Day 142: Bull Run, VA to Cherry Hill, MD

This morning started with a bang, or a Seamus scream to be exact. He woke early in the morning and went outside of the trailer to go to the bathroom when he was unexpectedly met by an equally surprised opossum. They both scared the heebie-jeebies out of each other and Seamus returned to the trailer as white as a sheet. We have concluded that opossums are extremely creepy looking and we are glad that they are not native to Ottawa.

We spent today with two very important people - George Washington (renowned military captain in the American Revolution and first President of the United States of America) and Grandma Cora! She flew in from Toronto this morning to join us in touring Washington DC.

It was a bit of a rainy morning but it cleared up by the time we arrived at Mount Vernon.

We arrived at opening this morning.

Mount Vernon was George Washington’s plantation. This was his home, which he managed when he was not off fighting military campaigns or acting as President. We toured the grounds, mansion interior, gardens and museum. It was run using enslaved labour like the other plantations we visited in the South but was seemingly successful at weathering the Civil War and making the transition required afterwards. Many (though not all) of the buildings, furnishings, decorations and gardens are original.

The big house at Mansion House Farm. Washington owned 8,000 acres of land and multiple working farms (plantations). He also owned over 100 enslaved people and was responsible for an additional 100 slaves after the death of his wife’s first husband.

The formal dining room.

The parlor.

The key to the Bastille. This was Washington’s most prized possession. It was a gift sent over from Paris by the Marquis de Lafayette in March 1790 as a symbol of freedom and the overthrow of the French monarchy after the storming of the Bastille.

Each bedroom was gorgeous. They were elaborately decorated with matching wallpaper and linens. This one was the most stunning.

This one was my favourite.

This was Washington’s bed where he died of a throat infection involving a swollen epiglottis.

Heading down the private stairs to Washington’s study.

Washington’s desk.

The mansion’s kitchen was located off to the side of the main house to reduce fire risk. Washington loved new technology and had a chicken rotisserie connected to a fan that turned it automatically.

The view from the back deck where Washington and any visiting guests would take afternoon tea. Washington thought that this was the best view in all of America.

The ornamental gardens. They had a heated greenhouse and grew citrus, coconuts and palm trees.

Women slaves’ quarters.

Slave overseer’s quarters.

We returned to the camper for lunch to see this kind note taped to our window. Unexpected but it gives us hope that things will return to normal eventually. 

Our afternoon was occupied with learning more things about the great George Washington.

We watched the absolute coolest 4D movie about Washington’s role in the American Revolution.

It was completely unexpected and ended up being the best movie we have seen all trip - it snowed! We HIGHLY recommend. The battle scenes were so clearly illustrated we could follow the story exactly as it happened.

A model of Washington atop his horse.

Washington wore dentures. They weren’t wood but rather a combination of human (slave) and animal (horse and cow) teeth and rhino ivory. These all discoloured over time to be the colour of wood. These are his actual dentures. Yikes!

Cannons are heavy! It took all of us working together to move it.

The kitchen garden.

The horse stables.

The storeroom.

We did a guided tour led by Washington’s enslaved valet turned plantation’s cobbler. He told us about life through his eyes. He was a bit of an odd character but we enjoyed the tour.

The greenhouse.

We watched a real blacksmith at work making replacement parts for the plantation’s ironworks.

This was the boys’ favourite part of the day. They peppered the blacksmith with all sorts of questions and watched him for a long time.

The US Constitution.

A copy of the Declaration of Independence.

After we (mostly Alistair) were done at Mount Vernon (we saw probably about half of the things there were to see but Ali was toast by 3pm), so we headed off to our campground. We drove through Maryland, then DC, then back to Maryland, before ending up at Cherry Hill Park Campground. We set up, had dinner, and the boys played a round of mini putt before it was time for bed.

Grandma Cora is staying in a yurt.

We are parked at a campsite nearby.

Tomorrow we are headed into DC to visit the National Mall.

Day 141: Bull Run, VA

Our morning adventures took us to the site of the first, and one of the bloodiest, land battles of the Civil War. Both the Federal (Union) and Confederate (Secessionist) armies were “green” (very new and inexperienced), with many of the recruits being extremely young men (17-19). Few men on either side had military experience; many were students, painters, and plumbers. Each side framed their cause as worthy of fighting for. In a nutshell (obviously, there is more nuance) - for the South, they were fighting for the right of their states to form their own sovereign country so they wouldn’t be ruled by the Northerners. For the North, they were fighting to keep the country united and not to have slavery spread to their states. Both sides erroneously thought the conflict would be resolved in one quick battle. Obviously, they were both mistaken. 3,690 men were killed in just the two battles at Manassas, with more American men killed in the Civil War than any other armed conflict in which they have engaged. Upon hearing this statement, Alistair pointed out that this made sense to him as the Americans were fighting (and dying) on both sides in the Civil War, unlike in the other wars. He made a good point.

Manassas Visitors Centre

The boys were very engaged and attentive at the battlefield. They made us proud with their respectfulness and solemness.

We learned that Stonewall Jackson was the military Captain of the Confederate army during these battles and received this nickname because he “stonewalled” the Union army both times by not letting them pass. The Confederate Army won both Manassas battles, though with numerous casualties on both sides.

This is a reconstruction of Judith Henry’s house, which unfortunately for her ended up being right in the middle of the hill where the worst fighting took place.

This was the state of the Henry house after the first battle.

This was the state of the Henry house after the second battle.

Mrs. Henry was 80 years old and bedridden when she was killed by Union fire during the first battle. She was the only civilian casualty of the first battle of Manassas. She is buried on the property.

A monument of all the Union soldiers who died in the Manassas battles.

This Stone House was used as a much needed field hospital.

For the afternoon, we did something a bit less intense. We visited the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Centre to check out their aircraft hanger and space museum. This museum is part of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum but located outside of the National Mall area downtown.

We saw our second space shuttle of the trip, Discovery. During our 1.5 hour guided tour, we learned all about her 39 trips to space. Discovery spent a whopping 365 days in space during her lifetime. Amazing!

The Discovery was the shuttle that went back to space following the Columbia and Challenger accidents.

The Shuttle Discovery put the Hubble telescope into orbit.

Heat shield. The tiles are made of a silica material.

We saw a life-size version of the Mars rover.

This robot was used to develop spacesuits.

This drone looked like the X-Wing from Star Wars.

We watched an IMAX movie about the Hubble Telescope narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio.

We went up this tall tower to watch the planes at Dulles airport.

We watched planes take off and land at the nearby Dulles airport. It was neat because we could hear the radio from the air traffic control tower.

This plane was going to Istanbul, Turkey.

This blue plane is going to Seoul, South Korea.

Have a nice flight!

We saw the Concord that could fly at 2x the speed of sound and carried 100 people. It would have cost $5 thousand dollars to fly from the USA to France on the Concord compared to $600 for a regular economy flight.

The actual plane that dropped the Little Boy atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945.

Our tour guide, Bob, with the Enola Gay.

German plane.

The astronauts that visited the moon used to have to decontaminate in here for 3 weeks after returning to Earth in case of “moon germs”. Eventually this quarantine period was discontinued.

Apollo 11 floatation bags that flip the capsule right side up if it lands in the ocean upside down (which it does 50% of the time).

The Lockheed SR-71 was the fastest plane in the world capable of flying at 3x the speed of sound.

How the film from photos taken by the Lockheed SR-71 was reviewed.

Seamus and Ali tried out piloting a Cessna.

Story time: Why the Sun is my favourite star.

It was a busy day. In the evening, we picked up groceries, did laundry and had showers. Everyone is wiped. Off to bed for us.