Fri, 05/25/2007 - 12:06pm

For about the cost of two martini drinks at the Town & Country Bar and Lounge located at the Mayflower Hotel downtown, you can hop on a boat and cruise away to the historic Mount Vernon estate of George and Martha Washington. I took the Spirit of Mount Vernon boat bright and early at 8:30am (operated by Spirit Cruises) from the docks by the Waterfront area earlier this week. Day trips to Mount Vernon are offered by Spirit Cruises from March until late October, timing it just so to catch great boating weather.

Don’t think of it as a cruise though, despite having to spend an hour and a half on the boat each leg of the trip. Other than a small bar offering (weak) coffee, bagels, fruits and juices, there isn’t anything else on offer to customers. You may sit out on deck, enjoying a stiff breeze while watching planes take off and land at Regan National Airport (every 30 seconds), zoom in with your digital camera and take pictures of Hanes Point, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, and sea gulls on your way to Mount Vernon. Bring your iPod or other MP3 music player as you would want to drown out the sounds of 8th graders running around, because rolling your eyes at them does absolutely nothing to quiet their screams.

Finally, you arrive at Mount Vernon, the beautiful home of our first president of the United States of America. At first glance, up on that hill, the white mansion with its red roof tiles seems almost like a Barbie Doll’s house among the vast acres of land and trees; it is almost dwarfed by them. George Washington was first and foremost a farmer, though the rest of the world knows him as the first (albeit reluctant) president of our country. He worked tirelessly for nearly a half century to expand his plantation to 8,000 acres and to improve the appearance of the Mansion, out-buildings, and extensive gardens and grounds. When you get off the boat (careful not to step on the hands of small children who see nothing wrong with crawling despite having good, strong legs to walk on!), walk up a trail directly of the Wharf, stopping first at the tomb of George Washington before heading up the hill to the rest of the farm and the Mansion.

We owe much of the glory of what Mount Vernon is today to Ann Pamela Cunningham, the woman who struggled despite many odds to save the estate of Mount Vernon after it had fallen into disrepair. Crippled at the age of 17 from an unfortunate horse accident, Ms. Cunningham would never walk the same again nor was she able to marry; so depressed about her new lot in life, Pamela would spend stretches of her time alone, until a day in 1852 when a letter from her mother catapulted her life into a flurry of activities. Her mother had written about the ruin and desolation of Mount Vernon as she passed by it on a boat, saying “It does seem such a blot on our country.”

You absolutely must take the guided tour through the famous house of George and Martha Washington; take in the sight of the bed he suffocated to death on, marvel at the bright neon green color of one of his dining rooms, and take in the sight of the “fan chair” that he would sit on and pump a lever by his feet to operate the wooden fan above his head and at the top of the chair, thus giving him a cool breeze during hot, humid days. After a gentle stroll through the Upper and Lower gardens, fruit garden and nursery, and a peek into the Slave quarters, the Wash house, and the Smokehouse, you’ll probably be ready for lunch. A food court (now adjacent to the Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center – a must see!) is at the ready for you, offering the likes of pizza, burgers, salads, ice cream, and nachos.

You could easily spend an entire day at Mount Vernon, stepping directly on the toes of history as you wander through the slave memorial site (Washington had over 300 slaves working at the farm), visit the pioneer farmer site area, or watching the 18-minute action adventure film depicting the young heroic Washington at the Ford Orientation Center, or chatting with Lady Washington as she tells you about life with George Washington and her gentle dislike for the “business of politics.” I even got to play a game of trap-ball, where you simply whack a wooden lever that propels out a soft ball and the aim is to hit that ball into a specific area hoping that none of the other players catches it and strikes you out. I proved quite deft at this olden-day game, surprising my fellow companions at how easily I took it (because, really, the image that comes to mind when you see me is not athletic, for crying out loud)! But alas, you must board the Spirit of Mount Vernon at 1:15pm heading back to the District. It’s a perfect way to spend the day, sight seeing and learning new and interesting facts about the father of our country.

About the author
Ese Emerhi

Categories:

• Attractions