Mount Vernon

Location: 3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway; Mount Vernon, Virginia 22121
Phone: (703) 780-2000
Website: http://www.mountvernon.org/
Hours: April – October: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.; November – March: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Ticket Price: Adult (12 and older): $20, Ages 6-11: $12, and Children 5 and younger are free.
Note: if you buy discounted tickets online in advance, the prices are: Adult: $18 and 6-11: $11.
Homeschool discount? No
Visited: Friday, May 25, 2018 11:15 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Bags and containers larger than 16x16x8" are prohibited, and all bags are subject to inspection. No food or drinks can be carried in except water.

Mount Vernon was the home and estate owned by George Washington, the first president of the United States. He resided there with his wife, Martha, and her children from an earlier marriage, until his death in 1799.

We purchased our tickets online in advance, which I highly recommend. It saved us from having to wait in line – we simply walked through the door and someone scanned our tickets (and checked our bags, of course).

Visitors are able to tour the mansion, grounds, and outbuildings. We happened to visit on the Friday before Memorial Day, so it was busier than it would normally be on a weekday. We were still able to see most everything without feeling crowded.

We also opted for one of the “behind the scenes” tours, which costs extra ($4 per guest). The extra cost was well worth it, though!

We chose the “National Treasure” tour, which tells guests about the filming of “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” - the second movie in the “National Treasure” series.

We have never seen the sequel, but a few of the movie's scenes were set at Mount Vernon, and it was fun to hear about how different locations were used in the film.

It was also interesting to be able to go places not normally available to the public – like the basement and areas along the river. Photographs aren't allowed in the basement or in the mansion itself.

Other tours are available as well - one even includes a cruise of the Potomac River!

Every room held so many amazing treasures – we were awed by the fact that so many founders of our country had stood in the same spot as we were, but over 200 years ago.

After the tours, we took a break from the heat to explore the Museum and Education Center.

We thoroughly enjoyed the 4D movie about the American Revolution – I won't spoil it, but the weather effects were amazing!

No historical site would be complete without a visit to the gift shop, and Mount Vernon's was large and almost as interesting as the mansion and grounds! Be sure to visit it on your way out – your purchases help support the mission of preserving George Washington's legacy through the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association.

Yorktown Battlefield

Location: Yorktown Battlefield Visitor Center, 1000 Colonial Parkway, Yorktown, Virginia 23690

Phone: (757) 898-2410

Website: https://www.nps.gov/york/index.htm

Hours: All park grounds are closed at sunset. Yorktown Visitor Center: Opened daily 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.. Park is closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day.

Ticket Price: Adult (16 and older): $7; good for 7 days entrance to Yorktown Battlefield (and NPS areas at Historic Jamestowne); 15 and younger are free.

Homeschool discount? No

Visited: Friday, October 6, 2017 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.

*Note that the visitors' center was remodeled in January, 2018, after our visit, so this information may now be inaccurate.

The British Army surrendered at The Battle of Yorktown, the last great battle of the American Revolutionary War. The British Army, led by General Charles Cornwallis, found itself surrounded by French and American troops at Yorktown. They were outnumbered and were bombarded by the American forces for eleven days. Finally, Cornwallis surrendered to General George Washington on October 19, 1781 by signing a document called the Articles of Capitulation.

After the surrender of the British troops, about 8,000 in all, the British began to think that they were going to lose the war. They started to believe that it wasn't worth the cost of the war to stay in America. This eventually led to the Treaty of Paris, which officially ended the war.

We visited the battlefield on an unusually warm October afternoon. We started at the visitor's center, where we paid the entrance fee and picked up a park map and Junior Ranger book.

It was almost time for the introductory film to start, so we headed to the theater to watch it.

After the film, we toured the exhibits in the Visitor's Center.

A portion of a large ship had been built near the entrance.

Visitors are able to walk through it, then walk up a few stairs within the boat to the “Children's Exhibit”. The upstairs area had several dioramas, but not much else.

We headed back downstairs, where another large exhibit was of a tent.

The Visitor's Center also had a smaller gift shop with offerings related to Colonial times as well as Virginia's history.

We then got into the car for the driving tour of the battlefield. We had a difficult time following the road signs and the map, so we didn't tour many of the sites. We did visit a couple of stops on the battlefield.

We hopped back into the car and headed to the town of Yorktown. At the bottom of the hill, you'll find a parking lot, park, and sandy beach, all on the shore of the York River.

Since it was a warm day, we went for a stroll on the beach and even dipped our toes into the water.

We were pressed for time, so we weren't able to visit the buildings in the historic town. We hope to return some day to finish the tour there.

Overall, the Visitor's Center was quite dated and not all that interesting. The auto tour of the battlefield was difficult to follow, and the sites that we visited were overgrown and boring. Maybe our criticism is unfair due to the fact that we'd recently visited the Museum of American Revolution, which was brand new and high-tech. But if you're pressed for time and can only visit one, we'd definitely recommend the other museum.