Day Two - April 2, 2016 - Mount Vernon
Back side of Mt. Vernon
Front side of Mt. Vernon
The view from the front porch of Mt. Vernon is of the beautiful Potomac River.
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| Potomac River |
For some strange reason, I stopped taking pictures right about now. Maybe Nat took more pictures. But there was plenty to see. George Washington created a self-contained community consisting of buildings for shoe repair, food storage, supplies, paint, laundry, and anything else that was needed. They raised mostly wheat for income, but also raised all their food.
In his last will and testament, George freed all his slaves. Which was a nice gesture, but did poor Widow Martha have to learn to do for herself? I guess it all worked out for her.
I started taking pictures again as we were leaving.
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| Take time to smell the roses, or dogwood (maybe) |
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| Dogwood or not, it's very lovely |
Goodbye George, Martha, Grandson "Washy", and Granddaughter "What's-Her-Bucket".
We didn't think to ask what happened to the grandchildren's parents.
Looking at the picture below, I think the floor inscription says the granddaughter's name is "Nelly". What do you think?
Thank you for a lovely visit, George, Martha, and family. We enjoyed every minute.
Wow! Dad is as tall as George Washington? Cool.
ReplyDeleteLooks like another fun day! Wish we were there, too. Maybe we will be some time soon.
I'm actually reading a book right now, "Founding Mothers", that has a lot about Martha. I regret to say that it's a very dull book and I've not retained much info. But, Martha did most of the work at Mt. Vernon and they didn't spend nearly enough time there. Martha joined George during the Revolutionary War a lot, and as president they didn't live at Mt. Vernon. As for grandchildren, kids were constantly being given over to grandparents. Nelly started living with Martha when her father died and her mother remarried. Kids were shuffled around a lot back then. Anyway - looks beautiful - especially for its age. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info! Now we know.
ReplyDeleteLove, Mom