My first adventure in Washington DC was in the fall of 1977 or 1978. My grandmother had never been to DC, and after my grandfather died I would drive her back and forth between the farm in Michigan and her winter home in Florida. They had bought a tiny house in a small town in Florida in about 1960 to get away from the winters in Michigan. She wanted to see places she had never been, and we went as far east as Washington DC, and as far west as St. Louis. It was great fun. She was a delightful traveling companion.
We went to Mt Vernon while we were in the DC area. Little did I know that I would someday live about half way between DC and Mt Vernon, on a hilltop surveys by the General, he had dinner with the Fairfax family a week before he died, just west of where my car is parked on this hilltop.
The house at Mt Vernon was about the same in the 1970's as it is today, the nearby outbuildings are the same, with the exception of a reconstruction of the blacksmith's workshop a few years ago. The entrance to Mt Vernon was simpler then, there is a newish visitors center and museum that was but a dream in the 70's. Archeology has changed the layout of the gardens, the nature of the plantings, and there is a much larger recognition of slavery at Mt Vernon, a shame filled shadow over the founding history of the United States.
I am glad I was here then, it brings me joy that I was able to help my grandmother see things she wanted to see, to tick a few items off the bucket list. I am glad I am here, now, and able to see the same places.
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