DC Day Tripping

OT: 5 days in Michigan

2010-09-23T14:04:00.000-07:00

Check out all the fun stuff we did in Michigan (link to blog at bottom of page):

Trip summary:

Rating: 9.5/10

Distance: 655 mi or about 1.5 hr by plane

Time spent: 5 days

More information: http://cat-michigan.blogspot.com/

Lilith Fair

2010-08-03T13:59:00.000-07:00

Ever since I was a teenager I've dreamed of going to Lilith Fair. It's basically an all-girl pop/rock/alternative music concert held in the late 1990s.

When I heard that Lilith Fair was back and coming to the DC area I was ecstatic ... once I found out that Missy Higgins was going to be at Merriweather I knew I had to go.

Missy Higgins isn't very well known in the US, so she was on one of the side stages. That was great, because it allowed me to get really close to stage and take some great pictures. Here's Missy:

Sara Bareilles was playing on the main stage when we came back from watching Missy and I just have to say, Wow! Of course I'd heard her songs on the radio, but it wasn't until I heard her live that I realized she actually has a really great voice.

Cat Power was up next, but that wasn't really our thing so we left to get something to eat. Merriweather has lots of lawn seating so even though we had assigned seats, we got comfortable on the lawn while we ate our dinner.

Funny rooster statue in front of the Barns:

Courtyard Hounds (two of the Dixie Chicks) and the Indigo Girls were up next. They had some pretty catchy tunes so that was a lot of fun. The crowd really got into it.

The night ended as it always does, with the fabulous Sarah McLachlan:

She invited everyone back on stage, first just a couple at a time, until the final song of the night when she invited everyone to come out and sing with her. What a great night! Can't wait until next time :)

Trip summary:

Rating: 9/10
Distance: 28mi
Time spent: 7 hours
More information: http://www.lilithfair.com/

Calvert Cliffs

2010-06-23T12:44:00.000-07:00

Calvert Cliffs State Park is located on the Chesapeake Bay. There are a number of trails, but the most popular leads to a small beach on the Bay. It's known as one of the best places to find shark's teeth and fossils.

The trail always stays close to a small stream that becomes wider the closer you get to the bay.

Lots of butterflies along the trail.

It's interesting to see the change in the plants as you hike through the different zones. You start out in the woods, then the trail passes along a series of marshes until finally it ends at the bay.

Water lillies:

There used to be a viewing platform about halfway on the trail, but as you can tell from this picture it's very rickety and it was blocked off when we were in the park in August 2010.

Another view of the freshwater marshland:

After you've been walking for a while the trees suddenly disappear and you find yourself on the narrow beach.
Of course, the cliffs are the main attraction! I had to walk into the Bay with my camera to get this shot:

And the cliffs on the other side:

The small streams runs into the bay on the beach. I found a teeny tiny little water snake there. He was only about a foot long.

A pretty blue dragonfly:

The little watersnake never went far from the water.

As you can tell from this picture the beach really is very narrow and it's not very long either. We've never had a hard time finding a spot to lie down though .. it's a very quiet area. Both ends are "blocked off" where the cliffs start because of the danger of erosion.

The water is very quiet, but there is no lifeguard on duty. The Bay is also known to have some of the most polluted water in the area so swim at your own risk.

If you look to your right after coming onto the beach you'll be able to spot the Cove Point lighthouse in the distance.

We spent several hours sifting through the sand and found a shark's tooth, ray dental plates and several small fossils. Yay! Shark's tooth safely put away it was time to head back to the parking lot.

This little squirrel really wanted to have his picture taken.

I saw this beautiful bird sitting in a dead tree in the marshland. I wish I knew what kind of bird it is ... any ideas?

I love the contrast of the dead trees against the lush green forest in the background.

The trail on the way back. We saw a long black snake slithering across the path, but unfortunately it disappeared before I had a chance to take its picture.

There's a recycled tire playground next to the parking lot, so if you have little ones with you make sure to set some time aside for them to run around and play on the tires.

Trip summary:

Rating: 8/10
Distance: 50 mi
Time spent: 4 hours
Entrance fees: $5 per car
Trail hiked: red trail - 1.8mi

More information: http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/southern/calvertcliffs.asp

Random critters

2010-06-16T11:10:00.000-07:00

A bunny and two (male) cardinals. The bunnies love the wild strawberries that grow in our yard.

A Fiery Searcher beetle:

Dragonflies on the porch.

One day I walked out of the house and heard something rustling in the leafs. It was a cute little toad ... but what's it doing?

Aha! Poor baby had gotten caught by a snake.

Eventually the snake let go of the toad and it was able to hobble to safety! The snake slithered away then stopped and stuck out its forked little tongue at me, before continuing into the bushes.

Our resident groundhog, George.

He gets spooked easily so it's hard to take good pictures of him. Here's one of him running to safety after he caught sight of me:

I found this beetle in the yard one day and haven't seen in since. It's a black and white spotted Leopard Moth.

There are lots of turtles in the neighborhood because of the water nearby.

They don't move to fast so it's easy to get a close up:

A beaver in one of the city lakes.

I'll try to post new animal pictures every few months or so.

Monocacy

2010-06-15T09:38:00.000-07:00

Monocacy is one of the lesser known National Battlefields, although if we are to believe the ranger at the visitor center, the battle fought here was just as important.

In what would turn out to be the final confederate invasion of the northern states, the greatly outnumbered union soldiers bought valuable time by holding up the confederates at Monocacy. Although the confederate attack was only delayed by one day, this allowed additional union forces to move into Washington DC and save the capital.

This is Best Farm seen from the road. I don't think it's a true working farm anymore, but it was surrounded by fields of corn. In fact, the park is formed by several farms so it's a nice drive through the fields.

Although Monocacy does offer a few walking trails, the points of interest are spaced quite some distance apart and require you to drive from one to the next. I highly recommend stopping by the visitor center to pick up a free map, because there aren't always signs to direct you.

Pretty flowers on the side of Best House. I think it's some kind of lily? There are no walking trails at Best Farm so after a walk around the buildings we drove to the next stop.

The turn off for Monocacy Junction isn't clearly marked and looks more like an exit than an entrace, so pay close attention as you're approaching the river. There is a pull off on the other side of the bridge, but there is no way to get to the other side of the river from there. There is a very steep and slippery slope (I'd only recommend it if you're wearing sturdy hiking boots and are descendant of a mountain goat haha) that leads down to the water's edge for an up close view of the bridge. To be honest, a nicer and more accesible viewpoint can be found at tour stop #5.

Now, back to Monocacy Junction, if you do miss the turn off, don't fret. It's basically a parking lot overlooking a large field. A couple of deer were grazing in the far corner of the field, but the only thing that held my attention for more than 10 seconds was the dead snake writhing with maggots. Sorry, kind of gross, but fascinating at the same time ... I'll spare you the picture.

Here we are on the porch of Worthington House, which was used as a field hospital during the battle. It started drizzling when we got there, but we were itching to get out of the car and do some hiking so we threw on a pair of dazzling rain ponchos and headed out.

For a short while the trail runs parallel to an overgrown pasture, then it leads into the 'woods,' which at that point is really just a narrow strip of trees bordered by the pasture on one side and the Monocacy river on the other.

Word of warning; the soil here is mostly clay and incredibly slippery when wet.

I had hoped that the trail would run right next to the river, but there's about 30 feet of dense underbush to cross before you reach the (steep) river bank. I followed a deer trail down to the river and scrambled down to take a few pictures. The one above is acutally just an 'inlet,' the actual river is much, much wider.

The world's most disgusting mushroom. It's looks just like a pile of rubbers, ick!

Mind your footing on the way back to the parking lot; while not as slippery, the path has more roots than you can shake a stick at.

It has fortunately stopped raining, but it is super humid so we decide against walking the other trail at Worthington Farm and instead drive to the next stop, Thomas Farm.

Typical red barn.

They were growing a number of different crops. Couldn't really tell you what they were growing though, other than corn and wheat.

I love the wheat! It is so beautiful :)

Our last stop on the tour was Gambrill Mill. The water wheel used to be located inside the house ... not sure if it still is or not.

