Fredericksburg - Day 2

We tried to see as many attractions listed on our package tour as we could. We started off the morning at the Hugh Mercer Apothecary on Charles Street. I don't have many pictures to share because we weren't permitted to take pictures inside most of the historical buildings. The only exception was the Kenmore home, which you will see further down in this post.

(A Side Note - Have you ever come across a picture that a previous generation in your family took, and you have no idea what the picture is of? As the historian in our family, it happened to me as I sorted through pictures as I was creating scrapbooks for my grandparents on both sides of my family. It made me really sad to gaze into the faces of people whom I could not give a name to because no one knew who they were, and see pictures of places I could not identify. I don't want that to happen in our family, which is why I take the time to journal about details that many might think are irrelevant. I have thought many times that I would remember the details of an event, only to go back several years later and not be able to recall them. This blog serves as the preliminary sketch for the scrapbooks I put together. I am really excited that my kids are showing interest in wanting to add to the family blog!)

From the Preservation Virginia website - "This eighteenth-century building was restored to house the Hugh Mercer Apothecary. Dr. Mercer served the citizens of Fredericksburg with medicines and treatments of the time. Leeches, lancets, snakeroot, and crab claws made up just some of the remedies. Dr. Mercer practiced medicine for fifteen years in Fredericksburg. His patients included Mary Washington. Dr. Mercer left his practice to join the Revolutionary army and died as a Brigadier General at the Battle of Princeton."

The docents at the Apothecary were dressed in period costume and spoke as if we were visiting Dr. Mercer's office back in his time, which made for a very entertaining presentation. Most fascinating to the kids were bowls of live, large, medicinal leeches, which attempted to escape several times while we were there. The docents seemed to think of them as their pets! Some interesting facts we walked away with -- they can live up to a period of 7 years, and only eat blood. Ewwwwwww . . . . . .

Our next stop was the Rising Sun Tavern. The building was built around 1760 and served as a tavern, or hotel, for the Gentry of the society. The docent giving us our tour did a fabulous job portraying colonial life. We left the building thankful that God in His providence chose us to be citizens of earth in the 20th/21st century! (i.e. baths once a year, strangers sleeping in the same bed with as many as four other strangers, guests sharing the same plates, cups and utensils . . . .) As the docent said, "Remember, germs weren't "invented" yet!"



Our next stop was at the Mary Washington House, mother of George Washington. After looking through the pictures I took, I guess I didn't take any pictures of the outside, and we weren't allowed to photograph the inside. The photo above that I got from the Preservation Virginia website will have to suffice.

From the Preservation Virginia webiste - "In 1772, George Washington purchased a house from Michael Robinson in Fredericksburg, Virginia for his mother. Mary Ball Washington spent her last seventeen years in this comfortable home. The white frame house sits on the corner of Charles and Lewis Streets and was in walking distance to Kenmore, home of Mary's daughter Betty Fielding Lewis.

The President-to-be came to this home to receive his mother's blessing before attending his inauguration in 1789."

One note of interest we that found amusing was that Mary Washington was a loyalist to the King!

The next historical home we visited was Kenmore, home to Mary Washington's daughter, George Washington's sister, Betty Fielding Lewis. Kenmore was built in 1775 by Fielding Lewis and his wife, Betty, Washington's sister. This Georgian-style house contains some of the most elaborate decorative plasterwork to survive from Colonial times.

We couldn't believe that they let us take flash pictures inside, but were glad they did! The plasterwork throughout the house was magnificent- I had to promise Tom I wouldn't try to replicate it in our next house . . . . (I LOVE ornate designs!)

The ceiling in one of the rooms

Another view

A fine photo taken by Andrew at the Kenmore house.


We thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful day walking through the town of Fredericksburg. After several days of rain, we were thankful for blue skies and temps in the 70's. We finished this wonderful day with some yummy pizza and calzones at Castigliano's.