Saturday, Day Eight: To Mt. Vernon and Beyond

Packed up, cleaned up, and wrapped up loose ends this morning. Moving time is upon us. Beautiful day for a drive! Sunny and 60, with some breeze. Gene and I took the wheelchair back, which required battling DC traffic (yes, even on Saturday mornings) to get to the Federal triangle area. The “Bike The Sites” kiosk is at the back of the Old Post Office, and the drop was easily managed. Then on to Reagan National Airport for the rental van. Another quick activity, and I was able to get back to the apartment in no time. Loaded up (thanks kids, for being ready. Special thanks to Mom, who managed the task with great grace) and bid adieu to Gene and Liz. On to Mount Vernon!

The pleasant drive through Alexandria took about 35 minutes. Mt. Vernon has some construction going (true to the DC area’s apparent mandate of “No stone unturned”), but we were able to get onto the ground with ease. Thankfully, free wheelchairs were available, and we snagged one.

We met Robert and Tamitha and their five children for this afternoon of strolling the grounds and seeing the sights. ‘Twas a good opportunity for two larger families to spend some time together today, and it was affirming for all to see the children get along so well and to share successful parenting approaches.

The younger children got along famously from the start (their oldest is 11). They ran and played and talked and became friends for life in the course of a few hours. Didn’t realize that this privately owned historical site closed at five, and so were disappointed at the feeling of “ruch or you’ll miss something.” Frustrating, since we still missed a lot of the offerings here. While nothing that knocked our socks off, the estate is very impressive.

Equally impressive was Zane’s level of exhaustion. He was absolutely emotionally out of control for a while. Needed desparately to nap, but that didn’t happen. I mitigated the damage as best I could, which took a bit of an emotional toll on me, and certainly hampered our chance at good adult conversation. Alas, this “two year-old meltdown” was expected, at some level, and I am somewhat surprised he has held out as well as he has to this point. There were other days I was sure he would fall apart, but he held up strikingly.

To celebrate a birthday (happy 11th, little darling!) we ate at Ruby Tuesdays, where the food was fine and the service was rather pathetic. Took a long time to feed us and get back on the road, and at 8 we finally headed south toward Richmond. Arrived in Williamsburg around 10:30 p.m. and by 11:30 all was dark and quiet. Actually, things were pretty quiet that last hour of driving! Dena and I enjoyed some good talk time while the children dozed off.

In the morning we’ll get our bearings and head to…well, I don’t know. I deal with logistics, Dena handles the educational component of this trip. I am certain she has – or soon will have – a plan for the day. She’s pretty good at that!