Martha Washington was a babe

[ny biker]

This has been the most read article on washingtonpost.com for most of today:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/02/02/ST2009020201419.html?sid=ST2009020201419&s_pos=list

It seems General Washington's wife was not the frump history has made her out to be. And she was into shoes.

By the way, I highly recommend a visit to Mount Vernon for anyone who finds herself in the DC area. It's a very interesting place. I learn something new every time I visit. And I was there last month on MLK Day, which also happened to be the day before the Inauguration, when they had a record crowd of over 220,000 visitors. Yet the staff took it in stride, and everyone was unfailingly friendly and helpful despite the crowds.

It's also easily accessible by bike via the Mount Vernon trail, which runs along the Potomac River. There's a bike rack and I think I even saw a sign that said you could borrow a lock at the ticket office.

[SadieKate]

Wow, that's a pretty cool reverse portrait.

I'm reading The Women of the House: How a Colonial She-Merchant Built a Mansion, a Fortune, and a Dynasty which is fascinating in its description of the fabrics, the colors and the focus on displays of affluence from the founding of New York (not to mention hygiene and table manners). Even though she was down in Virgina, I'm sure much the same things applied.

Very interesting read:
http://www.amazon.com/Women-House-Colonial-She-Merchant-Mansion/dp/015101065X/ref=ed_oe_h

[maillotpois]

Great article!

[tulip]

That is really cool! When I was in college as an aspiring Art Historian, I had an internship for two summers at a house museum near Boston. It was in the early days of personal computers, and the museum had just gotten a big IBM with big floppy disks and a DOS program for inventorying things. My duties were to inventory the costume collection, or part of it. I did gloves, corsets, petticoats, some waistcoats, and hats. The clothes ranged from the late 1600s to the 19-teens, with most around the Civil War (1860s for those not in the US) to the 1890s. Lots of bustles! It was great fun!

[Zen]

The one and only time I visited Mt. Vernon I was in the fourth grade :o
I'd love to ride there.