Red and I spent our last day touring Mt. Vernon. Quite a bit of history is involved here. George Washington's great grandfather first owned this land on what is known as the upper Potomac. It was GW's older half brother who changes the name of this homesite to Mt. Vernon. And it was through this brother, named Lawrence, from whom GW acquires this estate. The grounds of this estate are quite expansive and magnificent, and it was all built by George Washington. Here is the view of the front of the mansion from what is known as the bowling green.
This is the rear view of the mansion.
There was so much to see, but other than a tour of the mansion, Red and I wanted to see the gardens most of all. Here are only a couple shots of some beauty in the gardens.I think this is a skipper sitting on a zinnia.
To me this was a most unusual plant. I had never seen one like this before, except it looked similar to a coleus. It is called Joseph's Coat.
And last, but certainly not least -- actually I can say I have saved the best for last.While touring the gardens I found this little caterpillar on one of the potted nursery plants. Any chance someone can ID the sound of the bird in the background?
Red and I took many more photos, but these are just the highlights. We had to catch a late afternoon flight out of BWI, so we had to allow ourselves enough time to leave Mt. Vernon to get to the airport at a reasonable time. We hated to see our vacation end so soon. Oh well.
8 comments:
Like that video! Mt. Vernon is stunning and beautiful.
Oh, I'm getting homesick.
We visited Mt Vernon not too long before we moved, and it had been changed significantly from what I remembered from school field trips. More authentic and thus to me more interesting that what we used to see.
I two love the video and all the amazing flowers at the mansion!
Hi Mary - yes, Mt Vernon was beautiful - and yes, I was hoping everyone would enjoy my little video.
Hi Wren - so glad you visited. I know what you mean about getting homesick - when I visit some familiar places back East I get a bit nostalgic. It's amazing how much there is to see and do in the mid-Atlantic states. And I'm impressed with the improvements at Mt Vernon - as always, it takes time and money for these organizations to make improvements for all of us to enjoy.
Mon@rch - I'm glad you enjoyed the video and the flower pix. Admittedly so, I find summers back East to be full of beautiful flowers and critters! But the humidity can be a killer! ;o)
Hi Mary,
Nice pictures of Mt. Vernon. A good way to end your trip.
I'm pretty positive that your background bird is a Common Yellowthroat. It sounds a little different from the ones here in Minnesota, but there are regional variations in the calls. Here's how the Stokes Field Guide to Warblers describes it: "Song is a repeated 3-part phrase, like 'wichety wichety wichety.'"
No help on the bird song, but lovely pictures! Thank you for sharing them along with a bit of history!
Thanks for sharing images from your vacation. I have never been to Mt. Vernon, but it looks like an interesting place. That caterpillar video clip is nice. Hairy little thing.
Hi Zhakee - well I sure didn't think you would visit way back here in the "archives!" Mount Vernon was one of our favorite places to visit, and I'm sure we would love to visit there again. I think I found out that the hairy caterpillar was going to be some kind of moth.
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