Day 3 (is it really only Day 3?!?!)

States covered: Delaware, Maryland, Virginia

Sites seen: the Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens

Things I should have learned but did not: Sunscreen. All the sunscreen. All the time. Even if you think you’re just going from a car to a building and back to the car. You’re not. You will end up walking around for hours. Wear the sunscreen. And bring water.

You guys!!!! The bathrooms here are even better than the bathrooms at the last place! My children are definitely NOT experiencing real camping.

Also, it’s day 3 and we just discovered that our children don’t have pillows…we will fix that tomorrow…😳

According to my mother, I have been to the Mount Vernon Estate before. I do not remember this. And even after walking around today, I do not remember this. So it was as if everything was new.

There was a lot of walking here and the not so tinies were not impressed by this. However, they did think the mansion tour was awesome. We all found it really cool to be standing and walking on ground that George Washington and other names we recognize visited. However, they really can’t fathom the time difference and how different their lives would have been compared to ours. One of the tour hosts asked if there were any questions and Miss R raised her hand and asked “where are the lights in here?” This got a good laugh from the people around us and she took it well.

George Washington’s original family tomb is on the grounds as is his new burial site as spelled out in his last will and testament. This was my favorite part of the Estate today. During the civil war, soldiers would arrive in the woods around the property and would lay down their weapons and their colors in the woods so no one knew which side they were on. They would then go to pay their respects to George Washington and etch their names in the brick around the tomb. Their names are still there today.

George Washington…he’s just like us…he poops, too. One of the lighter moments today came when we stumbled across the old outhouse. The girls found this particularly interesting because there were three holes and lids in there but no dividers. They were pretty tickled (as were we) to imagine everyone going to the bathroom at the same time. 😂😂😂😂

Another thing I found interesting was the burial site of the enslaved workers on Washington’s property. They are currently excavating and working to see if they can identify anyone buried there and they erected a monument as well. I also did not know that in his last will and testament, Washington freed all of his slaves (upon Martha’s death but she let them go early) and he left a salary for his butler and the butler’s brother. We cannot erase our past, but we can all learn from it and move forward.

We ended the evening tonight visiting with my dear friend from childhood, Sylvia. We met when were 7 years old in Ms. Christian’s 2nd grade classroom and have remained in touch throughout the years. Our birthdays are three days apart and the year she(we) turned thirteen we went camping together to celebrate. That entire night it rained and rained and rained and rained and rained and rained. We awoke the next morning to discover that many of the surrounding areas had flooded. I have many fond memories of camping with Sylvia and her dad and I am so glad she was able to come and see us while we’re camping across America.

Talk to you all soon!

Deanna