Alexandria, VA.

Monday (9/2) found us headed south out of PA, through MD to Alexandria VA.  We arrived at the Elks' Club without incident and got set up.  This Elks' offered parking next to the building with 110 electric and water.  The lot was pretty sloped not only forward but sideways also, but we managed to get fairly level.

We got all set up then drove the few miles to visit my nephew Eric, his wife Irva and their daughter Elvicha Joy.  We had never met Irva or Elvicha Joy but were soon right at home.

Friday evening they invited us for dinner.  We had a delicious dinner and nice long visit.  We made plans to visit downtown Alexandria on Sat.  

We started the day with a tour of our house, then dinner at one of their favorite restaurants.

Stuffed to the gills, we decided to visit the wharf.  People were out enjoying the beautiful day.  King Street was closed to accommodate an art display of local artists.  The street performers were out in force. 

Watching ducks.  Maryland is across the water in the horizon.

In the opposite direction we could see the Capital building in DC

Resting and chatting (three is such a fun age!)

There are several historical homes open for tours.  This one opened its gardens as well.

City building 

Tiny bit of the art fair.

Courthouse through the arcade.

We spent a very pleasant afternoon strolling and chatting.

Back at the house we wrapped up the day and went home.

Sunday we were going to visit a few places in DC but heard on the news that there was a Syrian involvement protest at the White House and a triathlon scheduled.  We had visions of traffic and people everywhere so decided to stay home.  In the afternoon our good friends Anita and John Laffey, who were staying east of DC, came over to spend the day.  

We walked down the street to Denny's  for lunch, then back to our house.  We yakked until 8 pm!

After they left, I called Eric and he said no, it's not too late for a last visit.  He surprised us with supper.

We intended to stay for a short last visit, but you know how families are.  We ended up leaving 2 hours later! 

We were in Alexandria only to visit this family, but managed to pack in some touring and to meet up with old friends.  Thanks to all who made time for us and made our visit here very enjoyable.

Next stop--Chesapeake Bay area.

Louise and Duane

Mount Vernon grist mill and distillery

Our extensive tour of Mount Vernon left us no time to explore the rest of Washington's enterprises, so we hopped the bike the next day (Friday) to finish our tour.  Washington continued to add to his acreage, buying up small farms as they became available, until his Mount Vernon holding comprised 8000 acres.  Three miles from the mansion he built this grist mill.  At this point the mill is beside Douge Creek, which provided shipping access to the Potomac, but the water was too slow moving to run the water wheel.  His mill expert scouted the property until he found enough grade to provide the water flow needed to turn the wheel.  About two miles away the holding pond was built, then connected to the mill with a hand dug race.  The project took 2 years, and the final race was lined with wood planks.  Quite an undertaking in the late 1700's.  Nearby a cooperage was built because of course, barrels were needed to ship the flour to other countries.

Rebuilt mill on original site.  Washington insured his buildings, and the insurance company kept the detailed plans of each building.  When the buildings burned or were let go after Washington's death, the plans were still in existence so the buildings could be rebuilt in detail as they were originally and on the original sites.  This area is also owned and operated by the same group that runs the mansion.  We visited the visitor's center/gift shop first. (It was originally the manager's house and was also built to spec and on the original site.)  We showed our tickets, then joined a costumed interpreter for some introductory information.  As with the mansion, we were handed off to other interpreters inside, then to another inside the distillery. 

This mill replaced the smaller one built by his father.  It was fitted with two sets  of mill stones.  A very finely grooved  French set for the production of high-quality wheat flour for export, and a coarse cut made in this country for grinding corn for plantation use.

We saw a demo of corn grinding.  

Always the entrepreneur, Washington automated his mill in 1791 with a system developed and patented by a Delaware engineer.  The Evans system featured bucket elevators to move wheat and flour from floor to floor to greatly improve production. From this floor, the miller could control the flow of the water and the speed of the turning stones with just two levers.

In 1791 Washington hired a new farm manager,a Scottish immigrant with experience in the milling and distillery industries.  Anderson proposed the construction of a whiskey distillery adjacent to the mill since the key components were already in place:  ample grain, a gristmill and water.  Completed in 1798, it was one of the largest in America

By 1799 it had become one of Washington's most successful enterprises, producing 11000 gallons of rye  whiskey which netted Washington a profit of $1858.

