Mary Washington House — Attraction in Fredericksburg

Patriot Podcast (IG @snowsisland1780) here and I have some thoughts. I have been to many, many, many museums, historic sites, and homes across the country (and in Turkey as well) over the years and have never had such a strange and confusing experience. We were greeted by a lady who didn't seem to want to give much information or communication about how visiting the museum works. We had just come from the sister museum - the Rising Sun Tavern - where we paid admission but asked to explore at our own leisure rather than taking a tour. This was no issue. My conversation at this museum, however, went very strangely.

Me: We would like to just look around at our own leisure, we don't want to take a tour.

Staff: Okay. Well, it's $10 to see the house and it's free to see the gardens.

Me: Okay, we want to see the house, just don't want to do a tour.

Staff: (after I paid) Oh, well, you aren't allowed to look around the house unless you join a tour. You can join the tour right now.

I was annoyed that she clearly knew we didn't want to take a tour but chose not to tell us this until afterward, but just figured we'd do the tour if we weren't allowed to look around alone.)

Me: (hearing voices upstairs) Okay, is it upstairs?

Staff: Yes.

I then told my friend to go ahead upstairs because I'm too pregnant to go up and asked if I could sit in a nearby chair. Staff member agreed but looked annoyed. My friend went upstairs and came back down, confused. The tour wasn't going on upstairs. We asked staff member about it again and she tells me you aren't allowed to go upstairs (why didn't she stop my friend? Why did she tell us the tour was upstairs? Still very confused.) Finally she told us that the tour was gathering on the back porch and we could go out there. Maybe her hearing is not so good, I would understand that. But there should be upfront communication and clear outline of how the museum operates instead of vague non-answers. I was very clear upfront that I wanted to do as we had at Rising Sun. If that wasn't okay, she should have just said that instead of taking the money and then telling us we couldn't do that. She did offer to refund, but we wanted to see the house.

Having said that, the tour guide was excellent, full of in-depth information on the history of the house, and we enjoyed the tour. It seemed there were people of differing levels of knowledge regarding Mary Washington and the Washington family in general, and he managed to speak to everyone individually, which is rare for tour guides in my experience and made for an amazing tour. I also highly appreciated that he made mention of how some later historians painted Mary Washington in a harsh and someone negative light, I have actually spoken about this previously when I was still operating my tours in Yorktown. The house is beautifully preserved and it was such a joy to see it. Would love to visit again on my next visit...

MARY BALL WASHINGTON HOUSE - George Washington purchased this dwelling for his mother in 1772 for $275. Mary Washington lived the remaining 17 years of her life in this comfortable home, attending to her favorite hobby in the back yard, gardening. Within walking distance to Kenmore Mansion, home of Mary's daughter Betty Fielding Lewis, and her son Charles' place which he converted into the Rising Sun Tavern AFTER her death.

The President-to-be came to this home to receive his mother's blessing before attending his inauguration in 1789. This event is reenacted every Mother's Day. MY MOM ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT! "George is such a good boy," she repeated over and over as we walked away, quoting Mary Washington. (Mrs. Washington died in 1789, but lived past her son's inauguration.)

Personally, I can only trod the corridors of so many historic houses till I've had it and cry out, "ENOUGH! You see one, you've seen 'em all." I enjoyed these places most when a special event was taking place. I would put this house high on the list on Mothers's Day. On a grand scale, I liked the Lee Mansion at Arlington Cemetery more than Mt. Vernon or Stratford Hall farther south, birth place of Robert E. Lee.

About the last five years of my working career, give or take, my wife and I made it a point to take a day trip somewhere (DC, Maryland, or Virginia) virtually every Saturday. The whole area is jam packed with colonial and civil war history. Travel times and distances are...

We visited this site in 2006 but couldn't tour it because it was closed. This year, we wanted to stop and take the tour since we once again found ourselves in Fredericksburg, and the museum is a must see location if you are into the history of the nation.

Our docent/tour guide was quite knowledgeable about the Washington family and the situation behind the house. The main takeaway we had was that George wanted to buy this house for his elderly mother, so she could leave the not-so-profitable farm and live closer to his sister's property (Kenmore), which was within walking distance for Mary.

Mary spent the final years of her life in this house, which later saw additions from other residents. There are some fascinating artifacts inside, and the garden was fascinating to walk through as well.

There is only one negative—not really enough to even take away a star—but during our tour, the docent mentioned that there was an item in the gift shop that had the recipe for Mrs. Washington's gingerbread. We were unable to find that item, and now my wife is obsessed with trying to locate the original recipe. She has even sent an email requesting more information, but after a couple of weeks with no response... she is going to look elsewhere.

We are glad that we made it a point to take the tour this time.

There are several more photos and a video we are producing about this location. Just search for Our...