Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon from the Potomac River

George and Martha Washington's tomb

Location, location, location. Whoever chose to situate Mount Vernon atop the hill overlooking the Potomac River sure knew what they were doing. The house is clearly visible from the river, but it’s not until you actually visit that you get the full effect. We anchored across the river and dinghied over to the wharf and met the very congenial wharfmaster, Bill. We intended to spend maybe an hour or two, and ended up spending most of the day. There’s a lot to see: the house and outhouses, the gardens and orchards, the farm plot and animals, not to mention the informative visitor center and the museum. It turns out that George Washington was also much more than just the leader of the Continental Army and our first president (as if that wasn’t enough). He was a farmer at heart who devised an innovative schedule of crop rotation and soil amendment to maintain and improve soil quality.  More than half of his 8,000 acres was native woodland, which he also managed with an eye toward conservation.  He developed a sixteen-sided barn with two stories – grains were strewn on the floor of the outer ring of the upper story, and horses were trotted over them. The freed grain heads fell through the narrow spaces between the boards onto the wooden floor of the first story. This enabled the process to be conducted indoors, and the grain to be kept clean on the floor instead of in the dirt. I thought that was pretty ingenious. He was an amateur architect, designing two additions to the main house. Several heritage breeds of animals are kept and bred at Mount Vernon, including Hog Island sheep, Milking Devon cattle, Shire horses, and Ossabaw Island hogs. George and Martha are both entombed here. What I found particularly fascinating was that George Washington was originally a British soldier (because all colonists were British citizens) who rose quickly in the ranks due to his skill as a commander, but quit the army because he was denied a senior promotion. Consequently, a number of years later he was available to lead the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. If the Brits hadn’t been so disdainful of the colonists, and promoted Washington, would we still be British? Mount Vernon is well worth the trip by land or by sea (I know, I know, that’s Paul Revere’s line, but it is Revolutionary War related).

Beautiful heritage-breed cattle

This is where horses would trot around in the 16-sided barn, knocking the heads off the grains

Fruit trees expaliered across the garden wall

A 3-seat necessary (outhouse)

Sandwich Glass Museum

Some glass wares made in Sandwich

Sandwich, a town on the northwest side of Cape Cod, used to be a big producer of glass. The factory is no longer there, but the museum makes for a fascinating afternoon. The great thing about visiting in the off-season is that we had the place nearly to ourselves. The best part of the visit was the demonstration. A glassmaker does a demonstration every hour, and since we were the only ones there, we got a private show. Very informal, of course, with J (I feel bad that I don’t remember the young man’s name, but Chris and I both agree that it began with a J) telling us all about glass blowing and answering all our questions. He worked with the glass the entire time we talked, scooping molten glass from the furnace, blowing and twirling it to form a vase and a plate, coloring it, etc. A couple of women came in, looked, and kept going. What’s with that?! Why just look at finished glass piece when you can watch an artist actually make it? Anyway, we took up lots of J’s time, and we all enjoyed ourselves. What I especially loved was when he colored the glass plate he was making, melting bright glass pieces and swirling it onto the colorless glass of the piece itself. Unfortunately, it has to bake/cool overnight, so we didn’t see the finished piece. We did, however, go through the exhibits of glassmaking over the years, from all glass-blown to molded glass. Good thing this isn’t a seismically active area, because a lot of history would be lost if an earthquake destroyed all these displays.

The furnace they use for glass-blowing demonstrations

Shaping the molten glass

Spinning out a plate

The War of 1812

 In Maryland, much of the War of 1812 was fought on the water. As part of the ongoing festivities commemorating the war-time history, Solomons hosted several tall ships. We saw two of them: Dove and Kalmar Nykel. Both very cool.

Dove docked by the Drum Point Lighthouse at Calvert Marine Museum

Dove sailor

Watch dog: only his outboard eye is open

Man-powered capstan

English Harbour, Antigua

Chris entering the spiked gates of Nelson's Dockyard

Of course, now Chris wants a figurehead on Mr Mac

When we previously visited Antigua, we were on the northern end of the island. This time, we specifically checked in at English Harbour, on the south coast, so we could visit Nelson’s Dockyard. We were already in the mood, having just listened to the 14^th book in the Patrick O’Brian nautical fiction series about the British navy during the Napoleonic War era. (The books are terrific, but the audiobooks narrated by Patrick Tull are even better!) I also just finished reading a biography of Nelson who, despite his naval achievements, seemed to have been a bit of a dick when it came to being unfaithful to his wife and flaunting his relationship with his mistress. Although the name was only adopted in the 1950s, Nelson did actually serve here from 1784-1787. Anyway, they’ve beautifully restored many of the buildings. Customs, immigration, and the port authority occupy one long, low building. Others house shops, a small grocery and coffee shop, and restaurants. The Admiral’s Inn, along with its restaurant and pretty grounds, is tucked behind brick walls, overlooking the harbor. Along with a newer wooden dock, a stone wharf edges the little peninsula on which the dockyard sits, with mega- and not-so-mega-but-still-beautiful yachts docked stern-to. There’s also a museum chock full of historical info. It was nice to walk around and picture how it must have looked when square-rigged warships were anchored in the harbor.

Seating outside the building where you clear in

Formerly the kitchen, currently a bakery

Pretty restored building turned restaurant

Oh, just think of the money wrapped up in these megayachts!