A Local Lad’s Roots

We managed to fit in a few leisure activities around the wedding. The first was a visit to George Washington’s birthplace, located a few miles from Colonial Beach. This was his parents’ tobacco plantation on a picturesque inlet off the Potomac river called Popes Creek.

It was of course worked by slaves as the year of his birth was 1732, over 100 years before the Civil War and the abolition of slavery. River access was important because the tobacco was exported by ship to Europe packed in barrels such as these.

The next photo is of the reconstructed house where George came into the world. It was built in 1931 by the Wakefield National Memorial Association- the estate was originally called Wakefield.

The house is suitably furnished from that era, but only a very few items have any direct association with George or his family. This room is an example.

This is where we start to run into difficulty. The contents of the house isn’t connected with the Washingtons, also the guide told us that, actually, the reconstructed house is much grander than the original would have been. Again, it wasn’t  built in the right place. “But”, the guide said, “it’s really to represent the value we place on Washington’s birthplace. What he was worth to the nation.” In any event, the Washingtons moved when George was three so he would have retained little memory of any past of the property.

We had an enjoyable walk on wooded and shoreline tracks through the estate. I wasn’t quick enough with the camera to catch the eastern rat snake that crossed our path, but did snap this amazing fungus about a foot across. Despite the historical manipulation, it was a most pleasant place to visit.