MOUNT VERNON INN RESTAURANT

I am going to be sharing a few posts of our activities over the holidays.  We had a dear friend stay with us for the week.  She left yesterday and we missed her as soon as her car drove around the corner.  Our son and daughter-in-law came over on Christmas Day.  We had a lovely time together and I will be sharing those photos also in the next few days.

This post is of our dinner at the Mount Vernon Inn and Restaurant.  The photo of my friend is when we were waiting for Gregg to join us.  They have a very comfortable seat outside the restaurant's entrance.  The room where we usually wait was being used for a 50th wedding anniversary dinner.

It was after the 25th and these posts will not be in chronological order.  Our reservation was for five p.m.  We arrived half-an-hour early so that we could browse around the gift shop.  

I also took photos of the Christmas Tree in the large foyer.  Here's one with our friend standing next to it.  We had fun looking at all the ornaments.  Many were these dolls.

I remember seeing them in the stores 40 years ago when we were living in Newport, Rhode Island for a while.  The company was out of New Hampshire.  It was the first time I had seen this type of doll.  Not to be played with, more a holiday decoration than anything.  I have three carolers in a box I bought at that time.  They didn't make it out of the basement storage room this year, because they are tucked away in a corner I couldn't get to.  We have more downsizing to do in 2019.  Enough of that!   Here are a few from the tree at Mount Vernon.

They are dressed in colonial style.  The ones I have are Victorian (David Copperfield days).

I didn't get the whole animal in the photo below, but on the right you can just about make out the legs of a toy camel.  They are on sale in the gift shop, along with these decorative figures. 

In 1787 George Washington paid 18 shillings to bring a camel to Mount Vernon for the enjoyment of his guests. When we visited a few years ago during the holiday season, there was a real camel on the grounds, as there is this year.  According to their website you can visit Aladdin, who normally lives in Berryville, Virginia.  You can read about him here.  There are pewter camel ornaments for purchase in the gift shop.  There are also plush toys (those shown on the tree) and a children's book which tells the story of Washington's camel, and other animals at Mount Vernon.

There are also miniature replicas of Mount Vernon, and some were painted on glass ornaments.

And George Washington in clothes-pin form.

At five o'clock we went into the restaurant and had a very nice time together, and a nice meal.

We all ordered the peanut and chestnut soup (sorry, no photo except for the bowls you can see in front of us).  Our friend had the salmon dish, Gregg ordered the turkey pot pie, and I the shrimp and grits.  It doesn't look like it in the photo above, but the restaurant was very busy, as were the staff.  That's why I appreciated it very much when the young man I asked, stopped long enough to take our photo.  He was very gracious, polite and kind, giving us a genuine smile as he said that he was not very good at taking photos and hoped ours would be okay.  It was I assured him and thanked him as we looked at the photo.  

Here is a collage I put together of our meal.  We had asked for the cornbread but the lady who took our order wasn't sure it was still on the menu as it had changed recently.  We ended up with the Colonial Hoecake which was topped with country ham, sautéed crabmeat and hollandaise sauce.  It was very good but I hope we can get the plain cornbread next time.  You can take a look at the dinner menu if interested right here.  The other menus can be found on their website.  We also took home their famous bread pudding.  I never fail to order a piece, to be eaten later that day or the next.  It seems even better the day after.

On our way home we found ourselves next to a Mini Cooper.  I have a soft spot for these cars.  This was the first vehicle I ever owned, in my early 20s. I had saved up for several years.  It was the old style, with rusty spots here and there that contrasted beautifully with its grey color, yes it did.  I loved that old car.  I had my independence and didn't care what it looked like, though I gave it a lot of tender loving care. It was a Rolls Royce to me, four wheels to get me from A to B. When I met Gregg I had owned it for about a year, and on our very first date I picked him up at Torquay Harbor and drove him on a sight-seeing tour over Dartmoor.  The radiator had a leak and I had to carry a bottle of water.  He carefully filled the radiator regularly.  On subsequent dates he rented a car for us, which was probably wise as my old car went into the shop soon after.  Getting back to this fancy little number at the side of us, what I noticed was the Union Jack design on the rear lights, and no rusty spots in sight!  I have seen the Union Jack painted on the roof of these cars, but have never noticed the design in the lights before. 

That's it for our trip to the Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant, until the next time that is.  

Thanks for stopping by and on this, the first day of January 2019, Happy New Year!