A REAL National Treasure: Mt. Vernon! - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
PassPorter.com
Award-winning travel guidebooks

   guidebooks   |   news   |   podcasts   |   boards   |   blog   |   worksheets   |   photos   |   articles   |   updates   |   register   |   follow us on


Forums Closed
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.

So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.

Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.

And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.

We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm​. You made it all happen.

There are other changes as well.

Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:

We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.

It's time to move on and move forward.

PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.

But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.

So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.

And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.

That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!

If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.

So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!

Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!

Go Back   PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums > PassPorter Universe: General Trip Planning and Discussion > Globetrotting: General Trip Reports
Register


Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.

To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.

If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 04-05-2008, 01:41 PM   #1
emtpej
Community Rank: Explorer
 
emtpej's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Hollywood on the Potomac (DC)
Posts: 7,486

Post Thanks / Like
A REAL National Treasure: Mt. Vernon!

The travelers: Myself - EJ (emtpej), my DW, our sons Timmy and David, along with my in-laws and my BIL Kenny.

We took a day trip to Mount Vernon, George Washington’s famous home and plantation and take the “National Treasure” tour. This excursion is probably best enjoyed as a full day because of all the really neat stuff to see about the “Father of our Country”. There are a couple of Disney tie-ins here as it is a stop on the Adventures by Disney “American History” Atlantic coast tour, and Disney’s “National Treasures 2 – Book of Secrets” has a pivotal scene here when Ben Gates ‘kidnaps’ the President and wrings from him the information he needs to get the ‘Book of Secrets’.

The day of our trip dawned a partly cloudy but nice 52 degrees. We had a scenic drive along the George Washington Parkway and we parked very close to the entrance and got inside before a very large youth group. They have the visitor’s experience worked out very well so that you may be oriented quickly and they provide enough information so you don’t have excessive questions.

When we got our admission tickets on-site, we also got the limited-time “National Treasure” (NT) tour and the add-on for the newly re-constructed distillery and older grist mill (which is located about three miles away). We must have had some pixie dust on us as we managed to get the very last tickets for the morning NT tour! Otherwise, we would have had to wait for the 2:00 PM tour.

They have map / introduction booklets in most every language for you globetrotting polyglots!

They have a life-sized sculpture of Washington and his family -- this is the closest we will get to a character meet and greet for a while, yet! The strapping lad on the right is my BIL Kenny. Can you tell he is a farmer? This is not a camera trick, he really is that tall!
Because of our arrival time, we decided to skip the orientation film for now and proceeded to the area in front of the mansion itself, where the special tours begin. We were glad that we had our winter jackets as it was still a bit windy and cool. As we had a little bit of time before the tour, we examined some of the out-buildings (re-constructed, of course) on the way, while dodging the allure of the gift shops (another thing that the MVLA learned from Disney…hmm?).

Next up -- a little looking around before our special tour!
__________________
EJ, At your service!
See my TRs about a National Treasure , The National Aquarium, the Navy Memorial, the National Air and Space Museum , my Land and Sea '08 PTR and my WDW Raincloud TR
Callahan's Law: "Shared pain is lessened; shared joy, increased—thus do we refute entropy."
-- This is well observed, here at PassPorter!
My PassPorter Bookshelf
My Previous TripsWDW June 1979 (offsite), WDW July, 2005 (POR), July 2008 -- Poly and the Wonder
emtpej is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 04-05-2008, 01:58 PM   #2
emtpej
Community Rank: Explorer
 
emtpej's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Hollywood on the Potomac (DC)
Posts: 7,486

Post Thanks / Like
Looking around before our special tour!

In Washington’s time, many people worked in many buildings to support the plantation, and that is very much in evidence here. One concept that has finally been embraced here is acknowledging the fact that Washington was a slave-owner instead of glossing things over as was done previously. He seems much more like a real person now instead of like a marble statue on a pedestal for us to marvel at. I think that makes him more of a role model and less of a legend.


On the left is the interior of a reconstructed slave quarters. On the right is brick drain grate -- there is great attention to detail here!

