Cape Henlopen State Park, DE
"It was a cold and drur day" (this quote credited to the Polly and Nancy tape-recorded "radio show" circa 1955) when we woke this morning. It had rained last night and our campground was shrouded in fog. As we continued our drive on Skyline Drive, Ned spotted a bear alongside the road. I took some pics, but the bear was only showing me his backside.
We eventually made it to George and Martha Washington's Home, Mt. Vernon. It took us awhile to find it. (Yes, there is a difference between Mt. Vernon Avenue and Mt. Vernon Parkway, oh google maps you perfectionist you.) We spent a good 3.5 hours exploring Mt. Vernon and we could have spent several hours more. The biggest challenge was re-submersion into civilization. After driving for 3 days on a pristine parkway with nary a stoplight or services, it was a bit harsh to be bombarded with fast foods, street lights and commuter traffic. Once we were on the grounds of Mt. Vernon every school child within a 100 mile radius had descended upon this place for their end of school field trip. Yikes. I forgot how noisy and rambunctious large packs of children can be.
Nonetheless, Mt. Vernon was truly remarkable. The grounds, the house, the outbuildings were fantastic, we got a kick out of seeing the "Riding Chair" carriage and the 3 hole Necessary house, but the education center and museum were really spectacular. Things I learned: George Washington pretty much started the French-Indian War single handedly - oops; his dentures were not made of wood but of hippopotamus and purchased slave teeth - he had 9 pairs; he owned 8000 acres of land and had the largest distillery in the country; he had 300 slaves and freed them upon his death; and even tho he was obsessive about good oral hygiene his teeth fell out by the age of 22 due to a mercury medicinal compound given to him in his youth.
The educational center also had several theaters and we managed to take in 3 or 4 small films. I loved learning about the strategy of GW's battles with the British during the Revolutionary War. It gave me such a deeper respect for his military brilliance. One theatre was a multi-media experience and as it told the story of GW crossing the Delaware River on Christmas Eve, a fog machine filled the theatre, fake snow fell from the ceiling and our seats shook when cannons went off. Pretty cool. We were sorry to have left, but we were approaching rush hour and needed to get the hell outta Mt. Vernon.
It took us several hours (much longer than anticipated) to get out of Washington, D.C., cross thru Maryland and reach the shores of Delaware. (Hey George, we'll be crossing Delaware Bay tomorrow and thinking of you!) Tonight we are having crab cakes at the Surfing Crab. Dang, just when I was getting used to the Southern drawl and everyone talking kinda slow, it took me a minute to adjust to our fast talking waiter with his Eastern clipped accent. Goodbye land of BBQ, hello world of seafood.
