East Coast Trip

Mount Vernon 
http://www.mountvernon.org/index.cfm?
http://www.mountvernon.org/learn/meet_george/index.cfm/

When George Washington lived here, Mount Vernon was an 8,000-acre plantation divided into five farms. Each farm was a complete unit, with its own overseers, work force of slaves, livestock, equipment, and buildings.

The farm where Washington and his family lived was called the "Mansion House Farm." This is the part of the plantation that visitors see today. Washington developed the  property's 500 acres to create a fitting setting for a country gentleman. He designed the grounds to include a deep border of woods, rolling meadows, serpentine walkways, a pleasure garden, a kitchen garden,and groves of trees. Between the Mansion and the shores of the Potomac River lay an extensive park

The Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center
http://www.mountvernon.org/visit/plan/index.cfm/sss/95/

The Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center and the Ford Orientation Center include 25 new theaters and galleries that tell the detailed story of George Washington's life. More than 500 original artifacts, eleven History Channel videos, and immersion theater experiences illuminate the remarkable story of the first American hero.

Mount Vernon Grist Mill
Grist Mill Information
YouTube Video of Grist Mill 

Have you ever seen and heard an 18th-century mill in operation? Mount Vernon's newest attraction -- a reconstruction of George Washington's Gristmill -- allows you to do just that. Located only three miles from the main Estate, the mill is up and running every day of the week from the beginning of April through the end of October.

George Washington first acquired a gristmill when he inherited Mount Vernon from the widow of his half-brother, Lawrence, in 1754. This first enterprise was a "custom mill," where wheat and corn were ground not for sale, but mainly for neighboring farmers and for consumption on the Estate.  

George Washington's Distillery
http://www.discus.org/heritage/washington.asp

In 1797 George Washington's farm manager, a Scot named James Anderson, convinced his employer that producing whiskey made from corn and rye grown on the plantation would be a natural complement to his milling business. Washington was initially skeptical, but soon granted permission to build the structure.

Washington erected the 2,250 square foot distillery -- making it among the largest whiskey distilleries in early America. In 1799, Washington produced 11,000 gallons of whiskey, worth the then-substantial sum of $7,500. Upon Washington's death in 1799, the complex was passed down to a relative who apparently was not equipped to run it, and he rented it to a local operator. The distillery ceased operating in 1814 when the building burned. Not until 2000 did Mount Vernon begin the excavation and restoration of the distillery with a grant from the distilled spirits industry.