Looking for something unique to do, we booked this Georgetown afternoon, as our last day together with Margaret and Lee.

Celebrate 200 years of heritage with fresh and local food and drink!  As the last event of the 2016 Bicentennial, Tudor Place will offer draughts and plates from vendors including bakers, cheesemongers, makers of BBQ and farm-fresh tacos, and chocolatiers, as well as distillers, brewers and wine sellers. Every mouthful comes with a tie-in to notable eras in the history of this estate, our city, and our nation.

We splurged and purchased the special VIP Admission which included an exclusive noon reception with private tastings, gift bag, and a unique guided tour- Tudor Place Eats, exploring the culinary aspects of the mansion, grounds, and smokehouse.

This is the Bicentennial of this beautiful place. Since 1816, Tudor Place has overlooked Georgetown and the Potomac River, a grand residence whose design salutes the early American Republic. One of America’s first National Historic Landmarks, it was built by a granddaughter of Martha Washington and a son of Robert Peter, a prominent Scottish-born merchant and landowner and Georgetown’s first mayor. With an inheritance from George Washington, Thomas and Martha Custis Peter purchased 8½ acres of farmland on Georgetown Heights. Dr. William Thornton, architect of the first U.S. Capitol and a family friend, designed the grand neoclassical house, which was completed in 1816. The estate remained under continuous Peter family ownership through six generations spanning 178 years, its rooms a destination for leading politicians, military leaders, and dignitaries. After the 1983 death of Armistead Peter 3rd, the founders’ great-great-grandson, the site was opened to the public in accordance with his wishes. Now a historic house and garden museum, it remains one of the nation’s few historic urban estates retaining the majority of its original landscape.
While we waited for our tour, we meandered through its gardens. The original trees and shrubs, first cultivated 200 years ago still grow today.


The theme of today was Drink. Eat. Learn. Play. Our tour was led by Grant Quertermous, the Curator of Collections, who shared with us what life was like "when". It was interesting to wander through various parts of the home that pertained to its storied edible past.
 
We then spent the afternoon at a Garden Party, delighting in it all.





Isn't this a spectacular setting in which to spend an afternoon?
In addition to exceptional food and beverages, we were invited to taste and create our own blend of tea. We even learned something as well. The rectangular object is a tea brick. In ancient China, the tea brick (compressed tea made of  ground or whole tea leaves pressed into a block using a mold) was the most popular form of tea produced and consumed.  It was also used as a common currency for trade, or tributes, outside China. The Peters partook of tea in this form, based on the type of tea sets found within the home. After our tea lesson, we were allowed to make our own tea bags. What a special souvenir.
The goal of the day was accomplished. Drank. Ate. Learned. Played. Made unforgettable memories. Had fun.