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 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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