Mt. Vernon & Longwood Gardens - Sept 19

This is our last official touring day together.  We left my cousin Janet's house about 10 am.  Even though we often tried to leave earlier, this turned out to be our usual 'get on the road' time for whatever we were doing.  Our first stop was to Mt. Vernon which was George Washington's home in Virginia.  As with other places I've visited many, many years ago, there were changes here as well.  They've added a beautiful visitors center which also included a food court.  On the day we visited, there was an 18th century crafts fair going on.  The vendors were setup in white tents and all the crafts were related to what you would buy in those times.

The main property obviously is still the same.  The large expanse in front of the main house is called the bowling green - I don't know why it's called this.  The tour was set up a little differently in that there was a docent in each area that you pass through, rather than a single docent leading a group.  You enter the main house through the Overseer's Quarter's, then across the portico to the main entrance.  Again, we were not allowed to take pictures in the main house.  As we walked through the upstairs and downstairs, we learned that the Washingtons entertained quite often and usually had a houseful of overnight guests.  Martha was a widow with two children when she and George married, however, they did not have children of their own.  At the back of the house is a long porch that overlooks the Potomac River.  I just could imagine them sitting there enjoying that peaceful view.    The cupola on top of the house was the last thing that George added to the house.  George and Martha, plus other family members are buried on the property.

As we were walking through the marketplace, the militia was gathering and marched off to a battle.  The battle was fought on the bowling green and while we could hear the cannons and gunfire, we didn't get there until it was over.
At this point, we made our way toward the visitors center, had lunch, bought a few souvenirs and got back on the highway headed to Pennsylvania.  Be sure to check out more photos in our Mt. Vernon album.

Our next stop was Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA.  "In 1906, Pierre S. du Pont purchased the Peirce Arboretum to save its trees from being cut for lumber. Over the next nearly half century, Mr. du Pont developed Longwood Gardens into what it is today, a magnificent horticultural showplace."  This was one of my happy places when I still lived in PA and it truly is magnificent.  If ever you are in southeastern PA and have the time, please include Longwood Gardens on your 'must visit' list - you won't be disappointed.  If anyone reading this blog, knows of a similar garden in California, please tell me about it.

We arrived about 4:00 pm so there wasn't much time to fully explore the grounds.  Before we left I bought tickets for their final Fountains and Fireworks show of the season, so that was our main objective for this visit.  Here again, a beautiful visitor center and shops was added since my last visit in the 1980s.  The first garden we walked through was the Topiary Garden - these are not your normal backyard topiaries.  (Riley, I took this picture specifically for you!) As we exited the other side, we set up our chairs for the show.  My guess is there was already close to a thousand people on the grounds (if not more). 

Since we had about 3 hours, we spent quite a bit of time in the Conservatory.  This building houses many different displays - tropical, desert, orchids, etc.  The highlights here are the water lily ponds and the Children's Garden (pure whimsey and delight).  We then made our way to the Terrace Cafe for dinner before the show started - we got back to our chairs just in time.  We were not in a good enough spot to really enjoy the fountains, but the fireworks were spectacular and went on for about 40 minutes - all set to ABBA music.  By about 9:30 pm, we were on the road again headed to Allentown to my Aunt Diane's house for the night - we  arrived about 11:00 pm.

Be sure to check out our Longwood Gardens photo album for more wonderful pictures.  Stay tuned....