Monday I was blessed with the opportunity to visit Mount Vernon, home of George Washington, our nation's first president. I am slightly obsessed with presidential homes, and though not very knowledgeable about history, I love the older homes and plantations and visiting these sites where they actually had laundry buildings keeps me in perspective and reminds me how fortunate we really are to have indoor plumbing air conditioning.
In the short afternoon I was at Mount Vernon yesterday, I learned that George Washington was more than a president and the nation's highest ranking army official. He was the people's president, stepping down honorably after two terms of service in a time when most countries served under a monarchy of a greedy ruler. He was an inventor, a self-taught man and he was an agriculturalist.
Mount Vernon is serene. It is awesome. And it is incredible that it is so well preserved even after millions of visitors tour through the mansion each year. Of course the highlight for me was seeing the furniture in the house in the rooms that George decorated, which was customary in that era. And the other highlight was seeing his farm, where he used rotational farming practices. I was slightly dismayed that George Grant hadn't brought Angus to America yet, and so Milking Devons were the General Washington's cattle breed of choice. One of the very interesting inventions on the farm was this 16-sided threshing barn, that was two story for "threshing" wheat. Horsess would stomp over the wheat on the top level, and the grains would fall to the second level. Of course, being covered, this harvesting method could be done in any weather conditions.
I'll definitely be making a trip back to Mount Vernon again. And I would recommend you do too!
Please come back for more photos. This machine of mine is being a little cranky! It took forever to get one uploaded, and now keeps giving me errors!
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