Dave and I spent most of the day at Mount Vernon today and we had a wonderful time. We’ve visited it many times, but never for the George Washington’s Birthday celebration. So glad we did! Cake, music, military drills, George, and Martha.
It was free entry for all and people came from everywhere!! Parking was insane and lines were long, but it was totally worth the experience. By 10 am all the parking lots around the grounds were full. We parked at some distant parking lot near the river and walked about 1 mile to the mansion. Luckily, the weather was gorgeous, so we greatly enjoyed our walk. Here, we just parked our car and snapped a few pictures of the peaceful Potomac river.
Our walk to the mansion began here, on a well maintained trail through a wooded area.
The trail got crowded quickly with pedestrians and bicyclists.
It felt like Spring and we enjoyed our walk through the woods. These yellow flowers we spotted on the side of the trail.
As well as this weird tree.
Such a clear sky above the mansion!
And above this old tree on the grounds.
We took a closer look at the ha-ha wall while exploring the mansion’s grounds. A ha-ha wall is a sunken wall with a turf ditch on the pasture side. The wall served to keep domesticated animals safely in the pasture, but their boundary was concealed. As a visitor looked away from the Mansion, they saw a pastoral scene with animals grazing in the distance, but the wall did not interrupt the view beyond.
The view of the mansion from below the ha-ha wall.
Later on, we visited the Lives Bound Together: Slavery at George Washington’s Mount Vernon exhibition, which explores the personal stories of the people enslaved at Mount Vernon while providing insight into George Washington’s evolving opposition to slavery. It was educational and quite interesting.
We walked around the stables, while waiting for the next scheduled event.
Today, Mount Vernon raises Hog Island sheep, a rare breed that is native to Virginia and dates back to the 1600s.
Although, there were many festivities dedicated to celebration of George Washington’s 285th birthday, one of our favorite performances was the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps on the bowling green at Mount Vernon.
We took a couple more pictures, while passing the George Washington’s Green House on our way out of the mansion. Overall, we had a wonderful day! Once again, Mount Vernon didn’t disappoint us. 🙂
