Posted on 03/17/2008 4:40:45 PM PDT by Coleus
Getting there: Route 95 south to Washington, D.C., cross the Potomac River on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, move to the far right lane. After crossing the bridge, take the exit for Route 1 north, marked Alexandria. Once on Route 1, make the first right turn, onto Franklin Street. Turn right again at Washington Street, which is marked for Mount Vernon. Washington Street becomes the George Washington Parkway as you leave Alexandria, and Mount Vernon is 8 miles south, at the large traffic circle at the end of the parkway.
Info: 703-780-2000 or mountvernon.org.
Hours: Basement is open weekends from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Feb. 10. (The basement is also open during the twice-yearly wine festival, but that tour is less extensive.)
Admission: $13, ages 6-11 $6, 5 and younger free. Includes a tour of the mansion and movies and displays at the visitors and education centers.
History buffs have another reason to head to Mount Vernon in the next few weekends: The cellar where Nicolas Cage kidnaps the president in "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" is open for the curious to inspect.
The decision to open the basement to public tours was made when Mount Vernon staffers saw the movie. "When we saw what a pivotal scene it was, we knew the public would want to know about the secret tunnel," said Emily Coleman Dibella, Mount Vernon's director of public affairs. "For those of us who love history so much, it's great to see it up on the big screen in such an exciting way." The decision was a popular one, with visitor numbers up nearly 300 percent over a typical second weekend in January, Dibella said. If interest remains high, the basement might be opened to the public again. For now it will be open through Feb. 10.
Alas, don't expect to find any cornerstone-triggered secret doors revealing labyrinthine tunnels. The guides assure visitors that the network of secret passageways in the movie is fictitious. The cellar originally was used as a dining area for slaves and for storing food and alcohol. Ice, hauled in from the Potomac River, also was stored in the cellar.
Despite the mixing of fact and fiction in the movie, visitors on the first weekend the basement was open were thrilled with their good fortune. Patricia Huie, her husband, John, and their five children were visiting from Alabama and hadn't realized that the basement wasn't normally part of the tour. "It's really exciting," she said.
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Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. |
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