A Visit To Mount Vernon

Yesterday, the folks visited Mount Vernon. That is the home of George Washington.  President Washington inherited the home from his father in 1754 and lived there until his death in 1799.  President Washington took it from a one story home and turned it into a mansion.

Mount Vernon Inn - Restaurant

George Washington's Home

Tree that was probably around when George lived here.

Gardens at Mount Vernon

More Gardens

Yes, More Gardens

Outhouse

President Washington used rustication on his house to make it look like stone instead of wood. Fine sand is thrown on the wet paint.

Actor playing Washington's Doctor

Waiting in line to see the inside of the house.

The wood really does look like stone.

 Pictures were not allowed to be taken inside of the house.  The ceiling was elaborate as was the fireplace mantle in the dining room. They really liked dark colors and that is said to demonstrate their wealth. The dining room was a green.

President Washington become ill on a Thursday and died on Saturday. He is thought to have died of  Epiglottis which basically caused his windpipe to close off.  They tried to "bled him" which was a common medical practice at that time. It is opening the veins to release the infection.  He died at the age of 67.  Mrs. Washington died two and half years later.

He had quite the view.

Kitchen - photos were allowed. It was not part of the main house.

Pecan tree

Another view from the mansion.

Original burial vault of President Washington

Pioneer Farm - shows how the grounds looked when President Washington was alive.

Tombs of George and Martha

Vault that holds the tombs - flag raising is held each day here.

 Besides the mansion, gardens and pioneer farm, there was a museum.

Jewelry owned by Martha

Wax sculpture of George.

There was second museum that had items that were not allowed to be photographed.   A set of President Washington's dentures were on display.

There were several gift shops as well as a food court. The folks chose to eat in the food court instead of the Mount Vernon Inn. Mama was not impressed with the menu at the restaurant.  It served duck, ham and turkey among other things.  She regretted not trying it though since they spent $18 at the food court.  She said the food was good, but she hates spending that much on two sandwiches, one order of fries and one drink.

They were there for five an half hours and did not see everything.  They had tickets to see the distillery, but chose not to see it because they did not want to get stuck in rush hour traffic.

Mama said the estate is huge and her feet really hurt from walking all around it. She learned a lot. She did not know what he died from until yesterday.  She also did not know that Martha was a widow with two children when she married George. George was very prompt and if guests were five minutes late for dinner, dinner was served without them.  When he was home, everyone was on his schedule.  I guess that was the commander in him.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Still Exploring New Places At This Campground

We are in DC!

We arrived in Washington DC last night. Actually, we are in College Park, MD which is close to DC.  We had a pretty easy trip, no problems. Our gas stops all went well unlike our trip to Texas.  I would like to say it's because the folks are more experienced now, but part of it depends on how crowded the gas stations are and how easy they are to get in and out. We only stop at travel centers, but they are not always RV friendly even though they should be.

We hit heavy traffic in Virginia. If there was a car on the side of the road it caused a standstill. We hit big jams several times during our last 100 miles.

Virginia Traffic

I love our campground!  Mama says it is rated #2 in Best Parks of America.  There is so much activity here.  Mama says I am over-stimulated. Today, she decided I needed to wear my harness because I was pulling way too much. I am acting much better now.

The campground is really a resort. Mama says it is perfect for families.  They have a bus depot here so the buses come here to pick people up for tours or to take them to metro stations.  There is a nice store that has camping things as well as souvenirs. There is also miniature golf, a spray park, basketball court, several playgrounds, nature trail, cafe, outdoor movie theater, hot tub, sauna, game room, exercise room, free Cable TV, free Wi-Fi, TV lounge area and they have a DOG PARK!  Actually, there are two! This place is huge!  We still haven't seen it all.

Each day they offer an informational sightseeing session to help the campers learn how to get around DC. Mama is going to attend tomorrow's session.  They really make things easy here.

Oh, Boy!  Look at this place!

Turtles are all over.

View of the park.

Pool area

Tractor rides are offered free every night.

At the dog park.

Turtles are even in the dog park.  Dad says it is a hazard.

Fire hydrant is also a hazard to running dogs.  We haven't run yet though.

I love being off leash again!

Dad and Scout walking down the path.

A view from the dog walk.

Another view from the dog walk.

And one more view from the dog walk.

We still haven't walked the nature trail. It goes through the woods. It's 1.5 miles.  Does anyone know if we need to worry about Lyme Disease in this area from ticks?  Haven't had any ticks yet, but Mama wonders if it is okay for us to go on the nature trail.

I am having the best time here!!!!  

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Wouldn't Mind Living At This Campground

Get Ready DC, We Are On Our Way!

Dad and I wanted to have the title read "Peeing Our Way Across The South", but Mama said "No" to that.  We traveled through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and stopped in South Carolina and peed in every state.  The rest stop in Mississippi was just a parking spot with lots of weeds. I guess the economy has hurt them and they have closed rest areas. Alabama had a nice rest area. An ambulance came while we were there and checked out a guy. We think he was just trying to take a nap on a picnic table.  He had a pillow and his radio.  We stopped in Georgia at a gas station and checked it out. It was nice.  Actually, there was no one else there. It was the easiest gas stop we have had. So far, we have not had any issues at gas stations. We just filled up this morning and we just have to make one more gas stop and we will be in DC.

A Stuffed Money on the back of a truck.

A neat cloud.  It looked pink and blue.

Georgia Welcome sign

Missed the sign in South Carolina.

We left at 7 a.m. and arrived at our campground at 8 p.m.  The folks forgot about the time change, so that is why it was 8 p.m.and not 7 p.m. as planned. We didn't eat dinner until 8:45 p.m.   Mama wasn't thrilled about that.  If we were traveling on our own schedule, we wouldn't be on the road for 12 hours. We just need to get there.  Mama microwaved a Jack Daniels' BBQ Shredded Beef for dinner and said it was delicious. We didn't have any.

The RV park we stayed at last night was for SENIORS over 45. LOL   Mama didn't know she was a senior. Dad was all excited about staying there. It was a let down though.  The campground itself was nice and open, but the sites were not very nice.  We barely saw it though, so no big deal.  The map shows they have trails and a lake. It looks like the long term people have a nicer area than what we did.

Area for campfire

Big open field to play in.

Swing under big tree.  There were a few of these.

Another view of the swing.

There was a big dog show nearby and all the people next to us had show dogs. The one guy said they had nine Golden Retrievers in his motor home. He has a toy hauler and the dogs were all in crates.

This is the camper that had 9 dogs inside.  They have 3 more dogs at home.

We are currently in North Carolina making our way to Virginia. We should be stopping around 5 p.m., if all goes well.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who His Headed For Washington DC