Spring at Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens

If you haven't been to George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens lately, spring is a wonderful time to visit. Since the addition of the new museum last year, you could easily spend a whole day exploring the exhibits, the home and the lovely grounds of America's first president. Mount Vernon begins its summer schedule on April 1 by welcoming visitors an hour earlier, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., making it one of the few early-opening attractions in the Washington, DC area. New this year - after years of research, archaeology, and reconstruction, Mount Vernon's blacksmith shop is back in business! Watch as a costumed blacksmith performs special demonstrations. Throughout the month of April, Mount Vernon offers free wagons rides to visitors.

Seasonal Walking Tours are free with admission. The Slave Life at Mount Vernon Tour highlights the lives and contributions of the African-Americans who built and operated the plantation home of George and Martha Washington. The Garden and Landscape Tour highlights George Washington's remarkable design for the gardens and grounds of his Estate.

Potomac River Sightseeing Cruises (Friday - Sunday only) offer an opportunity to explore Mount Vernon from a different view with a 40-minute narrated excursion aboard the Spirit of Mount Vernon.

George Washington's Distillery & Gristmill is open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and tells the story of whiskey at Mount Vernon and its history in America. Costumed distillers give demonstrations. Read more about the gristmill

_{Photo © Mount Vernon Ladies Association}

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Spring Family Fun in the Washington, DC Area
April Festivals and Events in the DC Area