Pond by the mill.

Green heron at the edge of the pond.

Lots of Canadian geese by the pond. Their babies are getting pretty big!

Part of the trail by Gambrill Mill is wheelchair accesible.

Halfway down the trail, there's an easy access (non-wheelchair accessible) to the river from where you can see the bridge. We saw a 3 foot water snake, but it swam away before I could take a picture.

Right before the trail turns back to the barn, there's a short path leading to one of the streams feeding into the Monocacy River. Quite a beautiful spot to end your visit to Monocacy.

Downtown Frederick. Here you'll find more quirky furniture and consignment shops per square mile than almost anywhere. Next time we'll go explore the old city streets and grab a bite to eat. I saw a beautiful stained glass lamp, but unfortunately the store was closed ... probably just as well since we only brought enough small change for parking to last us 15 minutes.

I love unusual road signs like this one!

Trip summary:

Rating: 7/10
Distance: 45 mi
Time spent: 4 hours
Entrance fees: free
Trail walked: Ford loop trail, Gambrill mill trail, Thomas farm loop trail (partial).
More information: http://www.nps.gov/mono.

Virginia Beach

2010-06-04T10:20:00.000-07:00

Time for another visit to Virginia Beach -- although to be honest the beach was just an added bonus: my real reason for traveling to Virginia Beach was to attend the Country Throwdown Tour.

Love Heidi Newfield! This was the first time I got to see her live and it was Amazing!

Little Big Town.

Time to hit the beach ... The weather was fabulous so it wasn't long before I hit the water. What a change from the last time we were here in May! Unfortunately there really weren't any waves so I picked up a pair of kick fins at one of the local surf shops and that helped a lot.

Lots of dolphins that day ... we saw at least 10 of them:

Time for a visit to my favorite pizza place in VA Beach. It's super simple, but it's a nice tradition.

There are many nice murals throughout the area. Keep your eyes peeled and you'll find them

After a nice lunch we head back to the beach. There's a free concert on the beach because of Memorial Day and it's started to get crowded.

The sun's starting to set:

View from one of the hotels. Ours was a few blocks back from the beach so I snuck into the one we stayed at last time and snapped a quick picture from their pool area.

So who was playing? Hall & Oats! I'd never heard of them, but I actually knew a lot of their songs. Strangely enough they played a lot of their big hits during their warm-up earlier in the day (we were lucky enough to sit near the stage during the afternoon so we heard the whole thing), but not during the show?

We got up early the next morning to watch the sun rise over the ocean.

Isn't it beautiful?!

Rudee Inlet in the early morning hours. There were already a lot of people our with their fishing rods.

One more picture of the sunrise ... it's actually a statue, not real people.

Because I had such a great time watching Heidi Newfield perform and there weren't any real waves, we decided to leave the beach early and catch up with the throwdown tour in Bristow. We'll be back some other time ...

Trip summary:

Rating: 9/10 (what can I say? I love Heidi!)
Distance: 210 mi
Time spent: 2 days
Entrance fees: free
More information:
* http://www.vbfun.com/
* http://heidinewfield.com/
* http://www.countrythrowdown.com/

Virginia Beach

2010-05-25T09:51:00.000-07:00

Even though this has been one of the hottest springs on record, we managed to plan our visit to Virginia Beach at a time when a large cold front had taken over the area. Now I'm not one to get chilled easily, but this was just miserable!

Virginia Beach has a great, wide boardwalk perfect for walking along the beach or skating. There's also a bike lane to the left. Don't worry about bringing your bike with you; there are plenty of places that will rent them to you.

We stayed at the quiet end of the beach, close to Rudee inlet. This shows the view towards the more popular end of the beach. As you can tell it was very quiet.

I know it looks nice and sunny in the picture above, but the sun was only out maybe 10% of the time. It was so cold that I spent all day huddled in my chair, wearing my hat, my polartec, my pants, my shoes and my towel ... and still I felt cold.

