Run of the Mill

Yesterday was such a beautiful day. Bright, sunny, not too cold. In fact, it was practically t-shirt weather. Knowing that there aren't too many more days like this before winter sets in, I wanted to go see something outdoors. We went to Colvin Run Mill in Great Falls, VA. This is a working 19th-century water-powered mill. It's amazing to me that the simple act of water turning a wheel can power all the operations involved in the running of a gristmill. We took the tour which included the mill and the miller's house. Also on site is a recreated barn and blacksmith shop. The miller wasn't grinding when we were there, but I did bring home a couple pounds of freshly ground whole wheat flour.

Happy Birthday, Marcus!

Woo-Hoo!

I didn't go to any Halloween activities last night. Instead I went to bed very early at 9:30pm. I had to get up at 5:30 this morning. Since I'm not a morning person you may be wondering what on earth is so important that I'm willing to get up at 5:30 on a Saturday morning. Well, you see this morning is when they were distributing the free tickets for the Lighting of the National Christmas Tree to be held on December 4th. First come, first served.

I had no idea how early I needed to get there, so we headed out at 5:45 and were there by 6:00. I was a little panicked when I saw a long line of tents and sleeping bags and realized that the line had started last night. I made my way to the end of the line and was given a number by a National Park Service employee. Relief. I'd get tickets.

Rich went for coffee and hot chocolate at a nearby Starbucks and we had a great time chatting with people in line. Even though they wouldn't start handing out tickets until 8:00, by 7:00 they were already turning people away. It was so incredibly organized. By handing out numbers they knew just at what point they'd run out of tickets, so there was no use having people stand in line only to be turned away.

They opened the ticket windows at 8:00 on the dot, we had our tickets by 8:15 and were on our way home. Even though we don't switch our clocks back until tonight, I think I'll use that extra hour right now. <yawn>

Another Trip to Mount Vernon

When we visited Mount Vernon on Labor Day Weekend we had wanted to go on the National Treasure Tour but it was sold out for the day. This tour takes you behind the scenes to areas that were used in the film National Treasure: Book of Secrets and tells how these locations were used during George Washington's time. The tours were only being offered through the end of October. A couple of weeks ago when I went to the Springfield quilt guild meeting a lady told me that driving down to Mount Vernon along the George Washington Parkway was a beautiful drive to make to see the fall foliage. So, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and take a drive down there.

The tour was a lot of fun. We got to go down into the basement, not normally open to the public, and see the vaults that George Washington added. It seems that whenever he added onto the house, he also added to the basement. No photography was allowed in the basement. We also walked along the waterfront past the area that visitors are normally allowed. That's a picture of Mount Vernon from the waterfront. Another interesting thing: this old fire engine housed in a "garage" built into the hillside. We learned that when Henry Ford visited the estate he was concerned that there wasn't much in the way of fire safety in place at that time. Being that most of the buildings are wood frame, a fire could be disastrous. He personally donated this 1934 Ford fire engine to the Mount Vernon Ladies Association. It has never been used. And, since it's not an original part of the estate, its restoration is not a priority.

Because of the popularity of the tour, they have extended it through the end of November. So, if you'd like to go you have one more month.