It's me - still playing catch up on all things Christmas and holidays and celebrations - and today I'm sharing about my favorite person's birthday! Ryan's birthday is December 26th, so as soon as we close out one celebration on Christmas Day - we roll on to another one the next day - celebrating my best friend! We didn't have a huge celebration this year ... but the gift I gave him was pretty great!
He had told me for weeks and weeks that he wanted a Prime Rib for his birthday. I have never cooked a prime rib in my life, but I (with the assistance of my Mom) found a recipe for the crock pot, let Ryan pick out his prime rib and then on Thursday the 26th - I seasoned it up and put it in the crock pot. And then I prayed that it would turn out delicious!
It must have been good because everyone ate plenty - my parents, sister & her boyfriend came over to help celebrate Ryan - and Ryan went on and on about how good it was, and promised he wasn't just saying it to make me feel good. We had ice cream cake and he received a new London Fog jacket, a gift card to 5.11 Tactical and from me - a weekend in Fredericksburg where he'll be playing X-Golf with some of his best friends! Also important to note - my parents gave Spook and Maverick hoodies for Christmas... we couldn't even get Spook to put his on, but we did get Maverick into his - and he wasn't 100% thrilled, but man did he look cute.
Friday the 27th, I joined my parents, sister and her BF for a trip into DC and to Mount Vernon. It was a chilly day, but nothing too bad and so we parked in downtown DC and made our way first to the Archives since James (the BF) has never been. Thankfully the line moved very quickly and soon we were in the building and able to see the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence!
After checking out the Archives, we made a quick jaunt across the National Mall to the National Botanical Gardens to see the trains and the Christmas decorations; this year was not really so different from last year, so I didn't take too many pictures. However - I did snap pictures of the Dwight Eisenhower Memorial on the way back to the car, since I'd never seen it before!
After a short car ride from the center of the city, we arrived at Mount Vernon around lunchtime - which was good because we needed to eat something before our tour at 1:00! We grabbed a quick meal at the food court and then wound our way through the Christmas trees and the displays and the visitors center to make our way to the house for the tour at 1:00! We made our time perfectly and we were ushered in within moments of our arrival.
The house itself is currently undergoing renovations - so if you're planning a visit - know you'll see very little of the interior of the house anytime before 2026! We were aware of this ahead of the visit (and I've been more than once before) but we still got to see a newly opened dining room/entertaining room that I thought was pretty fascinating! I have to say - even with the main house closed for renovations, I feel like there is so much to see at Mount Vernon between the other buildings, the grounds, the Visitor's Center and more - it's a great spot!
It also must be noted that George had the best views of the Potomac off his back porch! Talk about having a view - it must have been lovely to sit on the porch on a warm summer evening, with hopefully cooler air coming off the river! It's definitely a view that's to die for - and it's protected forever since it's such a historical location! So nice!
We perused the grounds to see the animals, the barn, the buildings used to hang meat and cold storage - I was the only member of the party that made my way all the way down to the river front and the landing area. The views were really lovely and I'm glad I took the time to pop down and check it out! It's one area of Mount Vernon that I've never taken the time to see, so it was nice to finally give it a peek and see what it was all about.
And yes - Mount Vernon had the Christmas camel still in residence; just like George used to at Christmas time! The camel was named Aladdin and he wasn't 100% sure about being to sociable or posing for pictures, ha-ha!
We headed back to my parent's house around 3:30 and just relaxed for a bit until Ryan got off work and was able to join us for dinner at Regions 117! The whole place was still decorated so nicely for Christmas and the food is always divine! We had a special seat over in the midst of the artwork and it made for a less loud dining experience - which was really nice!
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