Even though only half of us were reenacting, we were ALL excited to venture down to Mt. Vernon once again, this time for its Colonial Market & Fair.
This is an annual event where dozens of vendors, performers and reenactors gather together on the grounds of Mt. Vernon to ply their wares and share their crafts and talents, colonial style.
There were weaving demonstrations . . .
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| Weaving linen |
and several potters and other artists doing ceramics demonstrations . . .
and wonderful musicians singing and playing period favorites . . .
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| The Ship's Company Chanteymen |
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| Common Stock Entertainments |
and woodworkers and furniture makers and all manner of other 18th century goods made by hand, such as soaps, glass, paintings, textiles and clothing.
The old General himself (the esteemed General George Washington), also held forth in a massive tent periodically throughout the day, engaging in discourse with the visitors to his lovely estate.
And of course there was a HUGE line at the bakery, which only took cash and had us fishing for spare change in my purse so that we could enjoy some of the goodies. Who knew something as simple as a slab of bread with a generous amount of well-aged sharp white cheese could be so delicious?
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| A familiar Colonial sampling the wares at Crown Point Bread Co. |
But visitors young and old came rushing over to the nearby military encampment when the drummers summoned the soldiers with the call to arms. Members of the rifle and musket companies and the dragoons of the First Virginia Regiment gave thrice daily demonstrations of their skill throughout the weekend, engaging the audience in various battle scenarios and skirmishes that might have taken place during the 18th century, bringing history to life for young and old.
It was a big weekend for our oldest boy (pictured below), as he turned 16 over the summer, which meant he actually got to load and FIRE the musket (versus just going through the motions and pretending to fire) . . . and he got to borrow a prized regimental coat to complete his "kit" for the event. He was in heaven, as is evident from the photos below.
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| Our own much-loved members of the 1st VA musket company |
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| It doesn't get much better than this! |
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| The encampment |
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| Oh my, who is this handsome fellow? (Lol!) |
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| Eligible young musketry men and their commanding officer |
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| Executing a right-wheel maneuver to get to the battlefield |
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| Demonstration by the 1st VA musket company |
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| A few of the dragoons |
Thanks for the wonderful time, Mr. Washington . . . can't think of many better things to do on a cool, pleasant fall day!
