DC: Day 3

Hello readers!!

After I logged off yesterday, I realized I forgot my funny story!!

It's election time in Virginia. They are electing themselves a new mayor. The posters are littered all over yards, and on every available wall space. I get tired of it; I love the election process, but how we go about it is just tiresome - from the commercials to the very un-green posters that litter the areas. When we were get off the metro, we saw diligent workers, trying to get votes. We just really tried to ignore them, because it doesn't involve us.

The following day, we were in a rush to get to the Pentagon. We were rushing past all the campaign workers when someone stopped Mark about the race for governor. His reply: "We don't live here, we're tourists". And he hadn't gone another 3 feet when someone already had his hand out to shake it, I think it must have been one of the candidates and he says to Mark, "Your tourist? Have fun!".

I almost didn't make the metro because I was laughing so hard. Yup. We're tourists. LOL!!! At least we didn't have our cameras around our necks!!

Day three of our vacation took us to Mount Vernon. We decided to take the riverboat out, and that was around 10:30 (we got to sleep in until 7 - woo hoo!!). This was the longest trip on the Metro we'd taken so far. Luckily, I brought a book, and got a couple chapters in between stops. We make it to the dock, and it starts to drizzle. Not a good sign. But, "it'll be fine", I keep reassuring myself. The riverboat takes about 50 minutes to get to Mount Vernon. While onboard, you can buy a bag of popcorn or a can of soda for $2. No thanks.

We get to Mount Vernon, and we trek all around. It was quite interesting. Turns out that President Washington inherited a small house, and was able to add on starting with the second level, then moving out to the east and west for a total of 21 bedrooms. The rooms were not very big, although they were thought to be at the time. I think maybe they were size of my brother's room, growing up, without the closet. The Washingtons entertained quite frequently, as they were very popular, and they hadn't invented the Hilton Honors program yet.

Did you know that President Washington was offered the kingship twice? And both times he turned them down?

Did you know that he and Martha never had children together? When he married her, she was a wealthy widow with two children, whom he raised as his own - as well as their grandchildren.

Did you know that they were married for 40 years? He spent 8 years away from Mount Vernon during his presidency, and she would go visit him every December through February. Once home to his beloved Mount Vernon, he only got to live there for 2 years before he died.

And did you know that he died from a throat infection? The way the curator described it, it sounded like tonsilitis, because his throat was swollen. He died 36 hours after he was diagnosed.

And did you know that Martha was so heartbroken, she couldn't sleep in the room after his death? How amazing is that??

Our first president was an amazing man, with an amazing history. I won't bore you all with the mundane, nerdy details, but Mark and I learned (and walked) a lot. I did get to see his dentures, but I didn't agree with Brianna's assessment that they were "cool". The were made of hippo bone, human teeth, and bronze. I thought it was kinda gross.

The weather never did clear up. It thought about it for a second, but it was raining by the time we caught the metro back to the hotel. What I found most beautiful about Mount Vernon were the trees. Again with the reminder of fall. We were walking down a path, and there were leaves all over the ground. My mom would decorate our house for every holiday, and during the fall, she had paper fall leaves that looked almost real, that we would put around the house. I was reminded that these weren't fake - that there are parts of the country that have these seasons, where leaves turn colors. It's just such an array of color, it's amazing. I love watching it.

Tomorrow should prove to be a cold day, but I think we'll start our hop on, hop off tour of DC. We've got lots and lots to cover while we're here. Still need to go see all the monuments. Good thing we have 3 more days!

Does anyone want anything while we are here?

Love and hugs to all!