Today I drove over to visit George Washington’s Birthplace. The National Park Service site made for a very nice visit. There were a few people around, but not too many. I walked around the grounds and certainly understand why it was selected as a home site.

There was an interesting house there but, as the park Ranger pointed out, it was not the actual house, nor was it on the actual site. It seems that years ago people took it upon themselves to rebuild our first president’s birthplace (the original burned in 1779). When the well-intentioned folk decided to rebuild the house they built what they thought was befitting a President. The house was built where a marker had been placed indicating it was the birthplace.

Once the site became a national park, the archaeologists started their investigation and found the site of the original house. It was very close (about 50 feet) from where the rebuilt house was. Of course no one knows what the original looked like above ground but the archaeologists did find that it had been built in three stages.

I did enjoy getting out and walking around. There was a workshop, complete with a forge, which my grandfather would have loved. It was quiet and cool and I found my self standing inside the workshop thinking about the time I had spent with my grandfather in is workshop. He loved tools, he loved to collect tools, and I have no doubt that had he had a forge, he would have loved making tools.