Just Outside DC
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Mount Vernon, home to George and Martha Washington | |||||
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Nearing the ticket window we both remarked on how nice it was to be there without the crowds and also how each visit to Mount Vernon we noticed so much more. A snap decision by my husband was to purchase us both an annual pass. It was only a few dollars more than a daily pass and included a stop in the Ford Orientation Center for a black and white photo taken by information desk staffers. The information desk is within a large nicely lighted atrium along with the below mural and a neat doll house size exhibit of the Mount Vernon main house. The auditorium is also in this building. 
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The doll house size replica of Mount Vernon is very helpful for seeing parts of the house not seen in the tour. It is amazing the attention to detail
that is presented in this lovely exhibit. Like tiny leather fire buckets set off in a closet (not visited in the tour) near the main door at the rear of the house.
Up on the third floor, storage rooms are revealed as the roof lifts up and down every few minutes to provide peeks.
Photos are not allowed inside the real mansion, so this doll house is a second best way to snap photos of the various rooms. To view more of our Mount Vernon dollhouse comments and pictures see towards the bottom of this page. 
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Outside the exhibit building we had a peaceful walk along pathways scarce of other tourists.
It had started out foggy that morning, had turned into a mild but raw-ish late December day. |
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We arrived at the mansion right after a tour had entered. Normally there is a line waiting to get in, but this day so few of us were visiting that we could stroll about until fifteen minutes had passed and the next tour group formed to view the mansion. We walked about snapping photos of the various outbuildings shown below: 
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As you can see from photo below, we pretty much had Mount Vernon to ourselves this cold, raw December morning.
Not knowing if the interior of the mansion would be heated, I had left my winter jacket in the car and worn a silk shawl. That shawl worked fine, easy to carry, and it provided a nice barrier against the damp outside air and slightly cool air inside the mansion. We had a neat treat that morning. Since so few tourists were there, the tour guides took us through all the floors including the third floor of the mansion. The third floor is normally closed to tourists due to the tighter passageways up the staircase. First floor of the mansion is wheelchair accessible, but there are no elevators to the upper floors. The Mount Vernon Association has done a great job finding collections of period furnishings for the mansion. In order to peek into the rooms a little bit longer, we stayed towards the back of our 20 or so group walking through together. There was so much to take in that it was a little overwhelming. I can see us again returning for a tour of the house. A bit tired from going up and down staircases, I headed outside for a moments rest in the inviting barrelback front porch chairs. I have looked at the virtual tour of the rooms offered on their website and I do not think it gives justice to the beauty of the rooms and furnishings. Rich woods and strong colors are a major feature of the furnishings and I feel they appear a bit washed out and distorted in the wide lens view offered in their virtual tour online.
Ready for a nice food break we headed to the Inn. Due to construction on a pathway we had to go back into the Ford Orientation Center. Which was good, because we stopped again in the lobby to view the doll house size replica of the Mount Vernon mansion. It gave us a chance to point at this and that in each room, make comments and to share our enjoyment of particular items in each room. | |||||
| In this replica, every few minutes, the roof lifts up and shows the third floor of the mansion.
This gave us the chance to see rooms not on the tour due to them being accessed through other rooms. Like this storage room in the photo. Below are snips of other photos we took of this replica. To see full size (raw digital image) versions of all the photos we took click here. | 
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Well, it got so that this web page is getting too long and we've got more of the dollhouse pictures to show you. So
click here to view our next web page on Mount Vernon. Where this
third web page shows more of the doll house exterior and rooms.
Guess you can tell we had an nice visit at Mount Vernon. We were there right before Christmas. Now it is mid January. Glad we got the annual passes because soon as we have some decent snowfall, I want to head back and get photos of the mansion and grounds covered in the white fluffy stuff. An aside note, we got to the Inn for lunch just before 11:30 AM, had choice of tables. By time we left the Inn was packed. Food was good, I had a hearty beef veggie soup that was the day's special, my husband had a chicken salad that he liked. Service was excellent, view (sitting within enclosed porch) was nice. In winter time the Inn is cool so bring a light jacket or such. I checked with the waiter; about all of the Inn is wheel chair accessible. I forgot to check the bathrooms at the Inn as we always use the super modern ones in the new buildings. The Inn is right off the new building that houses the gift shop and food court. | |||||
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