Chaletmomma

Recently I visited Washington, D.C. with my sister for a family celebration. We managed to sneak in a bit of time to tour the National Gallery of Art and Mount Vernon.

We only had an hour at the National Gallery of Art. We chose to visit the West Building. We quickly made our way through an incredible collection of Furniture to the Impressionists, then we viewed the Leonardo da Vinci, Ginevra de' Benci and finished with the Dutch Masters. Both the art and the buildings architecture were equally enjoyable.

Sunday we headed out of DC to Mount Vernon.

I hadn’t been to Mount Vernon since I was quite little maybe 5 years old. I was super excited!

When we purchased our tickets we picked the timed option for the Mansion Tour. I would suggest allowing at minimum 20 mins at the Ford Orientation Center prior to your tour time to get acclimated, look around and make sure staff reviews your ticket. We paid for Guidebooks we didn’t receive. Then we made the 10 min walk to the Mansion entrance line. We didn’t understand we would not be reentering this building. After your tour you are led to the Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center - which you should allow time to visit. Our schedule was getting tight once we were done touring the grounds and we quickly made our way to the Food Court and Shops before heading home.

We were on property for 3 hours but, easily could have been for 4 or more.

A Brief History

1674: The property was granted to George Washington's great-grandfather, John Washington, by King Charles II of England. John Washington and his friend Nicholas Spencer were awarded a 5,000-acre land consisting of the peninsula in the Potomac River, bordered by Dogue Run and Little Hunting Creek. The land would be divided equally between Washington and Spencer, but the entirety of the land would one day become Mount Vernon.

1698: Tenants living at what was then Little Hunting Creek Plantation.

1726: George’s father Augustine Washington acquires the property from his sister.

1734: Augustine Washington resides at Hunting Creek Plantation with his second wife Mary and children including George. The home is a story and a 1/2 in height with 4 rooms of equal size off of a central hall. This is still the center-most part of Mount Vernon.

1754: George leases Mount Vernon from his half-brother Lawrence’s widow. The structure was continually modified and added to until 1787.

Mount Vernon website has amazing images and a virtual tour.

The New room is currently closed to visitors for preservation work. The Mount Vernon Ladies Association has been maintaining the Mount Vernon Estate since they acquired it from the Washington family in 1858.

**The New room is closed. this image is from their website.**

Green paint was very expensive and was made with copper. This let guests know you are very wealthy. Notice the woodwork is painted as well.

We were told the fact that George and Martha always had visitors and had not eaten dinner by themselves for 20yrs.

We learned the meal schedule at Mount Vernon: Breakfast at 7am, Formal Dinner at 3pm and Tea at 6:30pm and often times tea was taken in the bedroom. This is why we see dining chairs in the sleeping chambers.

**Garret Bedchamber on the 3rd Floor Where Martha moved after George’s death**

So many blooms; the Irises, Peonies and Snapdragons were beautiful.

The Shops at Mount Vernon had a variety of wonderful treasures.

Both my sister and I came home from the weekend with a post card of the van Gogh painting Green Wheat Fields, Auvers and a copy of the Guide Book. The snafu of our buying them twice has been rectified. This little book packs a ton of details and I highly recommend. You can also purchase on-line.

If you have a trip planned to the area I highly recommend visiting both. Til next time friends be well and I’ll see you over on the Gram!

When my sister came across this booklet from the spring 1980 Museum of Modern Art exhibition Pablo Picasso: A Retrospective I knew I had to share.

I attended with my sister and brother in law. I was a teenager and they were gracious to include me. Every monumental museum experience I’ve enjoyed in my life has included my wonderful sister. How blessed am I - I owe her so very much. So many amazing experiences!

When I searched the Internet asking what the largest Picasso Exhibition is/was - the answer was this MoMA event. Below is the first page of the event press release.

Look at the floor plans from a simpler time.

**Books on Picasso available through the Museum**

**Close Up Details for the Exhibition companion book**

I hope this trip down memory lane has sparked something for you. I love museums dearly. Not only for the beauty and inspiration but for my deep love of history. I’m lucky to have a few not far from the Chalet including; the Grover Cleveland Birthplace, Montclair Art Museum, Morris Museum, The Newark Museum of Art and the Thomas Edison National Historic Park which I’ve visited.

I’ve also visited these institutions in and around NYC: American Museum of Natural History, Ellis Island, The Frick Collection, Guggenheim, Intrepid Museum, The Met Cloisters, Neue Galerie New York, The Museum of Modern Art - or better known now as MoMA and The Metropolitan Museum of Art which I’ve been so lucky to visit too many times to count. As I’ve said before - it’s my second favorite place on earth after the Chalet.

Spring means the start of museum trips and I’m hoping to visit a few new ones this year: Merchant’s House Museum, Museum of the City of New York, New York Historical Society, New York Transit Museum (with my son too), The Morgan Library and Museum and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Of course I need to visit The Metropolitan Museum of Art too! So many places so little time! hahaha!

For a list of Museums in and around NYC click here. Til next time friends be well - find a museum near you to enjoy and I’ll see you over on Instagram.