Further In & Higher Up

Thomas Edison National Historical Park

2011-11-25T21:58:00.000-05:00

For our day-after-Thanksgiving adventure, my brother, his wife, and I drove into New Jersey to see my 199th NPS site, the Thomas Edison National Historic Park. It's the site of the house where he lived for the last 45 years of his life, and the site of an amazingly well-preserved laboratory and industrial complex.

Our first stop was the Chemistry Lab, which requires a free but timed ticket. It was like going back in time -- to high school and beyond. They maintained the lab just as it was back in tehe 30's -- beakers, testtubes, chemicals, books, everything. Edison's last experiment was in trying to find a domestic source of rubber, and he was trying goldenrod sap. He found a way to make tires, but they weren't robust enough to compete with rubber.

The factory portion had been mostly dedicated to making rechargable batteries, which was in the end his biggest moneymaker, far beyond the electric light, phonograph, or even movie. Those other inventions were highlighted in other areas of the labs -- it was just overwhelming seeing how many of life's conveniences he impacted.

His house was very nice -- again, with all his original furniture, where he raised his 6 children. Since the furnishings date to the 30's, it wasn't that historic or remarkable. Still, interesting seeing where The Man lived.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 4 -- The scene of many of the greatest inventions from the greatest American inventor -- and his house as a bonus.
Beauty: 1 -- a factory and a nice house in a park.
Fun: 2 -- mostly a museum, but fun in its own way.
Overall: 3

Accessibility: East Orange, NJ -- within a couple hours of Philly, very close to NYC
Logistics/signs: 4 -- excellent rangers/tour guides, great displays, signs.
Time required: 2 hours minimum, and with timed tickets, you have to commit once you arrive as to how much time you'll spend
Time to visit: anytime the roads are passable
Kid friendliness: low -- lots to see but not touch. I didn't see any kids areas. I bet they're somewhere...

Flight 93 National Memorial

2011-11-22T17:47:00.005-05:00

My last stop on my Pennsylvania tour was another sobering, poignant one -- the Flight 93 National Memorial. It's a bit ironic that it's so close (30 minutes...) to the Johnstown Flood site as it's another time when people tragically got swept up in events so outside their control.

While not the newest NPS unit, it represents, perhaps by far, the most recent event, the events of 9/11 being only 10 years ago. And the heroic actions of the 40 people on board to try to take back the plane are well worthy of honor -- they in all likelihood prevented the Capitol or the White House from being destroyed, saving at least hundreds of lives without saving their own.

The site is still in development, but I took encouragement from a Washington Post article urging people to visit now, and I agree. The central impact point of the plane is marked with flags, with a walkway 50 yards away leading to a gate of sorts. On the walls leading to the gate are simply the names of the 40, one per panel. Family members alone can walk through the gate to the impact point.

Many more tributes are planned splawling across this quiet Pennsylvania farmscape, but I think this is enough. Strangers can mourn and honor from a respectful distance while the families can grieve closer, in relative privacy.

Being such a new site, with much of the story still unwinding with the war in Afghanistan continuing, it's hard to tell how the significance of this site will morph with time. With the New York and Pentagon sites under other jurisdictions, this could become the National Memorial to the greater attacks and on-going wars. Or perhaps it will remain a testimony to these 40 souls alone who did the right thing at the ultimate cost.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 5 -- Maybe time will change this, but the most significant event of a generation deserves a central place to remember and mourn.
Beauty: 1 -- like a battlefield park, it's a farmer's field in the middle of nowhere -- and even the monument itself isn't especially beautiful, but if there's beauty in sacrifice, it's here.
Fun: 1 -- perhaps the least fun in the whole NPS system because the reality is so close.
Overall: 5

Accessibility: rather remote -- about an hour off the PA turnpike, a few hours from DC, Baltimore
Logistics/signs: 3 -- not much here yet, but enough to get the job done. A few more signs and the movie that none of us needs to see await.
Time required: 30 minutes will do -- a quarter mile walk both ways, a few plackards, and some time to reflect.
Time to visit: totally outside, so spring/fall are best.
Kid friendliness: awfully low -- think the Vietnam Memorial. Perhaps with the additional construction will include interpretive elements more child-centered.

