D.C. Area National Parks

 Sunday we spent the morning in Prince William Forest Park. It was a lovely day, weather-wise, to spend in the forest, literally!

We took the scenic drive

And checked out the visitor center

We learned there was a pyrite mine (fool's gold) 

 

 and that the precursor to the CIA trained spies in the area!

We went to the National Museum of the Marine Corps next. They had a copy of the Iwo Jima statue out front

No pets allowed in the museum. It was lovely weather so we took turns hanging out outside with our doggy.

There was a 9/11 exhibit where you could touch the beam from the World Trade Towers or the piece from the Pentagon

 

What I really wanted to see was the flag raised over Iwo Jima. Two photographs were taken, the second photograph was the one that went viral.

The original photo, signed by the photographer, Joe Rosenthal

We also visited Quantico National Cemetery to see the graves of some very close friends who passed away in 2020 and 2021

Monday we went into downtown Washington, D.C. We rode the Metro in, which was always a fun adventure

This was another site closed due to pandemic conditions. We stopped by to see it anyway.

Then we walked past the Capitol and saw some amazingly huge hibiscus flowers on the grounds

Outside the National Gallery of Art is where President Garfield was shot, an attempted assassination that didn't end his life but bad doctoring did a couple of months later!

This is the new Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial. It was kind of hard to photograph with all the different elements and trees

We saw the new World War I Memorial, the statue had been there before, but now it is a full memorial

This fountain area is not done, will have a sculpture along the wall at the back

This was interesting: the QR code had a WWI soldier in it on the plaques around the memorial

 

This was as close as we could get to the White House. We wanted to walk onto the grounds of the Ellipse and find the Zero Milestone marker--where they mark all the streets from in D.C. Apparently, King Abdullah of Jordan was coming to the White House that day and everything was blocked off

We walked through the WWII Memorial

 

 Then it was time for our Washington Monument "tour"! The tickets just opened up on the 14th, and you had to get on in the morning to nab tickets for the next day. We managed to get some!!!

Graffiti inside the memorial

You take the elevator up to the 500 foot level

Then you get to look out the windows facing the four cardinal directions

While we were up there, I zoomed WAY in and got a photo of the Zero Milestone in front of the White House

 

We went down to the next level, 490 feet up,  where there are museum exhibits about the monument

 

 

Including these tips of the lightning rods that got zapped in 2012

 

 

I had forgotten that inside the monument, if you take the stairs, you can see commemorative stones

They slowed the elevator around 290 feet up and we could see the stones through the windows in the elevator

There's some serious security to go up and bank vault-style doors to get in and out

We went to the Lincoln Monument

Carved in the landing of the steps is where Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech

 

We saw the Vietnam Memorial

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial

And the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial

 

 From afar, across the Tidal Basin, we saw the Jefferson Memorial.

 

We had seen most of these memorials in much more detail a few years ago on a different trip to D.C. One that we hadn't seen yet was the African American Civil War Memorial

Listed on all the panels around the back of the sculpture were the members of the regiments that served during the Civil War. We went and found the Massachusetts 54th, the regiment featured in the movie, Glory

Then we headed to Chinatown for some dinner!

 

Other sights we saw: maybe a Marine One helicopter?

Mounted police officer

Police car on the mall with "Proudly Serving Since 1791" on the side

A very LARGE blue chicken on the roof terrace of one of the Smithsonian art museums

Tuesday we went to Oxon Hill Farm

 

We got to see some of the livestock including Belgian draft horses, cows, and very very large pigs

 

 

 

We went to Fort Washington next 

It seemed very, very haunted and abandoned

 

 We got to see a U.S. Coast Guard ship go by on the Potomac River

 

 We had a few days of rest and hanging out with friends

Saturday we headed out! Our first stop was the Chesapeake and Ohio National Historical Park, this unit (there are several) was in Great Falls, Maryland

 

 

Right as we walked up, they were just starting a lock demonstration

It was pretty impressive to watch. We had been able to see a modern lock at work in Iowa at it wasn't nearly as dramatic! A modern lock is fairly quiet, no one is grunting or straining at turning the gates to open or shut, the water isn't rushing through like it was here.

They are repairing this boat and when it and the mules get back in shape, you can reserve tickets to take a short canal ride through the lock!

As always, there was a tavern there. The locks took time to fill up or let out water to raise or lower the boats. The passengers would debark and enjoy a meal or a drink at the tavern while waiting

 

 We saw this guy scampering around by the tavern

 Our next stop was the Clara Barton National Historic Site

 

This was her home until she died. It was not open for tours. The home was huge and we learned that it wasn't just her home, it was the Red Cross headquarters and also warehouse.

 

 

Right next door is Glen Echo Park. This has always been an amusement park and is part of the national park system because it has some strong Civil Rights ties

 

 

There was a 100 year old carousel there that we had the chance to ride! It was amazing. 

 

 

It had this awesome organ that used music rolls, just like a player piano. Look closely, it looks like a face and the left "eye" is a snare drum, the right "eye" is a set of cymbals. There were castanets below the snare drum and a triangle by the cymbals.

 

 

This was the stash of music rolls, it would have two loaded up at any time so you could switch out one and the music would never stop.  

S LOVED the carousel and with our wristband "tickets" we could ride it as much as we wanted. The rides were 2-3 songs long, a nice long ride!

After that, we went to find an original boundary stone for Washington D.C. I knew these existed, had never gone to find one. This one was in Chevy Chase, Maryland

And we found the very last Madonna of the Trail statue, in Bethesda, Maryland!