On the left is a model of Washington's 16 sided threshing barn that was re-created nearby. The original was much closer to the gristmill / distillery complex. On the right is a rain diverter so that you do not need something more complex over an outside doorway to keep the rain off.


As we approached the mansion from the north side of the Upper Garden you can see the cupola at the top that used to let the air rise through the building a keep it cooler. On the right is the east lawn side of the mansion.

Next up - we meet our National Treasures tour guide.
__________________
EJ, At your service!
See my TRs about a National Treasure , The National Aquarium, the Navy Memorial, the National Air and Space Museum , my Land and Sea '08 PTR and my WDW Raincloud TR
Callahan's Law: "Shared pain is lessened; shared joy, increased—thus do we refute entropy."
-- This is well observed, here at PassPorter!
My PassPorter Bookshelf
My Previous TripsWDW June 1979 (offsite), WDW July, 2005 (POR), July 2008 -- Poly and the Wonder
emtpej is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 04-05-2008, 02:03 PM   #3
Lemap760
Community Rank: Explorer
 
Lemap760's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Newtown, PA
Posts: 7,634

Post Thanks / Like
Great start to your trip. I remember visiting Mt. Vernon many years ago.
__________________
Lemap760 is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 04-05-2008, 02:17 PM   #4
lauren-roxy
Community Rank:
Legend Extraordinaire
 
lauren-roxy's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Ohio Football Hall Of Fame
Posts: 42,304

Post Thanks / Like
Great start!! I have been there quite a few times and it's just a beautiful place to visit!!
__________________
Lori
My Countdown Counting down to: Last day of school!!!
My oldest is off to the middle school!
My Previous TripsWe go to Disney every July for our Annual Trip
lauren-roxy is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 04-05-2008, 02:17 PM   #5
Colexis Mom
RED SOX NATION!!
PassPorter's Club Passholder


What's this?

PassPorter Guide

Community Rank:
Legend VIP
 
Colexis Mom's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Connecticut
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 136,854

Post Thanks / Like
Great start and pics!! We haven't been there in 10 years so it brings back some good memories
__________________
My PassPorter Bookshelf
My Previous TripsAUG '16 - POFQ, APR '12 - POFQ, JUL '10 - DL, AUG '09 - DCL Western, AUG '08 - POFQ/BC, AUG '06 - AKL/BC/DisneyWonder/Poly, DEC '05 - AKL, APR '05 - AKL/BC, DEC '04 - AKL, MAY '04 - AKL/BC, MAY '03 - WL/BC, MAY '98 -offsite, MAY '94 - BC, AUG '85 - Poly, AUG '83 - Poly, AUG '81 - Poly, JUL '79 - World Inn, JUL '76 - World Inn
Colexis Mom is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 04-05-2008, 04:00 PM   #6
emtpej
Community Rank: Explorer
 
emtpej's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Hollywood on the Potomac (DC)
Posts: 7,486

Post Thanks / Like
Our National Treasures Tour

We met our trench-coated guide, John Marshall (formerly of Pittsburgh), who now works at MVLA’s customer relations, in the courtyard in front of the mansion.

This is Mr. Marshall wearing a souvenir hat, (R) will we need these lanterns?

John tells us that there really is a tunnel, a cornerstone and a vaulted room in the basement! John takes around to the river side of the mansion where you can really tell that it is on a mount in comparison to most of the surrounding countryside. He explains to us that even though Mount Vernon is only in the film for five minutes, it took three weeks for the crew of hundreds to record what they needed for the film! It was really very chilly during the shoot and the extras had to constantly be reminded to remove their coats. The exteriors were done at night, with a lot of lighting equipment, prompting many calls to the authorities about suspicious activities ranging from space aliens to illegal aliens.
After obtaining the key, John led us down into the cellar so we could see what was (and was not) there. He pointed out the vaulted room that was re-created back in Hollywood as well as the cornerstone that actually has George Washington’s elder half-brother Lawrence’s initials on it (LW instead of GW as in the film). Lawrence owned the estate until he died in 1754 and ownership passed to George. The structure of the cellar would suffer if they offered tours year-round there or if a film crew worked here for weeks, so it was re-created on a soundstage.

