Wow, what a day. We had some really great, wild, Virginia weather today. It was raining but super hot. It was like living in a steam shower. I really liked it. I love saunas, so that was a great feeling all day. Today, was the first day in Virginia where I was on my own. My girls dropped me off at Mount Vernon (we only missed one turn!) and took off to do their daily stuff. They went to Costco, Caribou coffee, the Library, and had a blast. My day started at the office where I checked in, made a remark towards my boss that I'm catching him on hours at Mount Vernon (he has 12585 hours) I have 10. He got a kick out of that. Then I was on my own. I first went to the Mansion again, and did the tour again. Due to the fact that there are different tour guides in different parts of the house, the tours are slightly different, which I love. It was a great tour again. Then I spent around an hour talking with the Docents and just picking their brain. These people are brilliant George Washington Scholars, and are so incredibly eager to share their knowledge. In the video, you will see two of them. I then spent the rest of the day wandering The Donald E. Reynolds Education Center and the Museum. I didn't even make it through all of it. Yes, I read everything, but Mount Vernon has done an incredible job. I wish all my students could be here. They would eat it up. I watched six different movies about George Washington. On his faith, his love for Martha, the American Revolution, his life, etc. I'm actually buying one of the movies so the history teachers at WCI can show it to the students. In one theater, the seats moved when the cannon fired, red lights lit up, and when Valley Forge shows on the screen, snow starts falling in the theater. Wow. Two funny things happened today. During one of the movies, a class of 8th graders came in.. They were super cool. They made me miss my students. Second, Mount Vernon just purchased George Washington's personal copy of the Constitution (he has made notes to himself in it) for 9.8 million dollars. Needless to say, the security around that exhibit is tight. I was talking with one of the security guys, who I'm sure was carrying some type of weapon. I asked him what he did before he did this job... He said, "I worked for the Government." That was code for stopping asking.:) Later on as I was looking at the exhibit. A man came in and was confused what the big deal was. He didn't see the glass enclosure with the 9.8 million dollar book in it, and he just rested right on it. The security guy moved towards the arm on the case guy and in a loud voice said, "SIR, REMOVE YOUR ARM FROM THE CASE!!!!!" Man it was tense. The guy pulled back and apologized profusely. The Security guy handled it well.
After a full day, I was picked up by my girls and we headed to Old Town Alexandria, a place George Washington frequently visited. We spent about two hours there, and had blast walking up and down the brick sidewalks. You can see a few pictures from this side venture. Old Town Alexandria is like a 1700's Broadway Plaza, with shops and restaurants everywhere. I bought a pair of Khaki Pants for my Mount Vernon uniform as I work a special event on Saturday night at the Mansion!!! My wife got a red purse and My daughter was content playing hide and go seek throughout the city. Another great day.
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