Castillo de San Marcos & Ft. Matanzas

When I first decided that we would try our hardest to get to all the National Parks units in the United States, of course the first ones we would visit would be the ones closest to home.  St. Augustine, Florida is only about 75 miles from where we live; I had been to the Castillo de San Marcos several times, but had never even heard about Ft. Matanzas until I started looking for National Parks units to visit!  I am quite glad that we found this little gem.

Castillo de San Marcos
Players:  Jenny & Jackson 
Date of Visit:  February 2010
Website:  www.nps.gov/casa
Location:  Florida
Entrance Fee:  $6 per person for adults ages 16 & up; kids free
Type of Trip:  Daytrip from home
Park Passport Stamps Available:  1
Trip Report:  Castillo de San Marcos is one of the truly old structures still existing in the United States today.  It is a fort begun by the Spanish in 1672; it is the only 17th century fort still standing in the US.  The fort is built from coquina, a limestone including phosphate most often in the form of shells.  It was the only material available to the Spanish; the Castillo is one of only two buildings in the world made of coquina (the other is Ft. Matanzas, 14 miles south).

Entrance Sign for Castillo de San Marcos

Washington, DC Parks & Monuments

In this post, I'll cover several of the memorials & monuments in Washington, DC.  Please note, these are not ALL of the units covered by the National Park Service in Washington, DC -- only the ones I have been to recently.  The great thing about all of these sites is that they are completely free, and many of them are very close to each other -- making it possible to see many of them in one day.

Arlington House
Players:  Jenny, Steve & Deb
Date of Visit:  February, 2010
Website:  www.nps.gov/arho
Location:  Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia (just outside Washington, DC)
Entrance Fee:  Free!
Type of Trip:  Daytrip while visiting Washington, DC
Park Passport Stamps Available:  1

The Arlington House, located on the grounds of Arlington National Cemetery, is a memorial to Robert E. Lee.  Lee, the famous Civil War general who fought for the Confederacy, lived in the house before the war; it had actually belonged to his wife's family.  After the Civil War, the decision was made to bury the Federal dead literally in Lee's backyard, rendering it unusable.  Arlington House is located at the top of a steep hill; needless to say, the views of the city are quite stunning from the front porch.  When I last visited, the National Park Service was working on restoring Arlington House, and so it was empty of furniture. Jackson has been here, too, although not on my most recent trip.  He was relatively underwhelmed, but enjoyed Arlington National Cemetery overall.

Parks Visited as a Child, Part 2

Continuing in this post, I'm going to outline the National Park Service Units I have only visited as a child with my family.  I hope to re-visit most of these sites some day as my memories of many of them are quite hazy.

Glacier National Park
Players:  Jenny, Steve, Carole & Jenny's sisters
Date of visit:  Summer 1994?
Website:  www.nps.gov/glac
Location:  Montana
Entrance Fee:  $25 per car
Type of Trip:  Daytrip as part of Western US Epic Road Trip
Park Passport Stamps Available:  9
Review:  One of the "crown jewels" of the National Park system, Glacier National Park has attracted lots of attention in recent years because of the rapid shrinking of its namesake glaciers.  The thing I remember most about Glacier was driving over Going-to-the-Sun Road, a 50 mile road that is a feat of engineering through some of the most stunning alpine passes to be found on the American continent.  I distinctly remember sitting in the backseat of the car on the passenger side and being able to look out my window straight down the side of the mountain....I didn't like that so much!  I'm glad my dad is a good driver :)  But I do remember the scenery on the drive.  And I think we stopped at a chalet somewhere in the park, and it was snowing lightly -- a novel thing for the middle of summer for an Iowa girl.  Glacier is on my list of parks to go back and hike ASAP.
 
Great Sand Dunes National Park
Players:  Jenny, Jenny's cousin & Jenny's grandma
Date of Visit:  Summer 1996?
Website:  www.nps.gov/grsa
Location:  Colorado
Entrance Fee:  $3 per adult
Type of Trip:  Daytrip while passing through Colorado on way to New Mexico
Park Passport Stamps Available: 1
Review:  Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve has the tallest sand dunes in North America.  It is truly a unique experience to climb up sand dunes and slide down them right here in the United States.  We stopped at this park on a trip to the Southwest with my grandma.  My cousin and I had a great time here.  It was really hot and I remember how hot the sand was on my feet.  And it is much harder to climb up a sand dune than it appears!  I look forward to taking Jackson here someday.

Parks Visited as a Child, Part 1

In this post and the next one, I'm going to outline the National Park Service Units I have only visited as a child with my family.  I hope to re-visit most of these sites some day as my memories of many of them are quite hazy.

Antietam National Battlefield
Players:  Jenny, Steve, Carole & Jenny's sisters
Date of Visit:  Summer 1991?
Website:  www.nps.gov/anti
Location:  Maryland
Entrance Fee:   $4 per person or $6 per family
Type of Trip:  Day trip as part of Eastern US Epic Road Trip
Park Passport Stamps Available:   2
Review:  Antietam is the site of the single bloodiest battle in United States history, with over 23,000 soldiers killed, wounded or missing after the battle on September 17, 1862.  Honestly, I don't remember too much about this park.   My dad, a history teacher for many years, had a great time traipsing around the battlefield and showing us different things.  I must have been about 9 or 10 when we went, and the one thing that stuck out for me was walking the Bloody Lane and thinking about how many soldiers it would take to fill up the sunken road with bodies.  I believe we also did a driving tour of the battlefield, which the website indicates is still available.  I look forward to going back some day to do the walking tours via podcast!

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