| Poem for Sunday |
[Apr. 2nd, 2006|12:15 am] |
( Urban Renewal XIII )
We had a really lovely afternoon, after older son worked in my mother's Hebrew school class as an aide (they were doing their model seder, he ate well) and younger son had his first spring soccer game, which unfortunately his team lost, leading to a bit of grumpiness. We went to Gunston Hall Plantation, where they had an American Revolutionary War skirmish reenactment going on (it continues tomorrow, for anyone within driving distance of Mason Neck, Virginia). 225 years ago in the spring of 1781, a British fleet with two 24-gun ships, two 18-gun ships and six transports sailed up the Potomac River looking to raid plantations and storehouses. Near Alexandria on April 1st, the British raided in two ships, one of which was named the Surprise. *g* They intended to plunder Mount Vernon, Gunston Hall and Henry Lee II's estate at Leesylvania, but instead their schooner was captured and men taken prisoner.
I don't know much about George Mason beyond his role in drafting the Virginia Declaration of Rights and his objections to the Constitution as originally ratified, which led to the passing of the Bill of Rights to amend the Constitution. (I don't even know how the university that bears his name came to be named after him, since it's not a very old university). So the estate tour was fascinating...he was a phenomenally successful businessman, with interests in tobacco, shipping and various land ventures. He was involved in Virginia politics for much of his life and in American Colonial politics from the 1760s, and his estate is nearly as stunning as Mount Vernon...a longer walk to the Potomac River, but formal gardens and woods behind the mansion that make up for the more distant access. (It's always bizarre seeing the slave quarters of the fathers of our civil liberties.) Mason and George Washington could have visited each other regularly, they lived a few miles along the river from one another...I wonder if they did. Reenactment photos today, mansion and grounds photos later...
( The Shot Heard Round the Potomac )
We stopped at the mall at Tyson's Corner on the way home because they have an L.L. Bean store and we wanted to look at some camping-related stuff, and I ended up getting one of their awesome shoulder bags that I have coveted for awhile, as I can fit all my stuff inside without hurting my back. For dinner we got pizza for the kids and watched George Mason University's basketball team regrettably end its long and lovely run to the Final Four. I suppose that is the price we pay for having watched George Mason's Revolutionary allies defeat the British raiding party earlier. *G* And then Duke spoiler LSU lost! So now I am rooting for UCLA to win but I really just don't care very much. My new favorite thing, by the way: Sabra's Supremely Spicy Hummus. And on that note, I had better go to sleep because we want to get to the cherry blossoms in the morning before several million other people arrive, and we lose an hour overnight! |
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