Discover the Real George Washington - Ronald Reagan Presidential Museum and Library

As far as presidential museums are concerned, this one is my favorite, especially after the recent renovations. But that’s a Tumblr trip for another time. This adventure was all about the visiting the temporary exhibit - Discover the Real George Washington: New Views from Mount Vernon.

As you enter the first room there’s a short video explaining that the 3 wax models you are about to see of our first president were made from studying his life mask and measurements from his clothes. No big deal, right? Well, the mask was made in his later years and there’s actually a 17 year old GW, so they had to do some backwards time turning. They even made a model of his horse, Blueskin! The room also houses an interactive screen that you can consult to see all the things that have Washington’s name: schools, counties, streets, etc. I guess in some strange way he is somewhat of an OG professional tagger.

There’s guns and muskets, spy talk, a tiny model diorama showing a bloody battle at Fort Necessity. You can see Washington surveying the land in his younger years, his marriage to Martha is touched upon as is the sad history of slavery in our nation. Want to see the distillery that he made whiskey in. It’s here! There’s also a section titled America Mourns: Mementos and Memorials that I really liked, but I came for the teeth…

The teeth! I was most excited about seeing his chomping stones and that really was my favorite part of the visit. In fact, there was a whole room dedicated to his dental health. Did you know that he only had one tooth when he became president? When he had more than that, he’d actually wire and string other teeth to them in a sort of DIY denture fashion. None of his teeth were ever wooden and my one complaint is that it’s never touched upon. They didn’t talk about the cherry tree either. They should add a section that addresses all the myths that cling to Washington.

It was definitely a learning day & we walked out just as excited as we had walked in, but with a better understanding of our first president. I’m still astonished that he was 6’2! If you’ve never been out to the museum, do yourself a favor and go, but try to visit before May 18, 2012 to see this exhibit too. And if you’ve been before, try to visit before May 18, because this exhibit is that awesome.