Mt. Vernon, Botanical Gardens, Art Gallery

I'm going to finish my Washington DC blogging today. I spent 10 days walking and walking all over the Capitol area and Mt. Vernon. What an educational experience. I think any American would thoroughly enjoy this area.

Ron, Bernita and I went to Mt. Vernon on last Thursday. It is about a half hour drive from Greenbelt Park. There were a lot of tours, kids on field trips but the estate is beautiful and there is lots of see.

The mansion has a wonderful view of the Potomac River and sets on a hill looking down to the water. We were able to walk thru the house where tour guides spoke in different rooms (no pictures allowed inside). The Washington's entertained alot so there were many bedrooms and dining rooms. The interior has been restored based on a 1799 inventory taken at the time of Washington's death.

George Washington and his wife Martha are buried on the grounds. Ron and Bernita are posing in front of the tomb where George and Martha are buried.

There is also a memorial to the slaves that lived and worked for Washington. The original grave markers have disappeared and the identities of the 75 individuals buried there are mostly unknown.

Washington considered himself first and foremost a farmer. There is a Pioneer Farm Site on the grounds. Washington had many farms in the area.

This farm features a 16 sided barn where he processed his wheat. Horses would walk over the laid out wheat stalks on the upper floor and the loosen seed would fall between the wood slats into the lower floor. Pretty smart.

There is also a reconstructed slave cabin and garden in the pioneer farm site.

On Saturday I went into DC by myself after Ron and Bernita left. Dean was flying in from Kansas that afternoon and I told him I would meet him at the Metro. And it gave me one more day to see some things that I had not seen.

I love Botanical Gardens so I had to visit the National Botanical Gardens. This is the entrance. Outside is the Rose garden and inside there are different sections such as Rain forest, desert, medicinal plants, orchid garden and more.

I walked around the Capitol and took a picture of the Supreme Court building. Not open on Saturdays.

My final stop was the National Gallery of Art. There is an East and West wing. The West wing contains American art as well as one of the finest collections of western Europe paintings and sculpture spanning the 13th century to the present. I got up close to Rembrandt, da Vinci, Monet, van Dyck. In the East Building the focus is on modern and contemporary art such as Picasso, Gaudin, O'Keefe. Check out the picture of the underground walkway between the two buildings. The last artpiece is definitely modern!