We went for a quick walk and got to see a rescue. Thankfully it wasn't very exciting; a girl in a string bikini (no joke) and her boyfriend decided to paddle out even though they seemed to have absolutely no surfing experience. The waves kept pushing them towards the jetty, so they ended up having to exit the water that way ... not a good situation because the waves could've smacked them against it just as well. Anyway, the lifeguard came running just as they managed to climb onto the rocks, then two beach partrol vehicles showed up for back up. The end.

The next day really wasn't any better ... in fact, it was worse! There was no sun at all and where the day before the wind had been strong, today it was a fierce, biting, cold wind that seemed to come straight from the North Pole. Any skin left exposed was tingling from the sand getting whipped up by the wind, it was almost like a cheap form of accupuncture.

Sitting in my chair was pure misery (the chair probably rattled with the force of my shivering haha) and so I put my blanket down on the sand to try to keep out of the wind. Blessedly I fell asleep, only to wake up with sand in places there shouldn't be sand and of course still feeling wretched with cold.

Shocking amount of sand on my towel right after I got up.

Fortunately, the place we were staying at had a hot tub and a steam room. I don't usually enjoy them much, but I absolutely loved them that time. The one hot tub faces a large window from which you can see the beach so I had a great time watching all the surfers brave the monstrous waves in their wetsuits.

That evening the wind died down and even the sun came out so we went for a nice little walk on the beach.

Seagulls in a tide pool.

The waves were very forceful. See the person standing on the left? Not a good idea ... we saw quite a few people get knocked over. Luckily there was no undercurrent, but hitting the sand that hard can do some serious damage in and of itself.

Quite an intimidating sight!

Virginia Beach is one of the widest beaches in the area, but beach erosion is a serious problem here. They actually use pipelines to pump sand onto the beach to keep it from eroding. This picture shows how the waves 'pull' sand away from the shore.

At least somebody was enjoying the weather; the surfers had some fantastic runs!

Rudee Inlet. A popular place with the local anglers.

I could not resist climbing onto the lifeguard station after they'd left for the day. What a nice view from up there! Not very comfortable though ... I don't know how they do it, especially on hot summer days when the temperature hits triple digits and the beach is swarming with people. That's a lot of responsibility ...

The tide is coming in. Such a nice way to end our little trip.

No profanity, please!

Trip summary:

Rating: 8/10 (no points subtracted for the weather)
Distance: 210 mi
Time spent: 2 days
Entrance fees: free
More information: http://www.vbfun.com/

Rockburn Branch Park

2010-05-16T19:45:00.000-07:00

Regional parks can be a dime a dozen. Imagine our surprise when we arrive at Rockburn Branch Park and find the parking lot packed. Not a spot to be found! We end up parking in the overflow field next to the lot.

Nice stream. Looks like any other park, right?

Yes, it offers fantastic athletic fields and play ground, but so do many other parks.

There are bunnies! And squirrels ... and probably lots of other critters, but that's not why people flock to this park.

Nope. People come to play disc golf!

You're probably wondering what 'disc golf' is ... I know we were! Basically, it's golf, except instead of clubs and golf balls they use frisbees. The park is home to an 18 hole disc golf course that's a favorite with locals. Some show up with just one frisbee in hand, but the great majority lugs around big bags full of frisbees for different distances. They take this stuff VERY seriously! Maybe we'll go back and bring a (yes, just one) frisbee sometime.

The trails are okay, but you have to keep an eye out for errant frisbees and we found several ticks on our clothes. Yuck! Probably would not recommend this park for hiking/biking unless you want to play disc golf, or use their other facilities (sport fields, play ground, etc).

Nice old house by the parking lot. We noticed it was near one of the holes on the disc golf course ... and that many of the windows were either broken or boarded up. Coincidence? Hmm ...

Trip summary:

Rating: 6/10
Distance: 35 mi
Time spent: 1.5 hours
Entrance fees: free
More information: http://www.co.ho.md.us/RAP/RAP_HoCoParksRockburn.htm

Black Eyed Susan Day at Pimlico

2010-05-14T18:40:00.000-07:00

Although it's location in the middle of one of Baltimore's shadier neighborhoods is far from ideal, Pimlico remains one of Maryland's premier race tracks. Unfortunately, its future hangs in the balance as the debate over slots continues. With dwindling purses Maryland's thoroughbred industry has slown down significantly and many breeders are moving their horses out of state. Gamblers too have moved to nearby tracks in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, where they can play the slots in addition to betting on the ponies.