And with that, I'm at #198 out of (now) 396 NPS sites -- halfway done...

Johnstown Flood National Memorial

2011-11-21T19:20:00.005-05:00

Within a half hour of the Allegheny site is the memorial for the Johnstown Flood, which occurred in 1889. I could not think of another park that commemorates a disaster like this, though I could think of many that may be in the future, like Hurricane Katrina. Katrina wasn't once mentioned, but you could feel the parallels.

Outside of a war, never had America seen a day like May 31, 1889, when over 2,000 people died as a result of flooding from a burst dam in central Pennsylvania. The disaster had class-based implications, as the dam created a reservoir which wealthy folks used for the fishing and pleasure boating club. The victims were overwhelmingly working class people who worked at the town's many factories. Johnstown is in a bowl, which is still plainly evident today.

By all accounts, the dam was well made in its time, but the club used various gates to prevent their imported fish from leaving through the spillway. They also plugged the pipes at the bottom which could've been used to control the water levels. Sure enough, the inevitable happened -- a massive rainstorm that lasted for a day in the wake of a wet spring with high snow run-off.

The water topped the dam (which the Club had lowered 3 feet to allow for easier access across it!), and with earthen dams, that's bad, bad news. The water began to wear away the sagging middle of the dam, causing more water to flow over, causing more erosion. A catastrophic failure ensued.

Telegraph operators attempted to warn the towns downstream, but few heeded the call. a 40-foot tidal wave roared down the narrow valley, sweeping away rail cars, a bridge, and entire homes. Johnstown was 10 miles away (!!), but it still got thrashed.

The visitor center is by the dam, which was never rebuilt. The house for the dam maintainer also stands -- he apparently tried valiently to shore up the dam, but it didn't work. The movie is vivid, piecing together various early Hollywood silent films about the disaster, spliced with period photographs and scenes from the local graveyard.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 3 -- important as representative of both one incredible disaster and many others made worse by man's action
Beauty: 3 -- heart of the Allegheny's
Fun: 1 -- Like a battlefield park, it's not designed for that, and you can't even really hike
Overall: 3

Accessibility: fairly remote -- an hour off the PA turnpike, a few hours from DC, Baltimore
Logistics/signs: 4 -- excellent movie, helpful rangers, lots of signs
Time required: 60 minutes for the movie and time to explore the dam. The city itself is not part of the park, and they have more exhibits there
Time to visit: almost anytime it's not snowy
Kid friendliness: pretty low as the main attraction, the movie, is only appropriate for older children. No place to play.

Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site

2011-11-19T21:47:00.001-05:00

I had another unexpectedly open weekend this weekend, so I made another dash, this time to a group of NPS sites in Pennsylvania. I drove to Bedford, PA, on Friday and then this morning headed north to Creeson near Alatoona. On the way, I took I-99, which I didn't even know existed! I've been to the vast majority of US interstates at this point, and certainly didn't expect to find a new one.

My first stop was Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site, one of the few NPS sites dedicated to the wonders of engineering! It was the 1830's, and as America expanded westward, different states tried means to get goods and crops across the state expediently. New York had a lot of success with the Eric Canal, and Maryland was attempting the C&O canal. Pennsylvania was stuck though -- there was no obvious way to dig a canal across the Allegheny mountains. Nor were locomotives of the day powerful enough to pull significant cargo over the mountains.

Their solution was pretty amazing -- dig canals on both sides as far as reasonable, then build inclines with a steam engine at the top. The canal boats would be placed on special rail cars, and the cars would be drug to the top by ropes (and eventually cables) attached to the steam engine. There would be one such "dragging station" every mile or so, so there were many transfers to be made, and it was incredibly manpower-intensive. But it cut a trip from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh from 23 days on the roads down to 5 days (!!).

