Have I mentioned lately that I hate blogspot? I CANNOT get my pictures to appear in the order that I want them, or get text next to the pictures. It is frustrating the life out of me. If anyone knows the secret, please pass it along! I will put captions in where it allows me to, so that you know what you are looking at. We visited Mt Vernon while we were back in D.C It is a beautiful plantation. Originally, George Washington had about 9000 acres, but just a few decades after his death, the family had lost nearly everything and only 200 acres remain. The mansion had fallen in to dis-repair and was in jeopardy of being lost. The property was bought by a ladies aid society whose intent and purpose was to restore and preserve this beautiful historical site. We learned that President Washington was quite a perfectionist, and an inventor and innovator.
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| Horse barn at Mt Vernon |
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| Horse stalls and tack |
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| The small building to the left is the original home built by George Washington's father |
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| Mt. Vernon mansion built by George Washington |
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| View of the Potomac river from the back porch. The property across the river has been purchased as a state park so that the view from Mt Vernon will not be changed or lost. |
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| Lower vegetable garden on the waterfront. There were many vegetable gardens and orchards on the property. Some of the garden's were planted with the soul purpose of supplying seeds for the next year's planting. |
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| Original family tomb |
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| Newer tomb built after Washington's death, the family was moved here |
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| G. Washington |
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| We were amazed by the size of the trees! |
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| Outside of new tomb. Of course this pictue is out of order! |
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| Six sided threshing barn invented to allow horses to thresh the wheat |
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| Ceiling of threshing barn |
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| Sheaves of wheat were laid on the ground and 4 horses would trot around the outside perimeter in the barn. The kernels of wheat fell through to the basement level below to be cleaned and sent to the mill |
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| That's me outside the basement level , trying to clean the husks off the wheat kernels. This was done by throwing the kernels in to the air and letting the husks blow off. |
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| Previous to the horses doing the work, the slaves had to beat the wheat with a stick |
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| Just a pretty cardinal on the plantation |
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| Rick on the big tree |
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| Slave cabin |
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| Yard at the slave cabin |
This was a great way to spend a day in D.C. I would recommend it highly to anyone visiting. They would not allow pictures inside the mansion. It was really beautiful for the time period. I always get chills standing in historical places, and it was like that as we stood in the foyer of the house. We were standing in an exact spot where the Father of our country stood and entertained many of the founders of our country. We came away with a great appreciation for the honorable people that they were, and the sacrifices born by them and their families as they gave birth to the United States of America.
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4 comments:
Again, I'm so disappointed that I wasn't able to go with you. The pictures are amazing.
Speaking of pictures, this is what I have found. You can load all of the pictures you want to post into the little loading window, then double click on each one in the order you want them to appear. Or, if you come back to add some later, they will appear on your post wherever your cursor is on the page before you click on the picture to add it. Does that make sense? Once you add your picture to the post you can't drag it anywhere anymore. If you want to move it you have to delete it from your post, move your cursor to the place where you want your picture to appear, go back to the picture loading window, and double click on your picture. If you want me to walk you through it next time, give me a call.
Love the pics, can't wait to get to see that area... maybe next summer or something.
I went back to the old blogger, I can't remember what I had to do to do that but it's nice because I just add my pics and can move and drag them where I want them. I always do large and center so that I don't worry about wrapping text around them. I have no idea how to use the new system, I drove me nuts that first week so I went into the settings and figured out how to switch it back. Good luck!
Looks like a great place to visit. Not something I've ever thought about before, but now if I ever find myself in that area, I'll have to remember.
I'll have to try Jen's instructions next time I blog on my new computer. Last time I used my new computer(Windows 7) to load the pictures, but then ended up having to use my work computer with Windows XP in order to be able to drag the pictures around.
I loved visiting mt vernon, of course it has been 16 years or so since I have been there but remember that as one of the highlights on the trip.
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