Mount Vernon and a Sad Closure

We got up early on Thursday morning, packed everything up, and loaded the van. Our first stop was Mount Vernon. We arrived 15 minutes before opening and were slightly dismayed to see a few dozen buses, all full of 8th graders, already there. When we made it inside, I asked one of the workers for suggestions on avoiding the crowds and she told us that it was going to be one of their busiest days of the year, with over 5000 students visiting! Fortunately, we were mostly able to zig while they zagged and it ended up being fine.

The Wills joined us and we started in the education center. We saw some of the films and enjoyed the exhibits, including Be Washington. We got lunch right at 11, which avoided the large crowds. Then we headed outside, starting with the mansion. When we first went to Mount Vernon (maybe 2014?) the tour was much longer. But, it still hits the high points, and we enjoyed being back. 

Birthday kids (in 4 months...)

Four of the guest rooms My favorite is the blue room.

After that, the kids played on the ha ha wall for while. My kids have been running off that wall for many years and were happy to introduce it to Ben and Kolten. Then, we toured the pioneer farm. By now it was around 1 and people were getting tired. We hiked up the mountain trail and decided we were done. Thomas ran to see the tomb and the rest of us headed to the museum. We spent a little time in the museum, then went to the gift shop and were in the van around 2. 

Ha Ha!

Wood trail bridge (stole from Kayce)

The kids, also stolen from Kayce.

That concludes the DC part of our vacation. For people's favorites:

Thomas and Luke: Mount Vernon
Anna and Kara: Art Museum

Jack: Capitol Building

Kori: Washington Monument

It was a little bittersweet being back, especially at Mount Vernon. When we lived in Maryland, we went there several times a year and our visits were always leisurely. We never felt the need to try and see everything because we knew we would be back soon. It was the same with the museums, we never tried to see an entire museum in one day, we would pick a few exhibits and then call it good, knowing we could return any time we wanted. Now, we are tourists and have no idea when we will return. It made Thomas and me sad. We could move back to Maryland, there are always openings in our old offices, but none of the kids want to and it feels cruel to make them move during high school. I miss all of our day trips and mini-vacations to Williamsburg, Philadelphia and Lancaster (with older kids, that one would probably be replaced with New York or Hershey). I miss going to the museums or Mount Vernon and feeling inspired to take a trip to Yorktown or Gettysburg and then making it happen a few weeks later. Florida has lots of fun theme parks, but it is not easy to take day or weekend trips to historical sites. Oh well, I made my bed and now I have to lie in it. To be clear, I don't dislike Florida, I just miss Maryland.

But, I digress. After Mount Vernon, we headed to part 2 of our trip--Williamsburg. Our plan was to stop at the Yankee Candle Flagship store. As we looked up the hours and address, we were met with some very distressing news--it closed in 2021!?!?! I am super, super, SUPER sad about this. We LOVED that store: the candles, the indoor snowing, the trains, the year-round massive Christmas village display, the fun Halloween village display, the fudge, the home decor, etc. It. Was. Amazing. No trip to Williasmburg was complete for us without a stop, Until now I guess. We consoled ourselves with Cracker Barrel and then got some breakfast food for the morning. Now, we are resting in our resort--The Powhatan, which is our favorite place to stay in Williasmburg. We got the 3-story 3-bedroom condo and the kids are thrilled. After our little DC apartment, it feels especially spacious.