The vault area. Right - the cornerstone.

After leading us out of the cellar and locking the door, John led us to the edge of the lawn and showed us where the spring house and the river side opening to the tunnel is located! It turns out that Washington had an ice house and this tunnel connects the mansion side and the river side to make it easier to haul ice from the river to the ice house. So, there really is a tunnel at Mount Vernon, but its purpose is not mysterious at all, but very practical for a very busy 18th century plantation that made food to support the lives of its many residents and to sell.

This is the hilltop entrance to the icehouse. On the right is the loong set of steps that we were very glad to down instead of up!


This is the river side of the ice house.

We then made our way down to river’s edge and saw the garage that was built into the hill to house the chemical fire truck that was donated by Henry Ford in 1923 because he was concerned about the mansion burning down before other equipment could arrive and extinguish a fire. Even though the mansion looks like it is made of stone, it is actually made of textured wood.

Left is the garage for the fire truck. Ford with the aforementioned chemical 'engine'.

Because of the placement of this structure, the illusion of a secret tunnel is reinforced, but again, it is of mundane purpose. John had to end our tour there at the river edge, but our experience today has shown us that Hollywood can do a very good job of making something mundane into something mysterious!

John with the key to the 'National Treasures', right is the mansion from the riverside (I think that the sky is 'Carolina Blue' -- maybe Scarlett knows?).


Next up -- more interesting sights at Mount Vernon, and maybe some 'lunch'.
__________________
EJ, At your service!
See my TRs about a National Treasure , The National Aquarium, the Navy Memorial, the National Air and Space Museum , my Land and Sea '08 PTR and my WDW Raincloud TR
Callahan's Law: "Shared pain is lessened; shared joy, increased—thus do we refute entropy."
-- This is well observed, here at PassPorter!
My PassPorter Bookshelf
My Previous TripsWDW June 1979 (offsite), WDW July, 2005 (POR), July 2008 -- Poly and the Wonder

Last edited by emtpej; 04-05-2008 at 04:05 PM..
emtpej is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 04-05-2008, 04:03 PM   #7
emtpej
Community Rank: Explorer
 
emtpej's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Hollywood on the Potomac (DC)
Posts: 7,486

Post Thanks / Like
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lemap760 View Post
Great start to your trip. I remember visiting Mt. Vernon many years ago.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauren-roxy View Post
Great start!! I have been there quite a few times and it's just a beautiful place to visit!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom View Post
Great start and pics!! We haven't been there in 10 years so it brings back some good memories
Thank you all very much! You are very kind. This is my first TR. I hope everyone finds it interesting!
__________________
EJ, At your service!
See my TRs about a National Treasure , The National Aquarium, the Navy Memorial, the National Air and Space Museum , my Land and Sea '08 PTR and my WDW Raincloud TR
Callahan's Law: "Shared pain is lessened; shared joy, increased—thus do we refute entropy."
-- This is well observed, here at PassPorter!
My PassPorter Bookshelf
My Previous TripsWDW June 1979 (offsite), WDW July, 2005 (POR), July 2008 -- Poly and the Wonder

Last edited by emtpej; 04-05-2008 at 04:05 PM..
emtpej is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 04-05-2008, 04:12 PM   #8
chezp
PassPorter Message Board Manager
PassPorter Guide Author

Community Rank:
Legend VIP
 
chezp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Maidstone, Kent, UK
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 190,285

Post Thanks / Like
This is fascinating - it looks like an awesome place to visit and maybe one to add to my "one day" list...
__________________

Relaxing on board the Magic. The trip report for our back-to-back cruises on the Disney Magic has started!
My Countdown Counting down to: 2019
Happy New Year!
My PassPorter Bookshelf
My Previous Trips21 trips to WDW, 6 to Disneyland in California, 9 to Disneyland Paris, 1 to Hong Kong Disneyland, 1 to Tokyo Disney, 1 to Aulani, 1 to Hilton Head, 2 to Vero Beach and 13 Disney cruises on the Magic, Wonder, Dream and Fantasy
chezp is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 04-05-2008, 05:05 PM   #9
emtpej
Community Rank: Explorer
 
emtpej's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Hollywood on the Potomac (DC)
Posts: 7,486

Post Thanks / Like
Some Sights and 'Lunch'

Today’s Mount Vernon is very beautiful, is well preserved, and has many newly reconstructed buildings like the 16-sided threshing barn. This building was designed by Washington to make the threshing of grain more efficient. It wound up being practically circular, so it was very odd for that era. I did not get any good photos of it so:

Left is the model, right is an old photo of the original.

