Summer Vacation - Day 9

Did you think this vacation would ever end? 

Neither did I. 

But sadly it did. 

Our last day was spent at George Washington's Mount Vernon. It was a beautiful morning and we spent a good 3 hours touring the grounds and estate.

 

It is such an iconic home, and regonizable to everyone, that it was almost surreal walking through it. 

Washington could have easily become our Nation's first King if he wanted to. He was idolized. Instead, all he wanted was to return home. 

He intented for the mansion to be symetrical, you can tell that didn't happen.

Here I am, looking like a 10 year old.

We toured the gardens, the farm, the slave quarters, the stables, and more, but we spent most of our time at the blacksmith. If there is a blacksmith around, my boys are fixated. If I remember right, I had to bribe them to leave. Jefferson asked for blacksmithing tools for Christmas. It's becoming an obsession. 

Kennedy wasn't entertained by the 3000 degree fireplace, or the clanking of metal. She spent her time wandering the grounds and staring at a Martha Washington impersonator.

 

The back of the mansion, which I find more beautiful than the front

And the view. Now I understand why Washington couldn't wait to get home. 

Can you imagine if this were your backyard?

Yes mom, yes we can, and we wish we lived here too!

Washington and his wife, Martha, are buried on the grounds of Mount Vernon.

A glimpse of the tomb.

There is a museum dedicated to Washington at Mt. Vernon. We could have easily spent an entire day in there. I learned more about that great man than I ever knew. I have since forgotten all I learned, but I do remember it was fascinating. 

Ask Jefferson, I'm sure he remembers every fact. 

We're starting to look a little worn-out.

 Our last stop of the vacation was at Arlington National Cemetery. 

We took the bus tour through the grounds. The plus side was that we didn't have to walk miles and miles through the grounds. The down side was that it was difficult to take pictures or look closely at any of the grave stones.

The Eternal Flame

The amount of grave stones was overwhelming, and sombering. The cemetery covers 624 acres of land and there are an average of 30 funerals each day. There is really no suitable way to describe our visit without destroying its reverence. 

The most emotion could be felt while visiting the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. There are actually close to 5,000 unknown soldiers buried at the cemetery and this is a memorial to them.

The inscription reads: Here rests in honored glory An American Soldier Known but to God

The tomb is guarded 24 hours and day, 365 days a year.

 I wasn't sure we would make it through the changing of the guards, but Kennedy was surprisingly silent for a good 30 minutes while watching.  

The truly interesting part came when we visited the Arlington House. The house belonged to Robert E. Lee before it became a cemetery. 

Wait a second.... wasn't Robert E. Lee the general of the Confederate Army?

My thoughts exactly. 

Robert E. Lee was married to Mary Custis, the great-granddaughter of Martha Custis (the wife of George Washington). Did you get all that? I took this picture of the family tree because I found it too interesting to forget!

Mary and Robert lived in the house for 3 decades.

Here is where things got really good. 

President Lincoln offered Robert E. Lee command of the Union army. He needed to think about this decision when he heard that Virginia was succeeding. Virginia was his native home and he felt a duty to it. This is a picture of his bedroom where he paced back and forth, back and forth all night. The family sat downstairs listening to his footsteps pounding on the ceiling above them, unsure what his decision would be. 

On the morning of April 20, 1861 he wrote a letter of resignation to the US Army and left to join the Confederacy. He was quoted saying that he could not "raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home."

To make sure the Lee family never returned, unknown soldiers were ordered to be buried on the property. Along the border of Mrs. Lee's rose garden in fact. They never did return, as we know, and the government continued to use it as a cemetery.

I find its history fascinating, and ironic. You can't tell from the picture, but the view from Robert's upstairs window looks out to the Lincoln Memorial, and thousands of soldiers who fought against him in the Civil War. 

The boys getting down and dirty with their Jr. Ranger books. 

My mom and Kennedy running through Mrs. Lee's garden. 

And that's all folks. The end of our vacation. Did you enjoy your mini history lesson?

It was 9 days of pure history excitement. We were in Heaven. There are a few things I wish we could have done, but I realize there was no way possible to squeeze them in. In fact today Jefferson said to me, "mom, we really should have gone to Ft. McHenry, we were so close." I know Jefferson. We drove right by it! And I had to cover my eyes and hum to distract myself from crying. 

We learned a heck of a lot too. Look at all these Jr. Ranger Badges. These suckers are time consuming and involve quite a bit of effort. I'm so proud of my kids for completing them all.

Where to next?