Here's the back of the house:
And the view from the porch:
Our tour guide said that over time, a group of preservationists has purchased the rights to all the land that can be viewed from the porch. So presumably, Mount Vernon will always have this lovely prospect of the Potomac River and the Maryland shore, without any "Golden Arches" in sight. Nice.
Here's my Gameboy at the edge of the porch:
Like I said, we were only there shortly, and speaking of shorts, we were WAY underdressed for the suddenly frigid day. He sort of looks comfy though, doesn't he? That's his dramatic training.
The tour we were on was the "National Treasure II" tour. No, I'm not kidding. The thing is, my kids were not thrilled about going to Mt. Vernon until they found out that Nicolas Cage really HAD been there for a few days of filming. (Insert ice pick into my head here.) Never mind the fact that some other guy had actually LIVED there! This would be funny if they weren't so serious.
Actually, one interesting thing she mentioned is that Disney was there for a couple of weeks getting everything set up at night, then before Mt. Vernon opened in the morning, the crew would hide all the "evidence" in the trees around the estate. That way most visitors didn't know what was about to take place until just a few days before the actual shoot. They did NOT close down Mt. Vernon during this process. She also said that the production crew was very respectful of where they were, and treated the house and grounds with high regard and care.
By the way, we got to go into the basement as part of our tour, and we even saw the cornerstone that figured so prominently in the movie. It was a replica, but still, that was cool. We weren't allowed to touch it and search for hidden doors/paths though. Bummer.
Couple pics from the museum and then I'm outtie:
Mr. Sockmonkey and Barngirl admiring the Father of our Country (NOT Nicolas Cage).Okay, truth be told, I think Barngirl was really more interested in the horse.
Oath of Office Display:
Okay, these pictures are lame, but I was out of sorts. Angry because we didn't have time, the weather was bad, and my kids attitudes were bad. I've often commented that I really should go on field trips by myself. Does anyone else have those kinds of frustrations?
Hopefully we'll go again someday and be better prepared and have time to enjoy ourselves.
Just keeping it real, people.
Hopefully we'll go again someday and be better prepared and have time to enjoy ourselves.
Just keeping it real, people.
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Posted by x-prince fan