Animals would walk on the stalks of grain and then the kernels would fall through the slatted floor to the lower level, where it was collected. The surplus of grain allowed him to make money from the production of flour and whisky (more about that later).


Left: Da-aaad! Did we have to come all the way to Mount Vernon to see COWS?
Right: If you get to feeling tired out, they have a shuttle bus from the agriculture area back to the museum.

Before continuing, we went to the food court which had some basic choices, but about like selections you would find at a mall. How does Karen (aka mattnkattsmom) put it – scrummy? A combination of scrumptious and yummy? Well, here it was just crummy. We did not have the time or the $$ to eat at the real restaurant here – the Mount Vernon Inn, so youse takes what youse can gets.


Left: This is food? Right: David comments on the often imitated - never duplicated Mrs. Fields Cookies

We then went back over to the Ford Orientation Center and watched the orientation film that was introduced by Pat Sajack. The film about Washington’s life was very exciting and we enjoyed seeing that some of the action used locations in Williamsburg, VA, where we have visited many times in the past.


This is the family in front of the stained glass. Of course, my DW was in the gift shop right then (sigh). Incredibly, I managed to get them all to smile at the same time.


We then went to the mansion (yes, we are going in circles) and were pleased to find that even though the queue was much longer than it was earlier, it moved quickly because all the visitors have to keep moving through. One thing they enforce is no photographs inside the mansion. Imagine what would happen if everyone stopped to get a picture of everything? Their shops have books with very good photos anyway. Well, we went through the mansion and it was very well furnished, like some homes in Williamsburg and also like Liberty Hall in Philadelphia.
After being rushed through the mansion, we walked back to the museum building again. They have the BEST museum on GW anywhere. There are several cinemas and a kids interactive area and many other displays. The detail and quality is astounding. I did not get any photos of it as my party was in a hurry to get to the main gift shop because they were making up for lost time.
Shortly, we packed up and drove over to the gristmill and distillery which is about 3 miles away on Dogue Creek.

Next up -- the lowdown on rot-gut!
__________________
EJ, At your service!
See my TRs about a National Treasure , The National Aquarium, the Navy Memorial, the National Air and Space Museum , my Land and Sea '08 PTR and my WDW Raincloud TR
Callahan's Law: "Shared pain is lessened; shared joy, increased—thus do we refute entropy."
-- This is well observed, here at PassPorter!
My PassPorter Bookshelf
My Previous TripsWDW June 1979 (offsite), WDW July, 2005 (POR), July 2008 -- Poly and the Wonder

Last edited by emtpej; 04-07-2008 at 10:14 AM..
emtpej is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 04-05-2008, 08:08 PM   #10
RobDVC
Facebook Addict
PassPorter's Club Passholder


What's this?

Community Rank:
Legend Extraordinaire
 
RobDVC's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Philadelphia
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 39,682

