Thursday, August 29, 2013

Mt. Vernon

The last stop on our visit to Washington DC was Mt. Vernon in Alexandria, VA.  It was on our way home so we thought we'd stop by & explore General George Washington's home.


The girls thought it was REALLY cool that we were going to see George Washington's house.  I have to admit, I was pretty excited too.


George Washington inherited this mansion when he was 23 years old.  The Washington's were extremely wealthy for their time period.  His house was beautiful.  We weren't allowed to take any pictures inside, but it was really neat to see how his home was decorated.  George chose the colors of all the guest areas & I was amazed at how BRIGHT the painted walls were.  The walls were yellows, blues, greens, & all sorts of bright colors.  Martha Washington got to decorate the private residence where she & George lived.  Everything was white.  It was very simple & not extravagant at all.  I find it funny that George was so colorful (which was a symbol of power & wealth at that time) & Martha was so clean & simple.  It was also neat to see the actual bed that George Washington died in.  It's still in the home & still has the same sheets/pillows/curtains that were there when he died.  It was also really cool to see the key to the prison in Bastille which was given to General Washington by Lafayette in 1790.  It hangs by the back door of the Washington Mansion.





The grounds where the Washington Mansion is are extensive.  He owned a LOT of property.  After visiting the mansion we walked down to where Washington was buried.  It was really neat to see it in person.




I also love the fact that Martha's body was placed in the same tomb next to him.  Husband & wife laid to rest together.





His grounds were beautiful.  It was a nice end to a wonderful vacation.  I'm glad we had the opportunity to visit Mt. Vernon.



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