More Historical Visits

On Monday October 8, Paul had the day off.  We decided that we would like to see Mount Vernon.  

Well we didn't think very well...or I guess we had the same idea as every once else in the area who also had the day off.  We drove down to Mount Vernon and saw how busy the parking lot was...and decided to go on another day.  Thankfully there were other things to see in that same area.

George Washington's Distillery and Gristmill

Just down the road was George Washington's Distillery and Gristmill.

We took a tour of the gristmill first.

  It just amazes me how they did things hundreds of years ago!

We got to watch them grind up some corn.

It's a pretty cool process.

Here is one of the stones that they use to grind.  Pretty big and heavy!

Then we went into the distillery.  

 We didn't really care so much about the end product, but the process was interesting.

I found this picture that they had in the upstairs museum area to be interesting as well.

If you can't read it, it says

"The Drunkard's Progress"

And that is one reason why I will never drink alcohol.

Gunston Hall

Next we drove just a few miles away to Gunston Hall, home of George Mason.

This was the lane going up to his house.  So beautiful!

 And his home.  This was his exact home.  It was preserved very beautifully.  We got a tour of the inside, but weren't allowed to take any pictures.  We found some of the customs and regulations from that time period interesting.  For example, the private part of the home, where guests normally wouldn't see, wasn't allowed to have intricate ornamentation.  It had to be more plain.  And there had to be symmetry and balance in the decor and the structure of the house.  It was beautiful.

 George Mason was the author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights and was very influential during his lifetime and beyond.  

 We got to walk around the grounds a bit.  He would've had a much better view of the river than we had today, but we could still see the Potomac at one point.

 In the front was this large tree.  It was so big and beautiful!

On our driving, we saw this bumper sticker.  Sorry it's blurry, but it says

God loves the unborn as much as God loves YOU.

 I thought it was a good message.

And I finally took a picture of this exit sign that is near our house.

 Those who know Star Trek will appreciate it. : D