Virginia and DC - July 2019

July 12, 2019

This morning we left Virginia behind after almost three weeks to spend a few nights at Catoctin Mountain Park in northern Maryland.  The park ranger told me the forecast for tonight was a low of 64 degrees - we are ready!!!

Since my last post, we took a day trip across the Potomac from Westmoreland State Park into Maryland to visit Thomas Stone National Historic Site (he signed the Declaration of Independence), Piscataway Park (directly across the river from Mount Vernon), and Fort Washington Park (another fort!).  We came across a historic one-room schoolhouse in the town of Port Tobacco and had a nice visit with the retired teacher who was volunteering there that day.  Of particular interest to me was the wall map of the U.S. printed in 1856 before most of the western territories became states.

Entrance to Westmoreland State Park - "Virginia is for Lovers"

The shark's tooth is on the display because they are found on Fossil Beach 

in the park.  We hiked down to Fossil Beach before leaving the park

and saw bald eagles out over the water and on the bluffs above the 

Potomac River.  Here is the view upstream and downstream:

 Port Tobacco One-Room Schoolhouse (c. 1876)

View of Mount Vernon across the Potomac from Piscataway Park.

It is our understanding that P. Park is there to preserve the view from Mount Vernon.

Sally port at Fort Washington . . .

 view of the Potomac looking downstream from the ramparts . . .

 . . . and Washington, D.C. in the hazy distance upstream.

Another battlefield visit - Manassas - before settling in at our campsite at Prince William Forest Park (NPS) near Quantico.   We found ourselves next door to National Museum of the Marine Corps and spent most of a day there and enjoyed superb exhibits depicting the history of the Marines from 1775 through the Viet Nam War.

 National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, VA

 one of the realistic displays

central atrium of the museum

 one of the two flags raised on Iwo Jima

 outdoor honor display

with commemorative dog tags for fallen service men and women

Semper Fidelis Memorial Park next to the museum:

We passed this large crucifix several times in the area of Prince William Forest Park so we stopped for a closer look:

Our next stop was Ashburn, VA to enjoy the warm and welcoming hospitality of Peter Miller and his wife, Denise.  Brian has been friends with Peter since sixth grade and they shared good memories of Dave Chilton (see previous post).   Peter took us to Great Falls Park on the Potomac on one day, and dropped us off at the "Kiss and Ride" lane at the Metro station in Reston so we could ride the train into DC the next day.

Great Falls of the Potomac

remnants of old canal in Great Falls Park

It has been 25+ years since we were tourists in Washington, DC so we headed for an area we had never visited before and to see monuments that are relatively new around the Tidal Basin.

 Jefferson Memorial - scaffolded for roof repairs and cleaning the dome

 I can see him in there . . .

 . . . and there he is!

As we continued to walk around the Tidal Basin, we came to the FDR Memorial:

Sculpture of a Depression breadline

And, of course, Eleanor

 One of the newest memorials . . .

. . . is quite large - Brian is wearing a red shirt.

We walked past this one a few times . . .

. . . and saw it from across the Tidal Basin.

We had time for one museum - the Holocaust Museum:

 From the moment you get on the elevator, you are reminded of the horrific events of the Holocaust.

bricks from the Warsaw Ghetto streets

 Hall of Remembrance

We went out and hoisted a few at the Lost Rhino Brewery with Peter before leaving.

No "seen while geocaching" pictures this time (I didn't get a picture of Peter falling in the creek while searching), but I saw this just a little while ago in the library where I am composing this post: