Colonial Days Information

Getting to Colonial Days

What to Wear

• Wear a jacket and good walking shoes. Colonial Days is outdoors, no matter the weather!

Bus Instructions

• Unload in the drop-off lane of the George Washington Parkway Circle (in front of the main gates).
• After unloading, please park along 235S (George Washington Memorial Parkway), across from the post office.
• When leaving, please board the buses where the buses are parked. Do not pick up anyone on the George Washington Parkway Circle.

Arrival

• Please send your group's primary representative to the main ticket window inside the entrance gate. 
  • The representative will collect tickets, Colonial Days Maps, and chaperone stickers. 
  • The representative may also pay any outstanding balance.
• If your group is bringing lunches, please find a Mount Vernon staff member and ask for storage access.
• You will enter through the main gates to the Ford Orientation Center.
  • All bags will be checked. Discourage students from bringing bags to speed up this process!
  • Bottled water is permitted. All other food and beverages are prohibited.
• From the Ford Orientation Center, walk to the 12-Acre Field (this will take 5-10 minutes).
• To help participation, please divide students up into smaller groups, each led by one (or more) chaperone(s).
  • One adult chaperone is required for every ten students.
     

Exploring Colonial Days

Here are some of the places we suggest you explore during your Colonial Days visit:

The 12-Acre Field

• This is where most activities and demonstrations will take place. 
• Demonstrations in the 12-Acre Field will last until 12pm.
• We encourage you to start here!

Additional Areas to Visit:

• Wreath-Laying Ceremony (at Washington’s Tomb, between 9am-12pm)
• Interpretive Center
• Blacksmith’s Shop
• The Farm
• It's important to note that the Education Center will be closed this year.

If you don't know where to go, look for this symbol: 

What's Going On at Colonial Days?

• Here are a list of the activities going on at Mount Vernon during Colonial Days:
  • Wool Carding: Take turns combing the tangles out of wool, one of the first steps needed to make wool into winter clothing.
  • Textiles: Watch demonstrations of spinning and weaving to see how enslaved and hired craftsmen and craftswomen made clothing at Mount Vernon.
  • Foodways: See demonstrations of 18^th-century cooking techniques and do hands-on activities to learn about the food of the past.
  • Archaeology Activity: View replicas of artefacts found at Mount Vernon and discover what archaeology can tell us about the lives of enslaved people.
  • Interactive History: Try activities that teach about the crops and other products made at Mount Vernon to eat and to sell.
  • Veterinary Medicine: Learn about historical remedies that enslaved people and overseers used to care for the many important animals on the plantation.
  • Livestock Demonstrations: (Location varies.) Meet heritage breed animals similar to the ones that would have been raised at Mount Vernon during Washington’s lifetime.
  • Music of the Revolution: Practice marching and drumming, while finding out about the music played by soldiers during the Revolutionary War.
  • Meet Someone from Washington’s World: Hear about daily life at Mount Vernon from characters who actually knew George Washington.
  • See 18^th century blacksmithing demonstrations: Speak with a real blacksmith and observe them making items needed at Mount Vernon today.
  • Carnation-laying Ceremonies: Pay your respects at George Washington’s tomb with a special flower-laying ceremony led by Mount Vernon staff.

Things to Keep in Mind:

• Rude or unwelcome behavior towards other guests or any other persons is not permitted
• Please do not:
  • Touch the objects on display
  • Pet, tease, or feed any animals
  • Pick plants
• Make sure there is a chaperone with every ten students. Students without chaperones will not be admitted to the Museum or Mansion.

Colonial Days Mansion Tours

You have been assigned a specific time to enter the Mansion Line.

• Please get in line at your assigned time, not early.
• It should take 5-10 minutes to walk from the 12-Acre Field to the Mansion Line.
• The Mansion Line is on the right side of the Mansion.
• Be prepared for up to a twenty-minute wait to enter the Mansion.
• Feel free to return to Colonial Days after the tour if you have time!

If you have questions about your assigned time, please contact the Reservations Office (groups@mountvernon.org).

Lunch at Colonial Days

You have three lunch options: you may pre-purchase food, purchase food the day-of, or bring your own food.

If You Pre-purchased Food:

• Have students line up in the lobby outside of the Food Court until lunches are ready
• Lunches can be collected in the Food Court, at the Red Devon Grill.
• Lunches include chicken tenders, french fries, Jell-O, and a 12oz. Fountain drink
   

If You Are Purchasing Food Day-Of:

• The “Executive Orders” food truck is at the 12-Acre Field (weather permitting)
• The Food Court also provides a variety of lunch options
   

If You Are BYOL (Bringing Your Own Lunch):

• You may store your lunches near bus unloading at the Parkway Circle 
  • Please ask a Mount Vernon staff member for access to the storage space before entering.
• BYOL Locations:
  • Every location for BYOL is first-come, first-served.
  • There is a picnic area with seats outside the Group Ticketing Window (next to the entry gates).
• Please refrain from using the table and chairs in the Food Court: these are reserved for those purchasing food onsite.

Preparing Content

It’s important to understand the history of Mount Vernon. We suggest you explain (to students and/or chaperones) :

• That George Washington was the first president of the United States and lived at Mount Vernon. 
• That the demonstrations at Colonial Days were primarily done through the enslaved population at Mount Vernon.

We also suggest you point out specific topics, themes, and/or facts you have been studying in your classrooms. Some specific themes that Colonial Days highlights are as follows:

• Compare and contrast
• Community
• Biography
• Technology
• Economy