On Sunday we woke up with below freezing temperatures and swirling snow, with a good inch already accumulated on the ground. But we had plans, and were not going to have them thwarted. Every year on New Year's Day and Superbowl Day I love to go down to DC, or other places, where attractions are usually busy, because on these days they are empty. I've been to some great museums that would usually take all day to explore due to the crowds, but on these days, I've often had only a small number of fellow visitors.
Today, Elliott and I were going to the O Street Mansion in DC. First, Elliott cooked up a full English breakfast, which would power us all day long. English bangers, bacon, black pudding, with eggs on toast and fried potatoes. And of course, for me, a huge mug of tea. After our blow out, which incredibly, and unfortunately, I couldn't finish, we staggered to the car, noting that the snow had conveniently stopped and we drove on near empty roads with the temperature at 28F and the countryside looking like a Christmas card. Every branch and blade of grass was covered, but the roads were clear.
We got down to DC in no time, thanks to the lack of traffic, and found a free parking spot a 5 minute walk from the mansion. I'd paid my first visit here 8 years ago, with a group of British friends at Christmas. We'd had fun back then and I remembered the freedom of spending all afternoon trying to find the secret doors. Today, we didn't have so much freedom. The tour was only for 2 hours and we couldn't walk around, drink in hand, like we used to be able to. But I did notice that some themes in the rooms had changed and many new items had been added. Most of these are donated to the museum, by the public and celebrities, and nearly everything on show is for sale. It's overwhelming when you first enter the building, a sensory overload, there's so much 'stuff' that you find yourself envying owls and their ability to swivel their heads around without blinking. Every wall, surface, nook and cranny is filled with 'things'.
The lights hanging over the pool table were impressive. I wouldn't have minded playing a game but each time we passed through here, people were already using the table. I couldn't find any secret doors here either but I did try out the barber chairs, which were very comfortable. I'd like one of those in the kitchen.
This was my favorite room. A photo of Princess Diana on the window ledge may have influenced me, but I adored that huge chandelier of glass garlands complimenting the curves of the draped curtains. I loved the muted greens with orange details and the soft lighting. The snow falling outside emphasized just how cozily comfortable it would be laying on that sofa with a good book. It was tempting to shut the door and keep everyone else out, since one of the rules is a closed door mustn't be opened, as a guest may have rented the suite.
A new 'Chucky' room had been added to the museum, and I was impressed with this one. It was actually better than most haunted houses I've been in. The narrow corridor with netting and red lights illuminating grimaces and demonic grins was very well done. I'd completely forgotten about the 'clap your hands' routine we'd been forewarned of, so as I leaned in to a particularly scary faced group Elliott chose his moment well, with the group suddenly coming to life, creaking joints and deathly groans inches from my face. So, yes, I screamed. Well played, Elliott, well played.
There were plenty of opportunities to take selfies throughout the house, and we could have taken a lot more if we'd thought about it, but with so much to see, moments for photos were often missed. I did like the wings though, and was glad I found them behind an open door. There were huge mirrors everywhere, and some of these were doors, like the one above that we posed in front of. There were also more people than I'd thought would be here on a Superbowl day, but it wasn't a problem. We often found ourselves alone in rooms, and everyone was wearing a mask. I kept peeking out of windows when I got a chance, each time seeing that the snow was still falling.
The mansion has been named The Coolest Place in DC, Top 5 Historic Venues to Explore, and Top 7 Hotels in DC. They've certainly upped their game since I was last here, with themed tours and events, all with pretty high price tags. We chose the Secret Door Tour because it was the cheapest, and had worried that we'd be ushered out after the 2 hours were up, but no one came looking for us, and in all honesty, we were pretty much exhausted afterwards. We'd spent about 2.5 hours inside. There are 4 floors, which we explored as thoroughly as we could, but I knew we'd missed some rooms, and I didn't find anything that I had to have. The only thing that I quite liked was the wooden head in the photo above. Couldn't really see that it was supposed to be Shakespeare, even though it was in the collection, it looked more like a wizard to me. But it was cool, but not cool enough that I had to have it, and not at $70. Now if I could have dragged out that huge chandelier in the 'Diana' room, I would have snagged that. I could likely have carried it over my head and shoulders to the car, but had no idea where it would go in the Blue House. It would have been nice under the front porch, it's glass pendants tinkling along with the other chimes, but there's really no ceilings high enough to accommodate it. Shame.
We left the mansion and drove back to FroRo, which was still looking like a winter wonderland. Elliott chose a small country lane where we stopped to take photos at a creek, and then drove up another narrow lane that would its way up a mountain.
At the very top we stopped to admire the spectacular views. No one else had been up here, our tire tracks were the first, and the only footsteps in the fresh snow were from a passing deer. The views were amazing and the silence was deep. No car engines or people's voices, no bird calls or even breezes knocking snow to the ground. It was as if time had stopped still. The snow was about 6' deep in places, about 2' on the track we were parked on. The tree tops on the mountains looked like feathers, sunlight shining bright on some of the hillsides, and the clouds so heavy and dense that the Blue Ridge Mountains in the far distance couldn't be seen. We had the place to ourselves, it was perfect. I dropped my camera lens cap, and was pleased I'd noticed it fall, as it promptly disappeared deep into the fluffy snow.
It was breathtakingly beautiful on that mountain top, and I envied the homeowners whose house was hidden from our view by a small hillock. I guessed we were on their land, but we had no sure way to tell since the road had led us here and hadn't been marked 'private'. But we didn't outstay our welcome, and drove back down into the valley, where we stopped along another narrow lane where the Appalachian Trail crossed, a trail we'd walked along in the summertime.
We hiked along the trail, our footsteps once again the first to fall here, and stopped by the creek. I kept thinking of Narnia and half expected to hear a bell in the distance, followed by a horse snorting as it pulled Queen Jadis on her sleigh into our clearing. The only sound was the tiny waterfalls trickling into the creek. We thought it would be a fabulous idea if we shook some snow off a branch so we could take photos while it was 'snowing'. I positioned myself and pointed my camera towards the creek and waited for Elliott to pick a branch to shake. Which he did. But instead of a light snowfall, an avalanche cascaded down right on top of my head. I was covered! We were laughing so hard it took a while to brush and shake the snow off, Elliott had got some on himself too, but I'd taken the brunt of it. Incredibly, I still had the presence of mind to snap the shutter even though I was getting buried, so the photo above does look like it was snowing. Elliott took one of me immediately afterwards. It was time to go home. We'd had a fun-filled day, but now we needed to get indoors and warm up. We left the snowy scenery and headed to our cozy home.
