[Critter]

Actually he was supposed to have thrown the coin across the Rappahannock River. Confused yet, here is more than you ever wanted to know:

In Virginia, learn about George Washington at three of his residences


By Michael Schuman
FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, February 16, 2003


Call me George.
I'm standing on the site of Ferry Farm, George Washington's boyhood home on the banks of Virginia's Rappahannock River, near the same spot where legend has it the nation's first president flung a silver dollar across the rolling waters. I take a rock and throw. It lands, plunk, perhaps a third of the way across. Okay, so call me the middle reliever for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Did the "Father of Our Country" really throw a silver dollar across the fabled river? One can find the answer, sort of, at any of three of Washington's homes, all open to the public in Virginia. George Washington Birthplace National Monument sits near the region's other famed river, the Potomac, about 40 miles east of Fredericksburg in Westmoreland County. Ferry Farm, where young George came of age, is on the outskirts of Fredericksburg. And the home where he lived as an adult, Mount Vernon, is about 16 miles from his eponym and the nation's capital, Washington, D.C.

George Washington Birthplace National Monument

Welcome to baby George's world, where people use oranges spiked with cloves as deodorant, slaves sleep on a corn husk bed in a detached kitchen and the youngest child empties the family chamber pots every morning. This is life on the plantation of a gentleman tobacco farmer in 1732, when George Washington first saw day's light on Feb. 22. An extensive reproduced 18th-century plantation marks the site.

In the detached kitchen, ranger Jennifer Kays explains, "Baths were taken only five or six times a year to preserve natural oils thought at the time to protect people from illnesses." Hence, oranges and cloves instead of soap and water.

Inside the kitchen Jennifer demonstrated 18th-century, state-of-the-art appliances that a comfortable planter like George's father, Augustine Washington, would have owned. These include a roasting spit in the fireplace, a kick toaster operated by foot and a new invention called a waffle iron.

Dinners were heavy on venison, fish and a variety of breads. Such feasts added pounds, but that was the idea. Big bellies were the fashion and false pads to make stomachs appear large were as popular as diet drinks today. As a necessary antidote, tea of peppermint was served to settle indigestion. If meat had spoiled in the heat of the summer, one might have added basil or red peppers to cover up the stale flavor.

The eight-room main house here is not original. When built in 1930 and 1931, it was thought to replicate the home where Augustine and Mary Washington lived with their family. Research since then has indicated that the real main house was about half its size. It has also shown that the current house does not sit on the original home's foundation, which was 30 yards to the south and is marked by an oyster shell outline. The detached colonial kitchen does sit on the original's location, but is probably bigger than the one where the Washington family slaves would have fixed supper.

Other replica buildings include a weaving room and blacksmith workshop. In an introductory film one learns that in the days before Hershey Bars and Fruit Rollups, raisins were a special treat for kids. "Yecch," my seven year old spewed out. "I can't believe that was a treat."

George Washington's Ferry Farm

If George Washington did indeed throw a silver dollar across the Rappahannock and chop down his father's cherry tree, the deeds were accomplished here on the site of his boyhood home just across the river from historic Fredericksburg. The narratives telling those tales flowed from the prodigal pen of Parson Mason Weems at the turn of the 19th century. They are also the among the main reasons why this patch of real estate was saved in 1996 from being paved over and replaced by a (shudder!) Wal-Mart. It is now owned and operated by George Washington's Fredericksburg Foundation, which also owns and operates Historic Kenmore, the nearby plantation home of Washington's sister, Betty.

Washington lived here from ages 6 through 20, and no buildings from his time stand. The original Washington main house burned on Christmas Eve 1740 when George was eight. Augustine Washington's replacement home lasted into the early 1800s, but died a slow, crumbling death. The sole existing structure, a small, boxy, frame building with a brick chimney, was long regarded by locals as Washington's first surveyor's office. Research has since shown that it is built from materials dating to the 1890s and was probably a farmhand's house. Then again, the work done in the 1890s may have been a refurbishment of a much older building.

