Greater DC National Parks-Part 2

Wrapping up our time around DC

After our day off, we spent 3 more days visiting more new NPS Sites and a new MLB Park before heading west.

Visits to 4 new National Park Sites:

Friday was a very eclectic NPS visit day, across Maryland, DC, and Virginia. It was also a long one. We left ~9:30 am and returned ~11:45 pm.

• Greenbelt Park (#348), Maryland, only 10 miles from Washington, DC, one can enjoy affordable camping, hiking, and peaceful forest surroundings. We had originally planned to camp our last 4 nights around DC here, BUT…no hookups and it was going to be HOT! So, only 2 weeks out, we cancelled. Instead for our visit, we just spent a couple of hours checking out the campground (rustic but nice), chatting with the rangers (got a hot tip from one on parking at Wolf Trap later that day), and taking a short hike through the woods.
• Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on the Potomac (#349), DC, a “Living Memorial” (like TR Island), which we bi-passed on our drive up the GW Parkway on Wednesday. We went back to check it out and have a picnic (a recommended activity here.) From this distance the seat of national power appears pristine across the river, so President Johnson came here often when he needed to escape from the stresses of building a Great Society. After he died, his wife chose this place for his memorial. A landscape of serpentine paths, white pines, a granite monolith, and an open meadow honors his legacy of social justice and conservation legislation.
• Clara Barton National Historic Site (#350), Maryland, the first National Park established in honor of a Woman! Clara Barton dedicated her life and energies to help others in times of need – both home and abroad, in peacetime as well as during military emergencies. Glen Echo was her home the last 15 years of her life, where she did much of her Red Cross work, and the structure illustrates her dedication and concern for those less fortunate than herself. One interesting thing we learned on our tour (which teared Gail up) is that Chef and humanitarian José Andrés views Clara Barton as a core inspiration for his disaster-relief organization, World Central Kitchen (our favorite charity). Andrés’ flagship restaurant, Jaleo, is located directly across the street from the historic Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum in Washington, D.C. Her legacy lives on!
• Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts (#351) in Vienna,Virginia, the only national park dedicated to the performing arts, established in 1966. It is a unique space for visitors to interact with the performing arts in nature. From May through September, multiple amphitheaters in the park present performances such as musicals, dance, opera, jazz, and popular and country music.  The park’s benefactor was Catherine Filene Shouse, of Filenes Department Stores of Boston wealth. Anyway, of course we had to see a show. Our choice (for the timeframe we were around), at the Filene Center was: Bob Dylan, opened by Jimmie Vaughan and the Tilt-A-Whirl Band first, then Lucinda Williams. We showed up early enough to walk around in the woods a bit and have dinner before the show.

DC Day – Visit 2 new National Park Sites & 1 new MLB Ballpark

Saturday we drove to New Carrollton Metro Station to take the Orange Line into DC. Only a half mile to our first destination, ~2 miles to the second, and ~1.5 to the third, the Ballpark, only a block from a Metro Station for our return to camp. We chose to walk while in DC, so got in ~4 miles. We passed many places we need to come back and visit, like Union Station, the Smithsonian, and the Capitol! We visited our last 2 (for now) DC NPS Sites and saw a game in a new MLB Baseball Park.

• Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site (#352), Mary McLeod Bethune achieved her greatest recognition at the Washington, DC townhouse that is now this National Historic Site. The Council House was the first headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) and was Bethune’s last home in Washington, DC. From here, Bethune and the NCNW spearheaded strategies and developed programs that advanced the interests of African American women.
• Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument (#353), home to the National Woman’s Party for more than 90 years, this was the epicenter of the struggle for women’s rights. From this house in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol and Supreme Court, Alice Paul and the NWP developed innovative strategies and tactics to advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment and equality for women. Gail only recently read A Woman’s Crusade: Alice Paul and the Battle for the Ballot, by Mary Walton. Amazing woman. After winning the right to vote, she got multiple Law Degrees and drafted the Equal Rights Amendment with Crystal Eastman in 1923. She even lived long enough to see it passed.

• Diamondbacks @ Washington Nationals at Nationals Park (#22)
  Late afternoon game, and we were in the shade! We discovered what might be a “Nationals Thing“…as it approached the last 2 innings, a bevy of young men in one of the outfield bleacher sections started swinging their shirts in the air, bare-chested. It started with about 3 rows. After they were shown on the jumbotron, it swelled to fill the entire section and some of the aisles! Good Game. Final Score: 5-3 Nationals, so the fans were happy.

Visit to 1 new National Park Site:

Sunday, our last NPS pick-up day, we headed back northeast past Baltimore, to visit the Hampton Estate. Then we had most of the afternoon/evening to get organized, do lots of laundry, stock up groceries, fuel up and otherwise prepare to head west “early” this moring.

• Hampton National Historic Site (#354), Maryland, preserves what remains of a once 25,000-acre enslavement plantation. For hundreds of years, enslaved people, indentured servants, tenant farmers, paid laborers, and the Ridgely family all made their own contributions to Hampton, creating a space where cruelty and decadence collide to provide a complex history of the United States. The site is undergoing quite a bit of rehabilitation, so it’s not all open. We had a fascinating tour of the mansion, used as a backdrop to tell some of this complex history. Then we walked around the grounds…beautiful gardens, the family cemetery, the stables, dairy barn, etc.

Summary for total time around DC/NPTC Convention

We were here 13 nights/12 days and made it to 20 New NPS Sites (over 9 of 12 days):

• 12 National Capital Parks
• 3 Virginia Parks
• 5 Maryland Parks

That leaves for Next Time (two weeks won’t be enough):

• 2 “counted” NPS Sites in the National Capitol
• 1 “counted” NPS Site in Maryland
• 1 “counted” NPS Site in Virginia
• 10-20 Affiliated NPS Sites in the Capital Region
• 20-30 Museums in the Capitol Region!!! (e.g. The Spy Museum, all of the Smithsonian!)

Now in Buckeye Lake, Ohio

Got here late yesterday. While Mark did all of the ~400 miles of driving to Ohio, Gail spent worked on our DC posts for the last 2 weeks of intense touring. Who said we wouldn’t use internet in the truck? (actually, no one.) With this post, finally caught up!

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