What to bring?
Stroller?
Mostly (details in post)
Bathrooms
Admission Building
Behind Mount Vernon Home
Museum & Education Center
Mt. Vernon was a great outing about 45 minutes out of DC in Alexandria, VA. Alexandria is such a cute and historic small town and in a COVID free world, I would’ve loved to have taken a stroll down King Street & then taken the ferry over to Mount Vernon for our visit. Instead, the ferry was closed & we had a little girl that wasn’t feeling great, so we kept our visit that day limited to just Mount Vernon. I suggest checking out the ferry from Alexandria when it reopens though!
When going through security to enter the Mount Vernon Estate, keep in mind that large bags, food, & drinks are not allowed. We brought our backpack diaper bag, which had bottles, sippy cups, & snacks, so I wouldn’t stress the rules too much. Just don't plan on bringing a whole picnic lunch!
Also, on the way through the Ford Orientation Center, I’d recommend picking up this scavenger hunt that is suited for ages 3-7! It’s a fun way to keep your little ones engaged throughout the visit.
Similar to my suggestion for Biltmore, I would recommend beginning the day with the house tour while your little ones are still energized. The tour inside is only 10 minutes and strollers are allowed as long as they are small. If not, they can be left at the entrance. Once you finish the house and the surrounding outbuildings, I suggest taking a break on the grassy hill behind the house to take in the view over the Potomac River. The hill was perfect for rolling down, which was great entertainment watching our three year old trying to copy the big kids who gained much more speed rolling down the hill than her slow motion single roll. Our crawler got to stretch out and watch his dad and sister play a quick game of tag as well!
Since food wasn’t allowed, we opted to eat lunch at the food court. I won’t lie, I wasn’t too impressed with the overpriced cafeteria food. Also, once you enter the food court, you are exiting the estate and have to go through security once again to re-enter. Since all of Mount Vernon can be done in 2-3 hours, my suggestion would be doing the entire visit either in the morning or afternoon to avoid lunchtime altogether. You can always stop in Alexandria at either a quick eat at Haute Dogs or a waterfront family friendly patio meal at Blackwall Hitch!
After lunch, we reentered the estate and visited the remaining areas—Washington‘s tomb, gardens, farm, and the wharf. Throughout these areas, there are historians dressed up in Washington-era clothing, demonstrating skills that were practiced on the estate such as cooking from a clay oven, weaving, and blacksmith metal working. The kids enjoyed seeing them in action while we enjoyed hearing all the knowledge they shared.
Once you make your way through the farm and slave cabins, there are three options on getting back to the entrance. One is retracing your steps back, the shuttle which was closed due to COVID, and the Forest Trail. For us, the Forest Trail seemed like the obvious choice since it was shaded and winded through a fun pathway through the woods. The downside was that my husband had to carry the stroller up steps and through root covered paths. I think it was worth it though to take the shortcut, even though I’d definitely recommend the shuttle if it is up and running.
We then had one last glance at the house as we exited the estate and made our way back into DC for the evening.
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