No. 3 Claude Moore Colonial Farm at Turkey Run

Ratings

Unusual:

Cost: ($3 adults and $2 kids, but look for 50% coupon)
Distance: (10.7 miles)
Kidability: (best for elementary and above)
Season: Spring, Summer, Fall

Physical Difficulty: Easy.
Website: http://www.1771.org/index.htm

Summary

Its time for a free word association. What comes to mind when you think "reenactment," "ren fest," and "mutton." If you're like me and "cool," "awesome" or "should I bring my own costume, or are they provided" are your immediate reactions check this out. If "aren't these the weird kids who did theatre in high school" is what comes to mind, its time to come anyways to give yourself one last chance to realize that nerdy = cool, and cool = nerdy.

Description

Located right next to the CIA on GW Parkway, this tucked away farm is like a mini-colonial reenactment theme park, except far less touristy, far more authentic, and far cheaper.

The farm is set in 1771when (que wavy lines across your monitor) Virginia is still a colony, King George III is still in poewr, Church of England is the official religion, and Alexandria is the nearest town at about 1 day's walk away. The farm itself is the type of farm that an average (re poor) family would have around that time.

Any day you can walk through the farm, to the farm house, ... The whole walk is under 1 mile and is on rough gravel and dirt paths. Along the way you can see a variety of plants and animals that would have existed on the farm including the tobacco crop, geese, turkeys, hogs, a vegetable garden and sheep. Volunteers dressed in period costume work the farm, and are happy to talk about what they are doing. At least for us they stayed completely "in theme." We had a ten minute conversation with someone who kept referring to us as "visitors from the big city of Alexandria."

Although worth going to on any day, the true secret to Claude Moore is to come during a market fair which, at least the year we went, were held one weekend every other month. See there on-line posting. There was a whole town of volunteers in period costume, doing performances, cooking meet over a spit, and selling hand-crafted wares. The small size of the locale, and the sheer number and dedication of the volunteers made this a great immersive experience.

My apologies for forgetting the camera this time! If anyone is a fan of the farm and has a few nice photos send me an email.