Gallery of past Preakness winners.

The Preakness is the second leg of thoroughbred racing's triple crown and the most important date on Pimlico's yearly racing calender. I've never had a chance to go, but I love going to the festivities leading up to the Preakness, whether it be Sunrise at old hill top, or the Black Eyed Susan stakes.

All the pony riders (= people who lead the race horses) were decked out in pink in support of breast cancer research.

Pony rider in action during the post parade.

This year there was a special race on the card, called the Lady Legends for the Cure. It featured female racing legends from the early days of women's thoroughbred racing. Ranging in age anywhere from 43 to 60 years old, these retired jockeys returned to the track to try their luck once more.

Here they come:

I must say it was a little bit nerve wrecking to watch, but you have to love these gutsy women! I thought they would make them "race" quiet, retired race horses, but these were all young thoroughbreds currently racing. Amazing! They made it look as if they'd never stopped racing.

It was great seeing the smiles on their faces after they dismounted, and I heard several of them say they wanted to go again haha. For those interested, the entire race was filmed as part of a documentary about the first generation of female jockeys, called Jock. Can't wait to see it!

Trip summary:

Rating: 7.5/10
Distance: 45 mi
Time spent: 5 hours
Entrance fees: $3 for general admission. Assigned seats available also.
More information: http://preakness.com/

Centennial Lake

2010-05-14T17:36:00.000-07:00

Centennial Lake is a pretty cool park. It has a little bit of everything; lots of different sports fields, miles of paved pathways, a beautiful large lake, and tons of pretty birds!

A great blue heron stands perfectly still at the edge of the lake.

It's caught a fish! I don't think the fish ever saw it coming ... it moved so fast.

Stone jetty by the boat(?) launching area. We didn't see any boats on the water, but in the summer they rent out paddle boats and canoos.

Canada goose. Although they're called Canada goose, they live in this area almost year round.

Baby geese! They're so fuzzy when they're little :)

View across the lake

Even though the lake is the main attraction, the woods are nice too. Unfortunately, there are really a lot of trails that really go through the woods.

A doe hiding in the shrubs. She was standing right next to the path, but still I almost missed her. We watched each other for a while, then she turned around and walked back in the woods.

I loved this beautiful red bridge!

A turtle swimming under the bridge. When the suns out you'll often see them sunbathing on rocks and logs sticking out of the water.

Lillies in the wildlife area of the lake; its roped off and the path is further away from the water to provide the animals with a quiet place.

It was overcast the entire time we were there, but it was still a nice trip.

Trip summary:

Rating: 7/10
Distance: 30 mi
Time spent: 2.5 hours
Entrance fees: free
More information: http://www.co.ho.md.us/rap/rap_hocoparkscentennial.htm

Playing catch up

2010-05-13T12:13:00.000-07:00

I finally decided it was time to start a blog about the things we do around the area. We wrote a blog about our last vacation, so why not write about the things we do here?

DC and Baltimore have a lot to offer; culture, history, nature, sports, concerts ... you name it, it's here. A lot of the things we do are local events and regional attractions; not things you'd find in a guide book necessarily, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Note: all distances are calculated from downtown Washington DC. The ratings reflect how something compares to other attracties we've visited, not how much fun we had, e.g. we had a great time at Antietam, but compared to other parks it's only so-so.

Entrance fees sometimes allow 3-day access. You can check the parks website for more information on a particular park. Access to national parks is free with the national park pass.

Northview Stallion Station

2010-05-02T19:03:00.000-07:00

This time not a trip for the general public, but a visit to Northview Stallion Station, one of Maryland's premier thoroughbred racing facilities.

Our first stop is the breeding barn.

We were lucky enough to watch two mares getting bred. The one above was bred toTwo Punch. Before the mating takes place the mares tail is wrapped and a teaser stallion is brought in to get the mare in the mood. Poor bugger doesn't ever get to do anything. What a job!