As complex as it was, it worked for 20 years, until a proper railway was built through the area, killing this and the C&O canal. It was a recurring theme in the area -- tons of capital investment to build an infrastructure that may not have staying power. We often talk about the pace of change today, but we're still using the rail infrastructure from over 100 years ago and the interstate highway system from the 50's...my promised Jetson-style flying cars haven't emerged yet...

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 3 -- celebrates American ingenuity, flexibility, mixed with nostalgia
Beauty: 2 -- rolling hills of western PA
Fun: 2 -- it's not a recreational park, more like a living museum, which was cool. They have a full-scale mock up of the old dragging station and one of the old taverns still stands.
Overall: 3 -- here's to the engineers! This joins the Falkirk Wheel as one of the coolest tributes to engineers.

Accessibility: 40 minutes off the PA turnpike, a few hours from DC, Baltimore
Logistics/signs: 4 -- excellent movie, helpful rangers, lots of signs, well laid out
Time required: 90 minutes if you walk down to the bridge.
Time to visit: fall/spring as it's mostly outdoors.
Kid friendliness: medium -- trains, engines, some walking

Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

2011-11-12T20:38:00.000-05:00

I've been visiting national parks with some intention for about 6 years now. I'm nearly halfway done nationally, but I only had one left to the many in Virginia, so this weekend I decided to make dash down to Appomattox Court House National Historical Park.

On top of being the last in Virginia for me, it's also the last of the Civil War sites around here. Fitting enough since it marks if not the actual end, the event most poignantly signifying The End of the American Civil War. And this is one excellent commemoration.

The park is especially good because of the history of the town after Lee surrendere to Grant. The village was slowly being abandoned even it in 1865 since the railroad passed south of there, and pople started settling closer to the station 3 miles away. That meant that the area around the courthouse was easy to acquire. The few homes have been rebuilt, and it's now SO easy to picture how those last days transpired.

I arrived just in time to hear a ranger, in character as a Confederate Lieutenant from that era, tell the story. He spoke of how they'd been fleeing Richmond and Petersburg and were trying to first make it to that very railroad station to get the rations waiting there. They would then turn south to join other armies in North Carolina. But that chance never came.

Federal cavalry raced ahead and seized the shipment, and all roads south were blocked. The Confederates last hope was to break through the cavalry in front of them. To their dismay, they soon heard and saw many thousands of troops coming at them from that direction. They were utterly pinned.

Much was made of Grant's civilized terms he granted Lee, including passes for each man to take as he surrendered, guaranteeing him safe passage home. But where was home? Perhaps 1000 miles away, and after years of camaraderie and living with the army, the tension faced by the men faced with the End of the war was palpable. I wonder how many never made it, or never readjusted.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 5 -- a site of the end, and new beginnings, and grave uncertainties.
Beauty: 2 -- rolling hills of Virginia
Fun: 2 -- not designed for that, but many period houses to explore, and you can walk the actual steps of the Confederate surrender, and walk into the room where the terms of surrender were signed.
Overall: 4 -- well worth the trip if you're visiting Richmond (see battlefield parks there and in Petersburg first) or living anywhere in the region.

Accessibility: an hour off any major path -- I-81, I-64, I-295
Logistics/signs: 5 -- excellent movie, awesome portrayal by the ranger, lots of helpful signs, good visitor's center -- some real care went into it.
Time required: Seeing the major sites would take a few hours.
Time to visit: fall/spring as it's mostly outdoors.
Kid friendliness: medium/low -- some walking, lots of look-but-don't-touch, and a complicated story.

Oxon Hill Farm

2011-10-29T22:53:00.000-04:00

Not far from my house is one of the least known parts of the national park system here in DC, Oxon Hill Farm at Oxon Cove Park. It's not its own unit in the NPS system, being part of "National Capital Parks -- East" along with Anacostia Park, the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, and many of the civil rights sites in the city.

