holiday part 2

Christmas Day I woke up and went home. I made devilled eggs with sausage in them and a salad that was green jello, cottage cheese, whip cream, pineapple, and walnuts. I drove to Danielle's aunts in Manassas and had a nice dinner with her family.
After dinner, Danielle and her cousin Sara and I drove to Justin's and we all went to Mt.Vernon. It is open Christmas Day and it was PACKED. Justin was lucky enough to find a parking space close though. While we were waiting in line a man in front of me had a season pass for two and asked me if I was paying for my ticket. I said that I was going to he then said that he would go ahead and cover it with his season pass!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! What a generous thing to do... I personally think that it is because I payed my tithing.:) The tour now consists of you going in different rooms where different people stand and tell you about that room. It is not decorated for Christmas because I guess they did not do that sort of thing back then but there is greenery above some of the doors and the table is set for Christmas. There was a really neat hedgehog cake on the table. I have been looking for directions on how to make one and have not found them...YET...The view on the Potomac is Beautiful I found out that Mt. Vernon bought the land across the river in MD. so that the view would always be wonderful. We were able to see the third floor which is only open during the month of December and New Years week.
After the inside we walked around the grounds and went and saw the tomb where on veterans day Justin went and put a rose on George Washington's grave. We walked around and saw all the outbuildings.
They have sheep and cows there. The turkey that President Obama pardoned is there. They also have a Christmas camel. During those times it was popular to have exotic animals and Christmas time.
The visitors center is AMAZING! I could have spent ALL DAY IN THERE. they had a gingerbread Mt. Vernon. They had many interactive displays. A couple interesting things we saw a HUGE George Washington head that was a bit spooky that's eyes followed you around!!!... I also found out that artists were able to look at George and Martha's pictures and do age regression and they have mannequins and portraits of what they looked like when they were very young. We were able to see George Washington's teeth which are made out of hippo not wood. We all watched a short movie about Martha and George Washington and how she wanted to keep their relationship private so she BURNT ALL THEIR LETTERS!!!! RIGHT UP THERE ON THE THIRD FLOOR IN THAT ROOM THAT WE SAW UP THERE!!! Martha...Martha...Martha...We closed that museum DOWN...we were the last people to leave..While I was waiting for Justin,Danielle and Sara I was talking to a guy that has a bachelors in history and a masters in museum managment and he said that only THREE letters survived that they had fell behind a desk and Martha did not know they were there and her family found them and did NOT burn them...I was also talking to him about the Mt.Vernon ladies association. What I learned was that there came a time when George Washington's ansecestors could not afford the upkeep anymore and tried to sell it to the state of VA and to the USA neither bought it a group of ladies got together and said if the MEN of this country are not going to save this then it is up to the LADIES!!! they bought Mt. Vernon and continue to run it to this day which is one of the reasons it is in such good shape. This man was telling me that Woodlawn a plantation down the street is falling apart and only open a couple of days a week. That makes me sad. If I am ever rich and famous that will be my charity to donate money to historic sites so that future generations can continue to enjoy them. I also learned that during the civil war the ladies were working on restoring it and troops from BOTH sides could come and visit it BUT they had to lay down their arms and they had to cover their uniforms. George Washington meant a lot to the North and the South because he was from VA and because he was from the USA. The man I was talking to also told me that President Obama has not been there yet. He said that most US presidents DO come and visit but he has not been there. He said that he did give a personal tour to Michelle, Sasha and Malia Obama though!!!:) Imagine that as a FB update: just got home from work gave a tour to the first family today :)
I think that we had a great time at Mt. Vernon! We drove back to Justin's and Danielle and Sara headed back to Manassas and Justin and I had dinner and watched Bride Wars a cute movie that is rated PG.
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!!!!