I'll spare you the pictures of the actual thing, but here's the second stallion Great Notion catching the scent of his mare.

The stallion barn.

Here's Not For Love, the best stallion standing outside of Kentucky for the past seven years. He was actually pretty mellow and let us pet his nose.

Time to go see the babies!!

The impregnation is over in minutes and most people take their mares back home for the duration of the pregnancy, but some mares are boarded at Northview.

Lots of babies!

Time for a nap!

The newest addition to the farm. What a cute little foal!

They talked to us for a while about Maryland's ban on slots at tracks and how it has affected them and the horse racing industry in Maryland. I already knew it was bad news for the horse industry here, but never realized how bad it really is. Hopefully, slots will get legalized in the future!

Trip summary:
Rating: 8/10
Distance: 98 mi
Time spent: 2.5 hrs
More information: http://www.northviewstallions.com/

Runamuck DC

2010-05-01T14:57:00.000-07:00

What, you ask, is a runamuck?

Basically, it's like any other running competition, except there's mud ... and lots of it too! And obstacles; barricades to climb over, ropes to crawl under, a climbing wall to scale, and then some. It's a 5km run up the hill, down the hill, through the shallow sections of the lake, all while dodging low branches and scrambling over exposed tree roots.

I thougth about scratching from the race, because my knee had kept me from training. I also worried about reinjuring my knee, but in the end I couldn't resist and so with my knee covered with gauze and plastic I decided to make a go for it.

The fun started at the metro station. To allow emergency vehicles access to the park, they rerouted all traffic, forcing people to take the metro. Imagine my surprise when a bunch of big, yellow schoolbuses showed up to take us to the park! I've always wanted to ride on a schoolbus ...

View from inside the bus. It was noise and bumpy, but something you have to experience at least once.

The setting for this year's Runamuck was the beautiful Lake Needwood section of Rock Creek Regional Park.

Off we go!

This lovely mess is waiting at the finish line ... no way to finish unless you crawl through it.

The crowd goes wild when someone's going through the mud.

Somehow I managed to run the entire thing without stopping. It took me 7 minutes longer than the last time I ran a 5k, but that was 2 years ago after months of practice and on city streets without obstacles. Not bad all things considered! My (light blue in case you can't tell) top didn't survive the ordeal. I'm considering keeping my shoes for next year, but that's all they're good for.

Did I mention there's also a costumed division?!? That'll be me next year!

Trip summary:

Rating: 9/10

Distance: 16 mi

Time spent: 5 hours

Entrance fees: $40 to run; free to watch

More information: http://www.runamuckfestival.com/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/04/AR2010050402410.html

Marlborough Hunt Races

2010-04-11T17:58:00.000-07:00

On April 11th Maryland's high class society gathered at Roedown for the 36th running of the Marlborough Hunt Races.

Some people arrive in style.

The day started with a flat race for kids.

Fancy hats everywhere ... I wouldn't mind wearing this one myself! Interestingly, we observed many people spending all day drinking wine and other beverages, without any attention for the horses. This is clearly a social event for many people. As one man put it "I came to a field and a horse race broke out."

We tail gaited (pretty extensively) too, but at least we got up to watch the races.

A few people went all the way. Don't know how they could stand the heat wearing all that!

And it's not just adults wearing silly hats. This little girl glued a pony in a tutu to hers!

Back to the horses: some of them get ponied by other horses, like the one above.

And over the fence they go.

I love watching them run. :)

The 'best' hat of the day; plastic ponies jumping little obstacles glued to fake grass on a sun hat, complete with spring flowers and miniature American flag. Haha!

Trip summary:

Rating: 7.5/10

Distance: 26 mi

Time spent: 5 hours

Entrance fees: $20 per car + $ 5 per person

More information: http://www.marylandsteeplechasing.com/main/mhr/datetime.htm

Cherry Blossom Festival

2010-03-31T12:13:00.000-07:00

Spring is here!

Every year, for a period of about two weeks, millions of tourists from all over the world flock down to the DC area to watch the annual cherry blossom festival. They have been in DC since 1912, when Japan sent more than 3,000 cherry trees as a symbol of friendship. DC residents quickly fell in love with the pink and white blossoms, and so did the tourists.