Archaeological digs are ongoing. Manager of Visitor Programs Paul Schuster says that more than 700 test units have been started and as a result the sites of three possible Washington family buildings have been discovered. In fact, one of several children's workshops taking place regularly is called "I Dig George" and introduces kids to the technology of archaeology.

So what is there to do here? A self-guided walking tour takes visitors past detailed historic markers, the remains of an early 20th-century ice house and the outline of Augustine Washington's first home here. A children's learning garden sits where a Wal-Mart parking lot would have been and of course, there is the Rappahannock, where one can try to emulate Washington's throw.

So did young George really chuck a buck across the water? And did he really chop down the cherry tree? The answers are yes, no, and maybe. According to Schuster, Spanish silver coins called "dollars" existed in George's day, but were too valuable to waste on a toss across the water. Stones, on the other hand, were as common as... well, stones; and Washington was a tall, muscular man.

And the toss can indeed be done. In 1936, Baseball Hall of Famer Walter "Big Train" Johnson threw a silver dollar from one bank to the next. In 1999, two pitchers from nearby Stafford County High School's baseball team managed the feat with stones. It is within the realm of possibility that Washington did the same with a rock as a young man.

"Where is Washington's cherry tree?" is one of the most asked questions to staff members. Answer: It is long gone since cherry trees don't live 250 years. However, three replacement trees are on the site. Anyway, Weems's story says only that Washington used his new ax to hack its bark, killing it, then admitted the truth to his father. Did it really happen here? It is, says Schuster, certainly within his character.

Mount Vernon

Contrary to a widely publicized factoid, it is the President, not the King, who rules in America. George Washington's Mount Vernon, not Elvis Presley's Graceland, is the second-most visited private home in the United States. (For the statistically minded, the White House draws about 1.25 million visitors a year, Mount Vernon receives roughly 1 million and Graceland hosts around 700,000.)

In spring and fall lines can be an hour to 90 minutes long as fans of George wait to stroll through the president's adult home. Guides are posted throughout the house to tell the story of 12 of its 16 total rooms, from Washington's beloved turquoise-green dining room downstairs to his bedchamber, which offered a respite of privacy in a very public home. It is also the room where he died on Dec. 14, 1799.

While it is hard to separate the icon from the human being, give it a try as you walk through the pillared mansion. For these are the actual rooms Washington walked, and about 50 percent of the furnishings are the ones he used. Try to picture Washington in the little parlor, also known as the music room, doting over his step-granddaughter, Nelly, as she played the English harpsichord. Imagine the future president and gentleman plantation owner at his desk in the study receiving reports from his overseers, or the proud general showing the oil landscapes depicting pastoral views of the Hudson and Potomac rivers on the dining rooms walls to honored guests, such as Marquis de Lafayette or cabinet members such as John Jay, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

Of course, the mansion is only one part of a Mount Vernon visit. One can easily spend a few hours walking the grounds, inspecting the detached kitchen, the slave quarters with straw beds and four separate gardens where everything from hyacinths to peonies and Maltese cross grow in spring. The gated tomb of George and Martha and a small museum are also here. Take a peek at the bust in the museum and rest assured that the likeness is as close to exact as could be in those days before photography.

Washington modeled for it live. As he lay down, his head and neck were covered in plaster; straws extended from his nose so he could breathe while the cast was taken. Not exactly the dignified image we have today a founding father, but a human one nonetheless.

Mount Vernon spokesperson Stephanie Brown warns that most visitors are surprised by the size and scope of the estate, and they should allow three hours for a sufficient stay here. Mornings tend to draw large tour groups, but the staff here still suggests an early arrival to ensure that visitors won't be pressed for time. Psst -- a different option for a quick entrance is to arrive around noon, when many visitors are out having lunch.

And about those legends. In a Mount Vernon handout called "Rare Facts: Curious Truths," the rock over the Rappahannock story is seen as plausible, while the cherry tree yarn gets a rousing thumbs down. So what is the reality? As with other tales of American institutions, such as the origin of baseball, wouldn't you rather believe the legend?