Mount Vernon
August 20, 2008 at 11:26 am 5 comments
On Sunday, I met Stacy and his family at George Washington’s Mount Vernon. It was far from my first trip to the grounds. But, it does seem every time I visit, my perspective is just a little bit different and I pick up on different things. In past years, I definitely focused on the mansion or the farm animals. This time around, it was the trees and gardens that caught most of my attention.
The grounds had a lot of old, large trees
From One Generation to Another
My maternal grandmother used to volunteer at Mount Vernon, so she brought my siblings and I to the property pretty often. She taught me quite a bit. I, of course, learned about the Washington family and life during that era. But there were little unrelated lessons as well. I still remember my grandmother pointing out and telling me about sycamore trees. I learned what the color “Navy Blue” looked like thanks to her uniform. And Mount Vernon was the very first time (but not the last!) I got shocked by an electric fence. 🙂
Me, Grandma and Carolyn at Mount Vernon (Photo from ClintJCL)
This year, I got to witness the process starting over! I got to see cute little Addie enjoy Mount Vernon with her own grandparents. How can you NOT smile?
Addie walks with her Grandpa at Mount Vernon
Addie and Grandpa enjoy the gardens
Rustication
This wasn’t a new discovery about Mount Vernon by any means, but I did want to share one of my favorite parts about the mansion. The outside of the mansion looks like stone and it feels like stone as well. But it is made of pine boards! What Washington did was have the boards beveled to look like masonry. Then when they painted it, they threw sand on the wet paint to add texture. Pretty sneaky! I just love the thriftiness and the creativity with that trick.
It may have been a brief trip, but it was a great one! More pictures of our Mount Vernon outing can be found on my Flickr site.
Entry filed under: Addison, Grandma Turnock, Mount Vernon, Stacy McMahon.
1.
Anne | August 20, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Your Grandmother did not volunteer. That was a full time paying job.
2.
geekhiker | August 20, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Look at how hip your Grandmother is, with those large sunglasses all the hip kids are wearing these days! 🙂
That brick effect is incredibly cool!
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