Post Thanks / Like
Great report so far....can't wait to hear about the distillery!
__________________
RobDVC - about me
My Countdown Counting down to: Another BLT visit
..See Ya Real Soon!
My PassPorter Bookshelf <table width=100% height=75 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 border=0><tr><td width=86 style='background-image: url(http://www.passporter.com/concierge/ticker/countdown7873-428.png); background-repeat: no-repeat;'><a href='http://www.passporterboards.com/concierge/back-to-the-beach-club-villas-trip428.html' border=0><img src='http://www.passporter.com/forums/club/images/bookshelf/transparent.png' height=75 width=86 border=0></a></td><td align=left style='background-image: url(http://www.passporter.com/forums/club/images/bookshelf/shelf7873.png); background-repeat: no-repeat;'><a href='http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/club/bookshelf.php?member=7873&name=RobDVC' border=0><img src='http://www.passporter.com/forums/club/images/bookshelf/transparent.png' height=75 width=200 border=0></a></td></tr></table>
My Previous TripsMay1991 Treehouse Villas - May1993 POFQ - July1998 CSR - May2002 ASSP - August2004 ASMO - December2005 SSR - August2006 BCV - April2007 POFQ - August2008 BWV - May2009 AKV Kidani - AugSep2010 BLT - Aug2011 BCV - Aug2013 BLT
RobDVC is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 04-05-2008, 08:09 PM   #11
Colexis Mom
RED SOX NATION!!
PassPorter's Club Passholder


What's this?

PassPorter Guide

Community Rank:
Legend VIP
 
Colexis Mom's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Connecticut
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 136,854

Post Thanks / Like
More great updates!!
__________________
My PassPorter Bookshelf
My Previous TripsAUG '16 - POFQ, APR '12 - POFQ, JUL '10 - DL, AUG '09 - DCL Western, AUG '08 - POFQ/BC, AUG '06 - AKL/BC/DisneyWonder/Poly, DEC '05 - AKL, APR '05 - AKL/BC, DEC '04 - AKL, MAY '04 - AKL/BC, MAY '03 - WL/BC, MAY '98 -offsite, MAY '94 - BC, AUG '85 - Poly, AUG '83 - Poly, AUG '81 - Poly, JUL '79 - World Inn, JUL '76 - World Inn
Colexis Mom is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 04-06-2008, 03:10 AM   #12
chezp
PassPorter Message Board Manager
PassPorter Guide Author

Community Rank:
Legend VIP
 
chezp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Maidstone, Kent, UK
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 190,285

Post Thanks / Like
I'm loving reading this trip report - I fully understand about no photos inside the mansion, but it's a shame, as I'd love to see what it looks like.
__________________

Relaxing on board the Magic. The trip report for our back-to-back cruises on the Disney Magic has started!
My Countdown Counting down to: 2019
Happy New Year!
My PassPorter Bookshelf
My Previous Trips21 trips to WDW, 6 to Disneyland in California, 9 to Disneyland Paris, 1 to Hong Kong Disneyland, 1 to Tokyo Disney, 1 to Aulani, 1 to Hilton Head, 2 to Vero Beach and 13 Disney cruises on the Magic, Wonder, Dream and Fantasy
chezp is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 04-06-2008, 07:51 AM   #13
JoanW
Community Rank: Navigator
 
JoanW's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Davidsonville, MD
Posts: 6,563

Post Thanks / Like
Oh if only it were sunny and dry today - we would have taken a little drive over the Potomac!

Great TR so far. Love the Mrs. Fields Thumbs Up photo and the scrummy references! Too funny! We are all learning from the Great TR Masters!
__________________


Weenie likes to snuggle.

My Countdown Counting down to: Boston Chocolate Buffet Girls Weekend!
Where are the chocolate martinis?
My Previous Trips1989 - My Very First Trip to the Mouse ~ 1997 - My First Trip to Disneyland ~ 2003 - My Very First Disney Cruise and Staying Onsite ~ 2005 - The Big Trip v2005 - A Second Cruise and a Third Trip to the Mouse~ 2008 - Mousefest and Turning 5-0, Tiaras v.1.0! 2009 - Sousefest, Tiaras v.2.0! 2010 - Food, FABs, Friends, Tiaras v3.0
JoanW is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 04-06-2008, 08:01 AM   #14
emtpej
Community Rank: Explorer
 
emtpej's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Hollywood on the Potomac (DC)
Posts: 7,486

Post Thanks / Like
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp View Post
I'm loving reading this trip report - I fully understand about no photos inside the mansion, but it's a shame, as I'd love to see what it looks like.
They really herd you through and the docents stand in every room and say the same things over and over again. It is still neat to see with your own eyes!

