The walkways at Mount Vernon are unpaved, in fidelity to the conditions of George Washington's time. The dirt is a sandy mix reminiscent of a racetrack, with good enough drainage to be merely sloppy instead of pure muck. Pavement might have taken less effort.
We were too late to get the Presidents' Weekend breakfast of hoecakes with a Washington impersonator.
Washington's taste in decoration was gaudy and self-conscious, including a room with expensive verdigris-green paint and agricultural emblems carved in the woodwork and marble. Martha Washington, who was in charge of decorating their bedroom, had much simpler and better taste. After his death--you can see his bed, in which he expired--she abandoned the room and used a bedroom in the attic.
The slave quarters next to the greenhouse, which were the nicer slave quarters, didn't look so uncomfortable till one realized that two-thirds of the bunks were missing. Otherwise it would have been too dark and crowded to see into the room.
