Happy Birthday Mr. Presidents!
Feb 19th is party time for George and Abe
You still have time to get to either Virginia and Kentucky where the 1st and 16th Presidents' birthdays are celebrated, but YOU get the presents - FREE!
George Washington a surveyor, fought in two wars, helped create the Constitution and became our first President! But all in all - George was just a homeboy!
He adored his life at his Virginia plantation Mount Vernon, and while he always answered his country's call to duty he often chaffed at the request. Research shows old George was also a party animal! He entertained lavishly. So bad teeth aside Mr. Washington was the kind of guy you wanted to hang with.
Mount Vernon continues to preserve his, and wife Martha’s spirits in both traditional ways and with the latest technology.
Two new museums have recently opened, and are mostly underground as not to detract from the bucolic beauty. The Ford Orientation Center banishes the myths and introduces the real man. In the Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center interactive exhibits further enhance the tour. Among the highlights: three life-sized statues depicting Washington at 19, at 45 and finally as an elder statesman.
February 17 – 19th marks three days of celebrating Washington’s 275th birthday. Come on Monday, February 19and YOU receive a great gift – free admission!
At least a half- day is needed to properly tour the grounds, gardens and mansion.
Smell the boxwood? George had it planted. Want to feel like Washington? Rock away, in a back porch rocking chair, while gazing over the Potomac River. Want to really feel like Washington? Go and see the hogs, sheep, oxen and other resident livestock. Remember he always considered himself a farmer first.
Allow at least a half-day to properly tour the grounds, gardens and mansion. You won’t be sorry!
77 years after Washington’s birth, in the wilds of Kentucky, another baby was born.
Abraham Lincoln’s birthday is being celebrated with something free too! But get going - now.
Come to the state capitol building in Frankfort on Monday, Feb 12th at 1:00PM and be treated to free hors d’oeuvres and cake. You can also gather information about the big statewide celebrations being planned for 2009 – Abe’s 200th!
Right where Mr. Lincoln’s life began near Hodgenville you will find his birthplace and boyhood homes preserved and operated by the National Parks Service. At the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site see a symbolic log cabin and the spring that supplied the Lincolns with fresh water. Hike the wooded landscape he first saw, and what other national park lets you play with Lincoln logs?
Three miles away from the birthplace a private facility, the Lincoln Museum, features dioramas and memorabilia on Hodgenville’s most famous hometown hero.
So don’t be late. The parties are about to begin!
For more information:
VIRGINIA
Mount Vernon
KENTUCKY
Lincoln Birthday Celebration @ Kentucky’s State Capitol
(502) 564-1792, ext. 4414
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site (National Park Service)
The Lincoln Museum
Are you a US teacher wanting to increase your knowledge of Lincoln?
Hurray!! The National Park Service has a Lincoln bicentennial workshop June 26-28, 2007.
Workshop Theme: The challenges of frontier Kentucky life shaped the fundamental character Abraham Lincoln needed to lead the nation successfully through the trials of the Civil War.
For more details - visit the website of the National Parks Service website (listed above)
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