I was going to save this for later, but here is a link to the virtual tour: http://www.mountvernon.org/virtual/index.cfm/ss/29/

Quote:
Originally Posted by JoanW View Post
Oh if only it were sunny and dry today - we would have taken a little drive over the Potomac!

Great TR so far. Love the Mrs. Fields Thumbs Up photo and the scrummy references! Too funny! We are all learning from the Great TR Masters!
Thank you! You are very kind to say that.
__________________
EJ, At your service!
See my TRs about a National Treasure , The National Aquarium, the Navy Memorial, the National Air and Space Museum , my Land and Sea '08 PTR and my WDW Raincloud TR
Callahan's Law: "Shared pain is lessened; shared joy, increased—thus do we refute entropy."
-- This is well observed, here at PassPorter!
My PassPorter Bookshelf
My Previous TripsWDW June 1979 (offsite), WDW July, 2005 (POR), July 2008 -- Poly and the Wonder
emtpej is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 04-06-2008, 04:11 PM   #15
emtpej
Community Rank: Explorer
 
emtpej's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Hollywood on the Potomac (DC)
Posts: 7,486

Post Thanks / Like
The low-down on rot-gut!

In order to produce the flour and whisky, Mount Vernon had a gristmill, a distillery, a cooperage, and a barley malting operation located at Dogue Creek, three miles from the mansion where there was better terrain for the water-powered operation. This was the area of the original threshing barn, also. This site was recently placed under the operation of the MVLA after being part of the Commonwealth parks system.


L: Joel Nichols, the miller, with the gristmill behind, and the 'millrace' to the left.
R: Some of the gears, that are made of wood.


The gristmill (reconstructed in 1933) is very interesting because it can grind both wheat and corn because it has two sets of millstones. It makes a lot of noise and vibration when in operation, but it is ingeniously designed with mostly wood parts that can be replaced. The moving parts were restored in 2002. The millrace is kind of funny looking, because it dead-ends into the parking lot! What you cannot see is the water pump that re-circulates the water for the demonstration. The waterwheel is undershot (and inside the building!) and in this configuration turns counter-clockwise. It was highly automated with grain elevators, etc. and required only two men to run it!

The distillery was reconstructed in 2006 and it turned out a small batch of whisky in 2007. They have six copper stills and in the last year of operation, in Washington’s time, it produced 11,000 gallons of whisky. It was the largest in the country. Samples were not available during our visit, but they will be making commemorative products soon. The distiller told us that it was not aged, and therefore we would probably not enjoy the taste of it. It sounded more like rubbing alcohol!!


L: the distillery with watercourse for the cooling of the condenser coils. They use wellwater for the whisky! R: The Master Distiller.

The whisky was 60% rye, 35% corn, and 5% barley malt. It was run through twice and stored in barrels and was not aged prior to being consumed. The leftover mash was fed to cows and pigs onsite. The reconstruction was accomplished with the help of the Distilled Spirits Council of the US and the Wine and Spirit Wholesalers of America.

Some of the sponsors -- I guess they knew it would not be any competition for them!

The following is a link to the MVLA webpage on the distillery:
George Washington's Mount Vernon - Press Room

MVLA does offer summer internships for those that are interested!

Next up -- final thoughts.
__________________
EJ, At your service!
See my TRs about a National Treasure , The National Aquarium, the Navy Memorial, the National Air and Space Museum , my Land and Sea '08 PTR and my WDW Raincloud TR
Callahan's Law: "Shared pain is lessened; shared joy, increased—thus do we refute entropy."
-- This is well observed, here at PassPorter!
My PassPorter Bookshelf
My Previous TripsWDW June 1979 (offsite), WDW July, 2005 (POR), July 2008 -- Poly and the Wonder

Last edited by emtpej; 04-06-2008 at 06:21 PM..
emtpej is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Reply




Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump














Please login or register to hide these ads -- it's free and easy!

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 06:16 PM.

-->

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Feedback Buttons provided by Advanced Post Thanks / Like v3.4.0 Patch Level 1 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
(c) 1998-2017 PassPorter Travel Press/MediaMarx, Inc.
Celebrating 19 Years of Making Dreams Come True
Ad Management plugin by RedTyger