Travis Simpkins: George Washington's Mount Vernon. National Treasure Tour. Secret Tunnel

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

George Washington's Mount Vernon. National Treasure Tour. Secret Tunnel

George Washington's Mount Vernon: National Treasure Tour

I recently visited Mount Vernon, the Virginia estate of President George Washington and had the pleasure of going on a "National Treasure Tour." The special tour features spots on the property, not include in public tours, which were used for filming scenes in Disney's 2007 film National Treasure: Book of Secrets. In the film, protagonist Benjamin Franklin Gates crashes the current President's birthday party at Mount Vernon in hopes of getting the President alone so that he might gain important information from him. He appeals to the President's sense of adventure by showing him a map that details a secret tunnel leading away from the basement at Mount Vernon… which the two then proceed to search for. (If you haven't seen the film, watch it, I won't reveal the plot further). Some of the elements about secretive aspects of the Mount Vernon property portrayed in the film are fictionalized, obviously, but make for great fun… both on screen and on the guided tour.