ICE! and the National Capital Region -- Who Knew?

National Harbor, Md.—( October 19, 2009 ) The Washington, D.C. metropolitan area soon will play host to an unprecedented event: Gaylord National's ICE!™, a unique, interactive indoor wonderland created entirely of ice. The 15,000-square-foot attraction is the crowning jewel of Christmas on the Potomac, Gaylord National's more than 50-day-long celebration of the holidays.

This astonishing spectacle is in good company in the National Capital Region, as its local people, places and events reveal a long-standing fascination with the frozen stuff, beginning several centuries ago and continuing through the present. Here's a few highlights:

• George Washington, the first president of the United States, was very fond of ice. (This fact alone is a bit surprising, considering that he led American revolutionary forces in a frigid sojourn across the frozen Delaware River in 1776 in order to defeat the British. A copy of the famous painting of this historic crossing hangs in the West Wing of the White House.) The president had large quantities of ice harvested from the Potomac River every winter and hauled up the hill to a dry well in the cellar of Mount Vernon, located just down river from Gaylord National Resort. Frustrated when this storage method didn't protect the ice far into the spring season, much less the summer, he experimented with methods of maintaining ice into the warmer months. His first idea, collecting snow, wasn't effective at all, so he queried friends about how to build an icehouse. This effort was more successful. He was able to build a well and enclosure that protected his ice for as long as six months. The ruins of that original icehouse remain today, on a steep riverbank about 75 yards from the Potomac. George Washington was also a big fan of ice cream, first served to him in 1789 by Elizabeth Hamilton, wife of Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury of the U.S. Eventually George Washington purchased a "cream machine for ice" for use at Mount Vernon.
• The original patent model of an historic ice machine patented in 1851 by Dr. John Gorrie is preserved at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., along with his scientific papers. Gorrie, a Floridian, physician, scientist, inventor and humanitarian, worked tirelessly to conquer the spread of tropical disease, advocating draining of swamps, the use of mosquito netting, and the cooling of sickrooms to reduce fever. To achieve the last, he cleverly suspended basins filled with ice above his patients' sickbeds so that the heavy, cool air would drift across and down through openings in the floor. His fascination with ice continued after he ceased practicing medicine, leading him to invent the machine. The National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capital houses a statue that honors Dr. Gorrie, known as the "father of refrigeration and air conditioning."
• Laurel, Maryland is home to the Potomac Curling Club, one of the oldest clubs in the United States dedicated to the winter sport of curling. With more than 200 members, it hosts players nightly as they hone their skill at pushing 42-pound granite rocks down carefully-groomed ice to a bull's-eye scoring zone — a pair of sweepers in tow who brush the ice frenetically in order to control the trajectory and speed of the stone. Members enjoy the icy stuff year round at The National Capital Curling Center, which cost $1.25 million to construct.

 

Open to guests from November 19 to January 10, Gaylord National Resort's ICE! extravaganza will proudly join this list of notable regional ice-related happenings with its TWO MILLION POUNDS of ice carved into a walk-through attraction of ten larger-than-life, three-dimensional holiday scenes, including a Nativity Scene with a 25-foot-tall ice angel and a Christmas Castle with ice slides standing more than two stories tall. Visitors will marvel at the striking detail and beautiful, theatrical renderings of beloved Christmas icons and memorable holiday scenes, all housed in a custom-built structure maintained at a temperature of nine degrees. (Winter coats will be provided!)

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[EDITOR'S NOTE]
ICE! is exclusively licensed, produced and operated by the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center. It is accurate to refer to the attraction as "Gaylord National's ICE!" or "Gaylord National's ICE! at National Harbor." (It is not accurate to refer to the attraction as "National Harbor's ICE!".)

About Gaylord National Resort
Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center opened April 2008 along the banks of the Potomac River, less than eight miles south of the nation's capital, in National Harbor, Md., a new 300-acre waterfront destination. Gaylord National Resort is the largest-combined hotel and convention center on the Eastern Seaboard, offering 2,000 guest rooms, including 110 lavish suites; 470,000 square feet of convention, meeting, exhibit and pre-function space; acclaimed restaurants; Relâche™ Spa; Pose Ultra Lounge; and a soaring 18-story, glass-covered atrium. For more information, visit www.gaylordnational.com.

Guest Contact
Gaylord National Reservations: 877-432-8674

Media Contacts
Amie Gorrell, Director of Public Relations, 301-965-2111, agorrell@gaylordhotels.com
Carlyle Fairfax Smith, Carlyle International, 703-898-1333, carlyle@carlyleinternational.us