George Washington paid 18 shillings (a lot of money back in the day) for a camel to visit Mount Vernon Estate for Christmas in 1787. General Washington was known for his interest in all kinds of animals including the then rare camel. Mount Vernon continues the tradition by bringing Aladdin the Camel to Mount Vernon Estate for several weeks during December. I’ve enjoyed seeing him over the past few years and highly recommend it to everyone. Especially children.
Aladdin is very friendly. This baby giggled the whole time Aladdin slobbered kisses on her.
After visiting with Aladdin, we took a tour of the main house. As many tours as I’ve been on, I still learn something new each time. Our guide Donald, retired from the Army where he was in the Pipe and Fife Band and he had a lot of interesting stories about the house. Another bonus when visiting this time of year is the lack of crowds. There were only 6 people on the house tour and the third floor was open. Usually it’s close because there are too many people going through the house.
Displaced Beachbums 