Visiting Mount Vernon

We visited George Washington's Mount Vernon, Estate, Museum and Garden
We enjoyed visiting historical places.

Entrance to the Mount Vernon Estate.
Here is where you pay your fee and is an orientation center with information people have to see before entering the estate.

Zulita in the Orientation Center posing with George Washington, Martha and his grandchildren just before we enter the theater to view the introductory film before entering the Mount Vernon Estate.

After the film, we entered the beautiful Mount Vernon Estate grounds but we walked some before see anything.
Here is as Nancy, David and Gordon walk anciently with anticipation to see something soon, especially the mansion.

First look at the mansion.
This is the back side of the mansion. This is the way that George Washington and his family also came into the mansion. The front of the mansion faces the Takoma River.

Gordon and Zulita and the mansion

David and Nancy and the mansion

Visited the Upper Garden
The Upper Garden has a wide variety of trees, plants and flowers. Charming and beautiful!

The Lower Garden was on the other side of the estate. Unfortunatly the day was not long enough for us to visit that side of the estate. But we learned that the Lower Garden, know as one of the most notewrthy Colonial Revival gardens in America, supplied fresh produce for the busy Mount Vernon kitchen. The fruit garden and nursery was used to grow cherry, apple, pear and other trees, as well as to esperiment eith new seeds and plants before using them elsewhre on the estate.

The middle taller part of the brick building was some kind of nursery and the lower extensions of the building to both left and right were slave quarters. More slaves quarters continue on behind here. I'll like to think the slaves enjoyed having their quarters next to this beautiful gardens.

Lots of beautiful butterflies fling all over among the flowers

Nancy and Zulita enjoying looking at the different flowers and butterflies that were everywhere

Zulita loved it here among all this flowers and plants. She wanted to stay longer but we had to go to see the rest of the estate.

View of the mansion from the gardens

Mansion tour entrance

In line waiting for our turn of the Mansion Tour

Here is Gordon at the front door of the mansion. Look at the view behind him of the Takoma River and it's surroundings,.....beautiful! Washington know where to build his house.
The front of the house is facing the river.
No picture taking is aloud inside the mansion. But I managed to take this picture of Gordon exiting while I was still inside the house.

First look ate the front porch

Back side of the mansion. This is the entrance that George Washington, his family and guess usually come in the house.

Roof of the mansion

Gordon standing next to this tall tree that is next to the mansion in admiration of the great view of the vast Takoma River. That tree was planted there by George Washington himself when he first built he house. It has grown very tall.

The front of the mansion and the great view of the Takoma River

View of the house from the river

View of the river from the front of the house

See a touring boat going down the river at the distance.
Some people going down to the river. The river looks close from the house, but it is a walk down to the river. Mount Vernon was built up high on a hill.

Sitting at the mansion front porch enjoying the view of the Takoma River

This Estate was a big operation.
Washington landscape designed combines beauty and functionality

Lots of buildings
As we walked around and go inside the buildings the exhibits, it tells the story of a plantation life. From dawn until dusk, six days a week, slaves worked spinning wool and linen, laundering the cloths of Washington and the hundreds of guess and slaves, growing a vegetable and fruit garden, preparing food, taking care of barn animals, shoeing horses and many other jobs that supplied the services and goods necessary to keep a large plantation running.

So much to see here

Resting in the shade for a little bit

David and Gordon walking one of the many beautiful paths of this estate
Nancy and I were right behind them.

Here is where Washington was berried when he first died.

George Washington died in his bed of his bedroom bedroom in the mansion December 14, 1799.
In his will, he indicated that he be buried here at Mount Vernon.

visitor tourist in different areas of this Estate

This is where him and his wife are beried now.
He had also selected this site for his new brick tomb to replace the original one which had been build for some time by then and was deteriorating.

Gordon and David at the grave site

This new tomb was completed inn 1831, and Washington's and his wife remains Martha and other family members were moved here.

Closer look of Washington and Martha's tombs

Benches to sit down and rest

There were beautiful forest hiking paths for visitors to visit the most remote areas of the Estate.
Nearly half of the estate was native woodland.

This George Washington's head is the first exhit at the entrance of the museum. It is a fun exhibit because it is a concave structure that is made so that every angle you stand the eyes are looking at you. Very fun!

There is a great museun on the gounds of the estate that tells the story of Washington's life.
The museum is a state-of-the-arts facility with 23 galeries with comprehensive great exhibits, and theather spaces that show films that tells the story of George Washington and the acompleshmets that made him first in war, first in peace and the first president ot the US.

The exhibits to tell his live, history and the events during his time are just fantastic! Picture taking is prohibit, but I could not help and was able to be sneeky enough to take this two pictues.

The Mount Vernon Inn restaurant serves lunch and delicious candlelit dinners by reservation, Monday through Saturday. The Inn offers six intimate dinning rooms, three with fireplaces, all with colonial charm, costumed servers and delicious early-America cuisine.
Once in, it was bigger that it looked. It extended in with different rooms and lower levels since the terrain to the back went down hill. One of the back main areas that overlooked a beautiful garden was set up for a wedding reception. The table settings and decorations where so perfect and beautiful. Full of simplicity colonial charm and elegance. Just gorgeous! It looked like the ceremony was going to take place on the back gardens. I love historical places like this one. If I lived in this area I would probably choose to get married here. LOVED it!