A Real National Treasure: Mount Vernon

The day of our trip dawned a partly cloudy but nice 52 degrees. We enjoyed a scenic drive along the George Washington Parkway, parked very close to the entrance, and were able to get inside before a very large youth group. The visitor's experience is run very smoothly - you get oriented quickly and are provided just the right amount of information so as to avoid excessive questions. We purchased our admission tickets which included the limited-time "National Treasure" tour and the add-on for the newly re-constructed distillery and older grist mill (which is located about three miles away). (Ticket prices are available on their web site.) Because we had arrived later than planned, we decided to skip the 20 minute orientation film and proceeded to the area in front of the mansion itself, where the special tours begin. As we had a little bit of time before the tour, we examined some of the out-buildings (re-constructed, of course) on the way, while dodging the allure of the gift shops. Clearly the Mount Vernon Ladies Association (MVLA), which owns Mount Vernon, has been taking lessons from Disney...

In Washington's time, many people worked to support the plantation, and that is very much in evidence here. One concept that has finally been embraced is to acknowledge the fact that Washington was a slave owner, instead of glossing over the issue as was done previously. This makes him seem much more like a real person and less like a marble statue on a pedestal to marvel at. I think that makes him more of a role model and less of a legend.

We walked around the north side of the Upper Garden and we met our trench-coated guide, John Marshall (formerly of Pittsburgh), who now works at MVLA's Customer Relations. John told us that there really is a tunnel, a cornerstone and a vaulted room in the basement, just like in the movie! He then took us around to the river side of the mansion for a better view of the property. You can really tell that it is on a mount in comparison to most of the surrounding countryside. He explained to us that even though Mount Vernon is only in the film for five minutes, it took three weeks for the crew of hundreds to record what was needed for the film. Apparently, it was very chilly during the shoot and the extras had to constantly be reminded to remove their coats. The exteriors were filmed at night, with a lot of lighting equipment, prompting many calls to the authorities about suspicious activities ranging from space aliens to illegal activities.

After obtaining the key, John led us down into the cellar. We could see the rough-hewn beams and supports along with some curious copper flashing that we figured out was there to prevent termite infestation (I wish we had some of that copper in our own old house). He then pointed out the vaulted room that was re-created back in Hollywood, as well as the cornerstone that actually has George Washington's elder half-brother Lawrence's initials on it (LW instead of GW as in the film). Lawrence owned the estate until he died in 1754, when ownership passed to George. The MVLA had to install air conditioning in the mansion, because even though the doors remain open much of the time, the heat and moisture from the hundreds of thousands of yearly visitors would take an increasing toll on the structure and furnishings. The structure of the cellar would also suffer if they offered tours year-round or if a film crew worked here for weeks, so it was re-created on a sound stage.