MOUNT VERNON IS AWESOME!!!! To tell the truth, I have a man crush on George Washington. But really, how can you not? The man pretty much single-handedly guaranteed American independence and thereby the freedom of the entire war. Plus, my MBA side likes that he was a pretty good business man.
Gristmill
Jenn and I started with the business side of GW. He built a gristmill and it is reconstructed near Mount Vernon. The reconstruction actually works and they mill corn and wheat that you can buy at the gift store. Speaking of gift store, I may have broken the bank while shopping. Jenn didn't seem to mind because she was busy enjoying the accent of the cashier who appeared to be from Holland. Jenn states, "She sounded like a Heidi and looked like a Helga". Moving on, GW, when President, signed patent #3 – amazing that the president actually looked at those things back in the day. Anyways, it was an invention that minimized labor at the gristmill so when he returned the patent, he enclosed a letter asking for the machine. It’s now installed and working – Jenn and I got to see the mill run. They say they can produce 50 lbs of flour in 15 minutes and in Washington’s day it would have run eight hours a day, five days a week for the entire year. That’s a lot of flour and the mill was a big money maker. Here's a look at Nigel's money maker (his hiney, not his hot dog costume):
GW also started a distillery. He hired a Scotch whiskey maker to run it and when he died, it was the largest distillery in the US and it made a tremendous profit. Unfortunately, after GW, it was run into the ground. It was reconstructed a few years ago with donations from American whiskey makers and they still make whiskey there – but at $85 a pint it’s a bit out of my price range.
Distillery
At Mt. Vernon proper the house that GW owned for most of his life still stands. It’s a beautiful location overlooking the Potomac river. The house has nine bedrooms to accommodate all of the people who wanted to visit. They estimated that on any given day there would be about 400 people on his estate - between family, visitors and slaves. There is also the bedroom where Washington died. Martha locked it up after his death and never used it again.
Back side of the house - parties and social gatherings were held on the lawn
The other great thing about Mount Vernon is that it is relatively cheap and doesn’t take any tax money. At the same time, since it’s so close to DC, it’s a lot more crowded than the President homes near Charlottesville. Still, it was pretty great, and the best part is that I think Jenn liked it as well.
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