LUNCH AT MOUNT VERNON INN AND RESTAURANT - 8-20-24

We had a very nice lunch out the other day. As a special treat and because I had been cooped up for a while because of my sprained knee, and was feeling a bit housebound, Gregg asked me where would I like to go? I suggested Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant. We had not been there for a long time. You can see another visit on this page. I see many familiar names in the comment section there, so you may remember that particular post. Hopefully it has been long enough that you will enjoy it again. 

The windows on the left of the picture are on one side of the gift shop area. On the right is the entrance to the tavern where you can see the table and chairs outside. You can access the restaurant from the gift shop also. The main entrance is on the left out of frame.

The view from our table window.  We reserved a table in the side room as I like looking out the window. The yellow roof is a bus waiting to pick up passengers.

This gentleman came by and played his flute for us. He asked if anyone had a birthday but we came at a quiet time and no one put their hand up. He was excellent and it was like stepping back in time with the tune he played, which I didn't recognize only that it sounded very colonial. I would love to see him perform around the estate.

I found an excellent article telling us all about him at this link. He has quite an interesting history and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

We had a very nice meal.

Gregg ordered a steak salad which was grilled marinated flank steak served on a bed of arugula with cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, goat cheese crumbles, fried onions straws and chimichurri dressing.

I had the pan-fried trout, which was house seasoned topped with lemon-caper butter and underneath, hard to see, was succotash. I don't remember being a fan of succotash, but this was very tasty and enjoyable. It was very rich - I usually go for the grilled trout - but delicious. 

Fortunately, I was able to share some with Gregg.

We also had a peanut soup to start off with but forgot to take a photo. I have tried to replicate it at home but haven't come up with a better recipe than this one. They also have the best bread pudding. Gregg is not a fan but I took a portion home and had it for tea. We certainly didn't need to have a meal after this.

These flowers were out front and while waiting for Gregg to park the car I took a few photos. The yellow ones are called Cucumber Leaf Sunflower. The purple ones are Mealy Cup Sage.

There was another bush with flowers outside our restaurant window. I didn't identify it but we saw a few skippers and bees, and I am 99 percent certain I saw a hummingbird moth briefly as it flittered out of sight a few seconds later. No photos of these unfortunately. My cell phone would not have been able to get close enough. These pretty leaved bushes lined the whole front of the entrance area. 

~ Coleus ~

Unfortunately, my sprained knee is still giving me problems, so I wasn't able to look around the gift shop this time. I bit off a little more than I could chew this day, but I was eager to get out. Next time I think it will just be a car ride, at least until my next doctor appointment. Hopefully by then it will be much better. I have a lot of things I need to do but am still effectively hobbled. Still, I am certainly not moaning as I know there are those out there who are a lot worse off, and my heart goes out to what you've gone through and are going through.

Thanks for looking everyone and I hope your day is great.

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!

MOUNT VERNON INN RESTAURANT

Last week on a very rainy day, we decided to pop over to the Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant for lunch.  I also wanted to look around the gift shop.  A little early for Christmas shopping yes, but I picked up a couple of gifts anyway.  There were so many pretty things in there and I loved browsing around.  It is a great shop, two shops actually across the hall from each other.  

We took Cousin Bill there a few weeks ago, looked around George Washington's home first and then went for a bite to eat at the restaurant.  (If you missed that post you can click on the red lettering at the beginning of this paragraph.  Scroll down and you will see us having a meal in the restaurant.)  

As it poured down outside and felt more like a fall day than summer, Gregg said this would be a good day to go and have a bowl of their peanut and chesnut soup, a good old colonial specialty and one that the restaurant always offers.  

The only thing I took photos of our meal was their homemade skillet cornbread, which comes with a delicious piping of vanilla bean honey butter on the top.  I also enjoyed a mug of coffee.

I forgot to take photos of that soup and the rest of our meal, which was a French dip sandwich which Gregg and I shared.   Another specialty they have is bread pudding.  Whenever we go anywhere we hardly ever seem to feel like a dessert afterwards.  This time, however, curiosity got the better of me. I had heard good things about their bread pudding and decided to take a piece home.  It was very welcome that evening, as delicous as I had heard.  I found their recipe on line and if you like bread pudding, you can look here.  Next time we have friends over it will be on the menu.

There is a very nice room next to the dining area, where you can wait for a table if needed.  Fortunately we didn't have to. There was no one to disturb so I had fun taking photos.

I tried different angles but unfortunately I couldn't get a photo of George without reflections of the lights in the room.

They cast a warm glow that was very nice.

On the way to Mount Vernon we passed George Washington's Grist Mill and I noticed this lovely big barn nearby.  I asked Gregg if he would mind pulling into the parking lot so that I could take yet more photos.  I didn't get out as it was still raining, and took these from the front passenger window.

The barn is located in 

George Washington's Grist Mill Park.  

It is a dairy barn and you can read about it here.  I read the following, and more, at this link.

"Though the dairy barn at Grist Mill Park was built in the 1920's by Minnesota Sentator Clapp, the land is part of the Union Farm owned by George Washington.  The farm was part of an original land grant in 1657 and passed through a few members of the Washington family, until George Washington acquired it in 1784.  The farm passed through multiple owners after George Washington's relatives sold it, and eventually 78 undeveloped acres were acquired by the Fairfax County Park Authority in 1978."

Hopefully we will be able to get to the Grist Mill next time.