historical house

On our trip to DC, we went to Mt Vernon, George Washington's house, garden and estate. The property is huge and contains several farming areas. Washington used innovative farming techniques for the time. The property had been in his family and the house was added to over time to become quite a grand mansion with many outer buildings for staff and slaves as well as farm buildings for animals and storage. The extensive gardens are beautiful and contain areas for flowers and more exotic plants and another for seasonal fruit and vegetables. The large front lawn gives a wonderful view of the house and the back porch overlooks the Potomac.

The tree pictured is supposedly (according to our tour guide) the largest Pecan tree in the USA.

I enjoyed walking around the estate (despite the heat and humidity) and learning about American history and finally hearing how to pronounce "Potomac" as I'd only ever read the name in books and never heard it out loud. (It's amusing to my husband when I say it wrong! But to be fair, I'm still new to America.)