Photographers love taking pictures of the cherry blossoms with the monuments in the background. Of course, I joined right in. This is the Thomas Jefferson Memorial -- more about that later.

Armed with a podcast from the Washington Post, with fun facts about the blossoms, we started our tour of the tidal basin. The plan was to go out on the water with a paddle boat, but because of the fierce winds they weren't letting people on the water initially.

Our first stop: the tulip library! Although planted by the National Park Service, the tulips (more than a 100 different varieties) are imported from the Netherlands. Unfortunately, it was too early for most of the tulips to bloom, but apparently it's quite nice when you get there at the right time.

Pretty in pink!

Another DC landmark; Washington Monument, also known as the obelisk.

Our tour led us part the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial (here pictured with his dog Fala), where somehow I'd never been!

The FDR Memorial is one of the largest in the area and quite enjoyable to walk through with all its waterfalls.

The memorial is dvided in 5 different rooms, that follow the timeline of FDR's presidency. I believe this wall sculpture shows his inauguration.

This sculpture depicts people waiting in line for bread during the Great Depression. Once sworn into office, FDR quickly set to work to boost the economy and create jobs with a now famous program known as the New Deal.

Time to see some more cherry blossoms. I love the reflection of the blossoms in the puddle!

A beautiful overview of the trees near the Jefferson Memorial.

Another memorial I'd never visited before: the George Mason Memorial. It's nice, but a bit of a let down after the grandeur of the FDR Memorial.

Another angle.

Inside of the Jefferson Memorial.

Here you can clearly see some of the neo-classical architecture that's prevalent in DC.

After completing our loop around the tidal basin, we hop on the free shuttle around East Potomac Park. We'd plan to get off at a couple of the stops, walk around, take some pictures, then get back on, but after walking all day on my banged up knee, it's really nice to sit and enjoy the scenery and we end up riding all the way to the second last stop. The picture above was taken in the Park, where trees line both sides of the street.

This is what they look like up close.

Rather than wait half an hour for the next bus we decide to walk back to the mall and I ended up taking this picture of the Washington Monument across the Washington Channel. Not an angle you see very often.

For dinner we head to Chef Geoff's, a restaurant that came highly recommended on a Dutch forum I belong to. The restaurant is located on Freedom Plaza, with the beautiful statue of Brigadier Casimir Pulaski. It's a favorite hang out for local skaters ... if you have a few minutes to spare it's nice to sit and watch them do their tricks.

Anyway, dinner was great! Our favorite were the Buffalo mozarella risoto balls! Hmm so good ... I could've eaten 10 of them.

At night the National Park Service holds free lantern walks among the cherry blossoms and I'd really been looking forward to it. We almost joined a tour during the afternoon, but decided it would be too much to do both ... well, after walking all day anyway my knee was just done, plus it was getting chilly, so we decided to call it a day.

People relaxing on the grass, with the Capitol and the Smithsonian in the background.

Sunset

Trip Summary:

Rating: 7.5/10

Distance: 0 mi

Time spent: 7 hours

Entrance fees: free

More information: http://www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/

Great Falls and Manassas Battlefield Park

2010-03-22T13:57:00.000-07:00

After the somewhat disappointing visit to Antietam, we decided to pay another visit to our favorite battlefieldpark. With rolling acres as far as the eye can see and relatively few roads crossing the park Manassas is in my opinion a lot nicer ... although I will say the visitors center doesn't come close to the one in Antietam.

Anyway, first we make a quick stop at Great Falls ... another National Park. It's a favorite with local rock climbing enthusiasts.

You won't see me scaling those rocks anytime soon, but I can't resist this fallen tree leading to a small island in the river.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I managed to trip over my own feet on a graded section of the gravel trail to the first overlook and take a chunk out of my knee. Didn't look too bad, but I'd hate to make someone queasy, hence the picture of it bandaged up.

At least the view is worth it!

