F airfax County’s proximity to Washington, DC — and its associations with our founding fathers — make it an essential destination for anyone interested in American history on any level. While Fairfax is vast, new and bustling, its rich history can still be felt throughout the county. In order to see it, you just need to break it into pieces and see Fairfax County as it was — a series of towns, farms and estates, all connected by old coach paths. Today, those old plank roads are new modern highways, but the places and events remain. Every day at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, hundreds walk by Washington’s Tomb and peek in. Twice a day, a few lucky visitors get a much closer look. As “official” ceremonies go, this one’s quite simple. A Mount Vernon staffer unhitches the chain. Everyone stands motionless. The crowd then says the Pledge of Allegiance, including, I notice, a French-speaking couple. Two volunteers then silently place a wreath inside. Another reads Washington’s prayer for his country, which asks “to do justice, to love mercy.” I get a bit choked up, not so much because of the actual ceremony itself, but because of the response of the visitors, who so clearly show their respect by readily offering to read prayers in front of complete strangers. It is old-fashioned, un-ironic and un-jaded patriotism, and I encounter it so rarely that it moves me. I get a bit choked up ... This is old-fashioned, un-ironic and un-jaded patriotism, and I encounter it so rarely that it moves me. Claude Moore Colonial Farm At the house, I find more of this patriotism. Waiting in line to go into the main house, I am standing behind a young man who speaks with an Arabic accent. He is telling his parents stories of George Washington coming home to Mount Vernon, rather than being appointed a sort of king, which some at that time wanted. The young man is lecturing his parents like a professor. Like so many Americans, Mount Vernon is now his place, too. Mount Vernon No American history place is more > TO SEE HISTORY & HERITAGE listings, please turn to page 47. Fairfax County Visitors Guide 19
Fairfax County Official Visitors Guide 2017: Page 19
