I believe they were able to re-create GW's likeness from a life mask that was created in the 1780's. It's pretty impressive to see:
http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/spring97/washington.html.
I'd like to get to Mount Vernon, again also.
This weekend I had the opportunity to visit his boyhood home in Fredericksburg, VA. It was here that the legend of him tossing a stone/silver dollar across the river came about. I was surprised to learn that it was the Rapahannock and not the Potomac but at least the Rapahannock seemed more realistic than the Potomac because it is not as wide.
Civil War soldiers who were there at the time of the Battle of Fredericksburg had attempted to recreate the feat and one of them had actually documented them making the attempt. It was not successful -- no one in the unit was able to duplicate the feat. What was most interesting about that site was the fact that you could sill see remnants of an old pier about a foot or so under the water, which indicates that the river levels were much lower at one point during the Rapahannock's history. I'm not sure of the date of the pier but for sure it was not from GW's day. For well over 100 years the Washington Farm was the site of a ferry crossing, hence the pier.
Linda
