last monday justin, elliott, and i went to mt. vernon in honor of george washington’s birthday. every year on president’s day mt. vernon is free to the public and justin’s aunt, holly, works for the mt. vernon chamber of commerce so she was able to get us free parking within the gates of the estate.
we got there around 9:30 and there was already a line around the block of people waiting to get in when they opened. holly had promised us free parking, but she said that we would still have to wait in line to tour the house if we so desired. well, we parked, walked inside and holly said she would show us around a little bit before she had to go meet up with her co-workers. there we were standing in front of the house saying goodbye to holly when a woman came up to us and said “oh, they opened the gates already! well, come on inside!” so we were officially the first tour of the day at mt. vernon on president’s day and we didn’t have to wait in line at all – i felt like such a celebrity. the tour guides kept saying to us “wow, you must have gotten here pretty early to be the first in line.” yep, a whole 10 minutes ago.
being at mt. vernon it’s hard not to feel a renewed reverence for george washington and all that he did for the founding of this country. i learned much about him that i didn’t know – that he lost his father at an early age and that as a result he had to learn everything himself through extensive reading and study, that his dentures were actually made of a combination of human teeth, animal teeth, and lead, and that he died of a throatache (essentially). the thing that i was most curious about was the relationship that he had with martha, but because martha was so private she burned all of their personal correspondence after george died. part of me really admires her for that.
anyway, we had lots of fun wandering the grounds and admiring what remained of the 400 acres he once owned and the gorgeous view of the potomac he had from his porch. we also had fun with an impromptu photo session with elliott where we tried every trick in the book to get a picture of his two teeth (which he’s had a month and a half now, oh how time flies).
i think this one showcases them pretty well.
