“Mom, did George Washington really live here?” my daughter, Lindsay,
asked me as we stood outside the picturesque stone house set amidst a cluster
of towering trees. While many spots along the Eastern Seaboard love to lay
claim to the fact that the first prez spent a night under their roofs, this
place provided more than just overnight accommodations for Washington. The
general lived here for several months during the Continental Army’s 1777-1778
winter encampment at Valley Forge during the American Revolution.
We saw where Washington held strategy sessions and where he
laid his head after a long day of commanding the troops. Much of the house is
original, so as we went up and down the stairs we were using the same banister
George himself had used, which I thought was pretty cool.
What Lindsay was most intrigued by was the contrast between
Washington’s somewhat swanky sleeping quarters (a cushy bed, a pretty rug
underfoot) and the huts made from logs and mud that the soldiers shared along
Valley Forge’s lines of defense. As she peered into a few replica huts, she
noticed the dirt floors, very uncomfortable-looking bunk beds, and the darkness
that resulted from a lack of windows.
These were a few stops we made as we took the self-guided
driving tour of
Valley Forge National Historical Park in King of Prussia,
Pennsylvania. A ranger-led walking tour was also available, but that might have
been pushing it with a five-year-old. But Lindsay did thoroughly enjoy the
Once Upon a Nation storytelling benches at a couple of spots along the driving tour,
where we learned about the first official celebration of George Washington’s birthday
and the German word for “stupidhead” (told to us during the tale of how Prussian
army officer Baron von Steuben helped train the Continental Army).
I’m a self-proclaimed history nerd, so I’m glad to see that
my daughter is developing an appreciation for our country’s past. And Valley
Forge was a great place to nurture that appreciation, with its historic
buildings, impressive statues and monuments, pretty scenery, and ample
leg-stretching opportunities. Plus, if offers some interesting perspective on
the perks of being in power.
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