Two of the five stills.  Today the stills produce Washington's original mash once a year in one and three distillations.  The pint bottles-- $95 for 80 proof and over $100 for the 120 proof--sell out in a day.

This whiskey wasn't aged.  It was put into barrels and shipped locally and overseas.  A good deal of it was sold right from the distillery.  Behind the building were holding pens for cattle and pigs (not rebuilt, nor were the slaves' cabin.) The strained mash as well as the leftovers from the grist mill were fed to this stock, which in turn fed the plantation.  Washington didn't waste much.  He was always reusing and recycling. 

After our tour we returned to our house for lunch and a rest before we took the bike to my nephew's house.  Eric and Irva invited us to dinner.

That, another story.

Louise and Duane 

MOUNT VERNON

When we arrived here in Alexandria, we had nothing planned except to visit my nephew Eric, his wife Irva and daughter Elvica (pronounced ELvika) Joy.  We got hooked up to water and electric at the Elks Club, then went the few miles to their house for a visit.  When we got there I realized that I forgot the camera!!!!  We visited at their home, then drove to a restored downtown section and parked.  We strolled up the street to a Mexican restaurant for dinner, then down the street for soft custard.  Today we decided to visit George Washington's home.  We got the bike out and hit the road.  We arrived around 10 am, parked, got our tickets.  Our $16 senior tickets got us access to the entire complex plus the grist mill/distillery which is located about 3 miles away.  The complex is the oldest historical site in existence.  In 1860 the estate and 200 acres were purchased by the Mount Vernon Ladies Association.  Since that date the non-profit organization has maintained and operated Mount Vernon.  

Our first stop was the Orientation Center where we got our tickets and map.  We looked around at the exhibits including this bronze of the Washington family, a miniature of the mansion, and a short but very good film reenacting the Christmas Eve crossing of the Delaware and taking of  Trenton from the British.

Washington revealed through his quotes.

From the Orientation Center we followed the walkway to the Mansion grounds.  This is the sight that welcomed Washington whenever he came home.  

The drive splits and comes up to both sides of the house with a large grassy area in front which is called a Bowling Green.  The original house was the middle section and just one story.  Washington added the second floor and the two wings over several years.  Covered walkways lead to two identical buildings on the right and left.  On the right is the kitchen and pantry.  On the left is the servants' quarters for the servants of visitors.  Our tour started there where we were informed that positively NO pictures could be taken in the house, went to the left wing which is the new room the formal dining room.  From there we went out the back then into the middle section.  We saw a guest bedroom, an everyday dining room, a music room /family room with a harpsichord, and a room for entertaining guests with card tables.  Up the stairs were guest bedrooms and a stair to the third floor.  We went through one of these to access the right wing.  Originally there was a wall there but for the convenience of the tour it was left out of the restoration.  The third wing was the personal space of the family.  George and Martha's bedroom and  another stair to the third floor.  We learned that when George died, Martha followed the custom of closing and locking their room and using a small room on the third floor.  Downstairs was George's library.  He didn't finish school, but educated himself.  His library had over 900 volumes.  The other room was his study.  Next we went outside to tour at our leisure.

View of the back porch and kitchen with a view of the servants quarters between.

Washington's view of the Potomac from his back porch

Washington was a soldier and statesman, but first and foremost he was an innovative farmer.  This is one of his 'new' techniques. 

View of the river from the wharf.

The wharf was closed so we got no information about it or the boat.  We do know that the Washingtons ordered lots of goods from many other other countries.  They all came in here and were carried up the hill to the mansion and surrounding farm.

Self explanatory

Another innovative invention.  The inside of this 16 sided threshing barn has a rail around the middle section, and space between the boards.   Wheat was spread on the floor, then horses ran around and around on the wheat and separated the gran from the stems.  The grains fell through the cracks to the floor below.

On Mount Vernon's 8000 acres were four farms which grew crops suitable to the soil in each one.  A scaled down version of one of these farms was represented here with the threshing barn and a slave cabin.  There were several slave cabins like this one grouped on each farm.

Joy of joys!  A blacksmith demonstrating in the shop!  

Of course I had to take Duane's pic in front of the blacksmith's.  He's in a white shirt at the far end leaning against the building.