We make it to viewpoint three without getting my knee looked at, but at this point I'm starting to scare small children so we head to the visitors center to get it cleaned. The woman at the front desk takes one look at my knee and decides that the first aid kit is not going to cut it and she calls a park ranger to take care of me. Can't remember her name, but she told me all kinds of good stories about people doing stupid stuff haha!

I'm all bandaged up so we get back on the road to Manassas.

I love this place!

We'd love to watch a civil war reenactment sometime, but somehow we always miss them. They actually had one the day we were there, but it was long over by the time we got there ... we did see these people in period clothing hanging out. Pretty neat!

Wooden Henry House has been recently renovated.

Beautiful clearing. My knee's throbbing a bit, but I push on and we end up going for a long walk through the woods.

Deeper in the woods it's hard to tell that spring has arrived.

And we're back!

We get back in the car and drive across the road to Chinn Ridge. Pictured here is the Benjamin Chinn house site, but not much is left of it.

Hey, what's that?! 7 Deer in the clearing

Trip summary:

Rating: 8.5/10

Distance: 43 mi (Great Falls 17mi ; Manassas 27 mi)

Time spent: 8 hours

Entrance fees: Great Falls: $5 per car; or $3 per person - Manassas Battlefield: $3 per person

More information:

http://www.nps.gov/grfa/

http://www.nps.gov/mana/

Antietam

2010-03-20T11:38:00.000-07:00

It's a nice sunny day in March when we make our way to Antietam. Located near the small town of Sharpsburg, this battlefield was once the site of the bloodiest day of battle during the civil war.

The best way to visit Antietam is by driving the 8.5 mi self-guided tour. There are 11 clearly marked stops along the way.

The first stop is Dunker Church, here seen in the distance behind the cannons.

A view down Cornfield Avenue ... many lives were lost on both sides of the battle in the cornfield on the left side of the road. The statues lining the road are memorials sent by the different states to commemorate the battalions of fallen soldiers.

I noticed a family of groundhogs living near an old (working) farm. This one's just crawling out of its burrow.

Mumma cemetry. Located near Mumma Farm, the only property that was deliberately destroyed in the war.

View from the cemetry's far wall

We go for a short walk along the Bloody Lane Trail. The fencing in the picture is typical for the civil war era and can be seen in many of the nation's battlefield parks.

Sunken Road, also known as Bloody Lane. For three hours the greatly outnumbered confederates were able to hold off the union soldiers, until finally the line collapsed ...

Observation Tower. There's a great overview of the battlefield if you take the stairs to the top.

Cornfields with the mountains in the distance.

My favorite spot in Antietam; Lower Bridge, also known as Burnside Bridge. One of the three main bridges crossing Antietam Creek.

Crossing the bridge. We decided to walk the short Union Advance Trail -- a bit hilly, but really a nice short hike with great views of the river below.

It led to this rope swing down by the creek. I can't tell you how much I wanted to swing out over the water and let go ... but unfortunately, it's just not that warm in March and the water was freezing.

Yes I tested the water! How else would I know the water was so cold? I dipped down as far as I could without getting my shorts wet and still hadn't hit the bottom. Perfect spot for swinging in the summer I'd say!

Just a random picture of the hillside.

Poor little groundhog! He was already dead when we found him, but I didn't see any obvious injuries so I thought it would be nice to show you what they look like up close.

Time for the last stop on the tour: Antietam National Cemetry.

Somewhat reminiscent of Arlington National Cemetry with its neat rows of headstones. There's actually a privately owned cemetry across that street with a lot more personality ... worth a visit if you enjoy that kind of thing.

One last look at the battlefields of Antietam, then it's time to head home.

We drove past this beautiful traditional red barn on our way home.

The cows must've thought I brought treats. They came right over when I got out of the car. So cute!

Don't you love this house?! It's all fake.

Trip summary:

Rating: 6/10

Distance: 70 mi

Time spent: 5 hours

Entrance fees: $4 per person; or $6 per family

More information: http://www.nps.gov/anti/

OT: 9 days in the Southwest

2010-02-14T14:16:00.000-08:00

Check out our adventures in the Southwest:

Trip Summary:

Rating: 9/10
Time spent: 9 days
More information: http://cat-southwest.blogspot.com/