lexandria at Johnsons
Spring ... where we dined on a cold dinner brought from Town by water and
spent the Afternoon agreeably--Returning home by Sun down or a little after
it," is noted in his diary on one occasion, and on another he wrote,
"Having formed a Party, consisting of the Vice-President, his lady, Son &
Miss Smith; the Secretaries of State, Treasury & War, and the ladies of the
two latter; with all the Gentlemen of my family, Mrs. Lear & the two
Children, we visited the old position of Fort Washington and afterwards
dined on a dinner provided by Mr. Mariner." Launchings, barbecues,
clambakes, and turtle dinners were other forms of social dissipations.

A distinct weakness was dancing. When on the frontier he sighed, "the
hours at present are melancholy dull. Neither the rugged toils of war, nor
the gentler conflict of A[ssembly] B[alls,] is in my choice." His diary
shows him at balls and "Routs" frequently; when he was President he was a
constant attendant at the regular "Dancing Assemblies" in New York and
Philadelphia, and when at Mount Vernon he frequently went ten miles to
Alexandria to attend dances. Of one of these Alexandria balls he has left
an amusing description: "Went to a ball at Alexandria, where Musick and
dancing was the chief Entertainment, however in a convenient room detached
for the purpose abounded great plenty of bread and butter, some biscuits,
with tea and coffee, which the drinkers of could not distinguish from hot
water sweet'ned--Be it remembered that pocket handkerchiefs servd the
purposes of Table cloths & Napkins and that no apologies were made for
either. I shall therefore distinguish this ball by the stile and title of
the Bread & Butter Ball."

During the Revolution, too, he killed many a weary hour of winter quarters
by dancing. When the camp spent a day rejoicing over the French alliance,
"the celebration," according to Thacher, "was concluded by a splendid ball
opened by his Excellency General Washington, having for his partner the
lady of General Knox." Greene describes how "we had a little dance at my
quarters a few evenings past. His Excellency and Mrs. Greene danced
upwards of three hours without once sitting down." Knox, too, tells of "a
most genteel entertainment given by self and officers" at which Washington
danced. "Everybody allows it to be the first of the kind ever exhibited in
this State at least. We had above seventy ladies, all of the first ton in
the State, an