This is the slave women's quarters at the mansion.  The men's quarters were at the opposite end of this building with a greenhouse between.  People slept 2 and 3 to a bed.  We visited a lot of other outbuildings at the Mansion Farm including the weavers, smoke house, wash house, stables, gardener's house, overseers house, storehouse, etc, reading the info boards as we went.  We also visited the tombs and viewed the crypts of George and Martha.  The complex was not only self sustaining but also made money by selling products.

A small part of the upper garden.  There was also a lower garden, fruit garden, and nursery.  Half of the property was kept in timber.  Washington  husbanded it carefully.  Only downed trees were gathered for burning and he experimented with holly and boxwood for use as natural fencing to cut down on the use of wood for fences.  Some of the trees were gifts from other countries and some he kept for their aesthetic value.  Some are over 200 old.

Our tour of the house and grounds complete, we went back toward the Orientation center to the food court for lunch at 2 pm.  Next stop was the Education Center (another building where absolutely no pictures were allowed) where we learned about George Washington's public life from young Virginian through his military career, his involvement in the new government, and finally his last two years as a private citizen.  We also learned that although he and his family took excellent care of their teeth--brushing, rinsing, using dental picks against tartar buildup--Washing was prone to gum disease and lost all of his teeth.  That was why he had to have dentures and why he didn't smile much in public.  This area featured small seating areas with short videos featuring  different aspects of Washington.  One of these was his view of religion. A large theater offered an immersive experience with snow, fog and rumble seats.  That was cool! He attended services in every type of church he was near, and thought every religion should be welcomed.  He was also a wily war leader and started the first spy system during the Revolutionary War.  Our next stop was the Museum which featured Washington's personal life and artifacts or their facsimiles from his home.  Our last stop was the gift shop where I got a pressed penny for my collection. At 5 pm we decided that we had seen all there was to be seen on the grounds and headed for the bike and home. 

Next stop is the grist mill/distillery and another visit with my nephew and family.  I promise to remember the camera!

Louise and Duane  

Wilbur Chocolate

 Our last day in the Hershey area we spent in this town.  We went looking for a nice family cafe for lunch but were unable to find one.  This historic village has grown into a city with a trendy historic downtown designed for tourists.  We ate at Burger King.  I really wanted something nicer for Duane's birthday, but he was happy to postpone his birthday dinner in favor of a burger and fries.

We stopped in the visitors' center to see if there was anything else of interest in Lititz besides our main objective--

this chocolate factory.  I liked the clock too.

We had never heard of Wilbur chocolates and I decided that in all fairness we needed to give them a taste test.  Here I could smell the chocolate outside the factory.  Yum!!!

The bottom floor of the building housed the Wilbur Chocolate Candy Americana Antique Collectibles showroom and Candy Store.  The tiny museum held hundreds of old cocoa tins, antique candy molds, original artwork and 19th century advertising slogans.  There was a large collection of rare chocolate pots (pitchers) from around the world.  The museum was tiny and none of the displays were marked.  I didn't take a pic of the chocolate pots because I didn't understand their significance.  I thought they were just china pitchers.  The information given above I got from their informative brochure I picked up at the visitor's center.  

We watched a short video of the chocolate making process from the growing of beans through the final steps of production.  In the candy kitchen we watched one woman hand wrapping chocolates and one making chocolate covered animal crackers.  

Some chocolate creations

Themed chocolate sets train and school teacher--scissors, ruler, stapler, bus, apple.

Now that's what I call a candy bar.

Lititz main street in the historic downtown.  The steepled building is not a church but a town hall.  We thought it interesting.

Further side of town

Every town we visited had a lot of the old Federalist houses.  They look like two saltine boxes on top of each other with a chimney at either end.  Very versatile, I think.  If you need more room, you add an ell to either side.  I like the look of them.

Just at the edge of town I finally found my elusive close line!!  We managed to get turned around, found a wide berm to stop, and a clear shot of the whole thing.  The pulley lets you stand in one spot, then raise the line to catch the breeze higher up.  Genius!  Sorry, I guess you have to had to hang clothes to appreciate it. 

Long curving hills, even on the main roads

A beautiful day for a beautiful ride.

Another Federalist house.

Home again--the gate house and drive going into the park.

Back at the house we had our taste test--Wilbur dark chocolate 'buds' against Hersey Special Dark Kisses (formally known as buds).  Duane liked the buds best, but I reminded him that the kisses had less sugar.  We decided they were both very good.

Next up, Alexandria, VA.

Louise and Duane