It took just two days to make the drive from Palm CIty, FL to our destination in Lorton, VA. We spent a night just north of Jacksonville FL and another in Dillon, SC (yes, that where Pedro entices visitors with his numerous signs, but we didn't stay on South of the Border property).
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Jacksonville, FL skyline
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| Traffic in DC area at 2 p.m. on Wednesday |
We set up in Pohick Bay Park, a Northern Virginia Regional Park in Lorton, VA.
The Park is a heavily wooded area that lies along the Potomac River and abuts Gunston Hall, the home of George Mason, penner of Virginia's Declaration of Rights.
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| Beautiful Magnolia lined entry road |
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| Front of Gunston Hall |
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| Rear of Gunston Hall |
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| View of Potomac River from rear of Gunston Hall |
Mason was a planter by profession who owned more than 5,500 acres that produced tobacco and wheat. Like most gentry of the day, his land sustained his household staff and his family. A man who cared deeply about humanity, Mason provided for several nieces and nephews in addition to his own children (sometimes there were as many as 15 children at Gunston Hall).
Photography is not permitted in the main house where many of Mason's personal pieces are displayed; the beautiful wood carvings throughout the main floor were designed by an indentured servant. All the domestic outbuildings have been reconstructed.
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| Laundry Building |
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Kitchen Building
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School House
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| Tutor's bedroom on upper level of School Building |
This beautiful historic compound is now owned by the Commonwealth of Virginia with support from the National society of the Colonial Dames of America.
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