teeth his whole life and had lost all his teeth by the time he was president.

After I checked out the museum it was time to meet the bus driver and head back into DC. After an hour and a half, and most the bus asleep, we were at Union Station. I got myself a cab to my hotel and chilled out for a bit. I booked my shuttle for tomorrow for the lovely time of 4.30am. Oh that’s going to be fun…not! I went and got some dinner up the road at Chipolte. It’s a Mexican take out place one notch higher than Taco Bell. After dinner I got myself packing. Another packing challenge, as I was not looking forward to tomorrow’s trip to the airport to get on the plane.

What I learnt in Washington DC today:

The portrait of George Washington that was used for the one dollar bill shows a George Washington with a slightly down turned mouth. This was probably the result of ill fitting dentures.
George was the man. Very loved and did a great job. No affairs in his history!
American TV has implemented this cheeky form of advertising in which the volume of some commercials gets louder to grab the viewers attention. It's dam annoying, constantly turning the TV volume up and down when it happens. I keep noticing it the longer I am here!