August 20 - “Mount Vernon”

Time is winding down on us for this trip. We have to be heading back west soon. But not today. 

It was a dreary, wet-ish kind of day. 66 degrees. Not really raining. Just 100%humidity. Like we were driving in the clouds, but not like fog. So … wet-ish. 

First we backtracked just a little bit through Fredericksburg, but only to get on track for our next two stops. They are both on the road toward Washington, D.C., but still in Virginia. 

The first goal site was Prince William Forest Park. It was somewhere off of I95 near the Quantico Marine Corps Base. It was … well … a forest. We did a hike through said forest and saw … well … trees. At least the light rain made it cool. 

From there we decided to see what we could see of ol’ George Washington’s Mount Vernon. We saw where he was born. Might as well check out where he’s buried. Yes, Luke, we are looking for more dead people. 

And … what I anticipated would be something akin to strolling around on the Strand in Galveston was not that at all. Without paying full price, we somehow finagled a pass to get a tour of the mansion (half virtual and the rest under the tutelage of a tour guide). They are doing major renovations inside the house, but what we did see was still interesting. Then they turned us loose to roam the grounds. That guy had 8000 acres of land. No, we didn’t walk all of that, but what we did walk was up and down hills again. Plenty of exercise. The most impressive thing I saw were the two tombs. The original was there, but because of disrepair at the time, George put in his will to have a new one built and everybody moved over. The new structure houses George and Martha, with monuments outside it honoring the other family members interred there. Probably the most impressive item in the museum was an actual key to the original Bastille in France, presented to George by the Marquis de Lafayette. There was a lot to see. We were there about three hours (and 12,000 steps, but who’s counting?). 

By the time we grabbed a bite to eat at the food court there (really good burgers - Chris even liked her turkey burger), we realized there was just no more time. So we found a hotel near the Manassas Battlefield and called it a day. 

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬ says, Be serious! Be alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.

Father, thanks for the inspiration of history. Amen.