Frostbite and Mount Vernon

OK - I survived. Shorts turned out not to be the problem, or at least not one of the top three.

Biggest problem definitely my wafer-thin fingerless gloves. After about three minutes of cycling along, next to a river which had icy patches by the banks and into a headwind, I thought I was going to suffer severe frostbite. Later on it got better, but I suspect only once I lost all feeling in my hands. Alternately putting one hand in a pocket sort of helped. What was keeping me going was the hope that the Mount Vernon visitor centre shop might sell Mount Vernon gloves, but sadly not. At least on the way back, in the early afternoon, it was a fraction warmer. Problem 2 was my shoes, which seemed to provide no warmth or wind-resistance whatsoever. I only discovered quite how numb my toes were when I got off my bike and discovered I couldn't walk. Half an hour in the cafe and I was much better. And problem three, my top half, was sorted out for the way back by buying a "Mount Vernon hoodie". I think it's pretty cool and will wear it again, but that may be the effects of mild hypothermia.

A hot bath, banana smoothie and finding out Palace won for fifth time in six games (2-1 at home to ten-man Doncaster) has sorted me out. Now off to a Carribean theme party - I am planning to combine shorts, flip-flops (now I know my feet can cope with extreme cold) and, for want of a colourful shirt, my cricket jumper. Got to drive there and still feeling fragile from last night so will have a couple of rum-based concoctions max.

Mount Vernon turned out to be very interesting, a la Montpelier (see blog 1). George Washington was the fourth of seven generations of Washingtons to live there. (Marian - you'll be delighted to know that Washington's great-grandfather was born in Essex, and on wikipedia appears on the "people from Essex" page along with Trevor Brooking and Jamie Oliver). Interestingly the last Washington to own it, a great-nephew, became a Colonel in the Confederate Army. He sold it to the Mount Vernon Ladies Association in 1858 and they still run it.

Washington, like Madison and Jefferson, was his own architect and made the house substantially bigger. He liked the colour green - lots of the rooms are pained green. He had his main meal of the day at 3pm and anyone who was late didn't get fed. Unlike Madison (see blog 1) he was a big chap - 6ft2. Like Madison, he kept slaves (at both museums they emphasise how well Madison/Washington treated their slaves, which to me seems good but not exactly the point). He freed all of his slaves in his will.

They have very enthusiastic volunteers in each room giving you a little spiel and then answering questions. We also did a quick whizz round the dairy, stables, Washington family tomb etc, although here again the cold was a factor. When people asked why I was wearing shorts in sub-freezing temperatures I delighted in explaining that Brits don't feel the cold... There's lots about the history of it at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Vernon

The one downside was a truly terrible film. It gave a biased and inaccurate account of the Revolutionary War, with the "British" presented as evil villains and the "Americans" as valliant defiers of overwhelming odds. Rather than something more like a civil war between two groups of people, with "British" and "Americans" and native Americans on both sides. And from what I have read, once the colonists decided they didn't want to be ruled from Britain, independence was pretty much inevitable. The film made the point that thousands of well-trained British and Hessian troops massively outnumbered the rebels, but did neglected to mention that they were thousands of miles from Britain, could not be everywhere at once and also had to worry about the French. The person I visited with asked why I was bothered - I think because over a million people visit the place every year and for some of them this may be the only account of what happened they ever get to know. And the real story is more interesting.

What was good, though, was that the Museum acknowledged that as a soldier Washington did make some mistakes, which he admitted and learnt from. And he clearly went on to kick our butts. He also regualrly tops or comes near the top of rankings of the best US Presidents ever:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_United_States_Presidents

(this suggests there was a bit of a barren patch from Van Buren to McKinley, with the exception of Lincoln - I wonder why?......)