With its location just off the DC beltway, it's likely passed by tens of thousands of people a day, but all you can see from the road is trees. But, if you go there, you'll find a pleasant little 1850's-era, 500-acre farm to explore.

They make it clear -- this is no petting zoo, and they'll be glad to put you to work. Each day the cows need milking, chickens need feeding, eggs need gathering, and pigs need feeding. On one visit with friends, we arrived at just the right time (9:30 am) to get to do all of these things in turn.

You'll also see horses, geese, and cats among the many barns. These barns also hold antique farm equipment on display. The central visitor station has special displays for kids, including puppets for a puppet show. The old farmhouse is still under renovation, but from the porch you can see the Potomac River into Alexandria.

This is perhaps the most kid-friendly park I've found for the 5-10-year old set. If they're burned out with museums and wandering the Mall, this would be an excellent break if you're in the DC, even if it's cold and rainy :-)

Morristown National Historical Park

2011-10-08T20:15:00.004-04:00

Back from Colorado, I had a full 5 days back in my own home before I hit the road again, this time to Connecticut for a wedding. The I-95 corridor is amazingly crowded for very long distances, so I knew I wouldn't make it all the way to CT after work on a Friday, so I stopped near Morristown National Historical Park and explored it the next morning.

Morristown is the site of a winter encampment of Washington's army during the Revolutionary War, very similar to Valley Forge. The winter was by all accounts more brutal than for Valley Forge, but fewer people died, mostly because the Army was better seasoned and wiser by this point in the war. The park has 4 main areas -- the main encampment site at Jockey's Hollow, a smaller encampment for New Jersey Brigade, Washington's headquarters in town, and Fort Nonsense in town.

I went to the NJ Brigade site first, and you can only get there by foot, so I had a nice morning walk through a forest. Nothing remains of the site, I found -- it's simply where the latest comers that winter stayed.

Jockey's Hollow has some re-created huts and tons of trails/roads for walking and biking.

Fort Nonsense was the lookout post keeping an eye on British movements from New York City. The location of the whole encampment had to do with this lookout point. The derisive name was given after the fact by cynical soldiers who thought they built it only to be kept busy.

Washington's HQ is yet another colonial-era house, but a nice one. No pictures allowed inside this time.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 3 -- worst winter ever, but none of the notoriety as Valley Forge.
Beauty: 2 -- rolling hills of Northern New Jersey
Fun: 3 -- extensive footpaths, bike trails, history to explore
Overall: 3 -- like Valley Forge, but without the crowds

Accessibility: on I-295 around the NJ side of New York City.
Logistics/signs: 3 -- good movie, nice visitor's center, clear signs
Time required: depends on how much you want to walk. Seeing the major sites by car would take a few hours.
Time to visit: fall/spring as it's mostly outdoors.
Kid friendliness: medium -- if they're happy walking in the forests.

Fort Necessity National Battlefield

2011-10-04T19:29:00.001-04:00

Pressing on from Friendship, I had a pleasant and easy drive through rural Pennsylvania to get to Fort Necessity National Battlefield, another site tied to George Washington and the first that I've been to regarding the French and Indian War.

The time is the 1750's, and the French and British are vying for control of territory in and west of the Appalachians. The British forces stumble upon a French contingent still waking up. Depending on whose account to read, either the French shot first or the French were ambushed. In either case, it was quite a slaughter, and Washington knew that he would soon experience a counter-attack.

So, he had his troops hastily build a "fort" (more like a small cabin surrounded by sticks. Worse yet, he built it on a flat place in fairly marshy ground, with a protective treeline within a rifle's shot. Sure enough, the attack came, and sure enough, Washington's men were outnumbered and pinned. He surrendered (!!) but lived on to fight another day. Given his precarious position, I'm very surprised he did live to tell about it.

With further reinforcements, the British were eventually able to sweep the French army out of what would become the United States in what both sides consider the North American Campaign of the Seven Years War. The conclusion of that war saw Spain gain control of what would become the Louisiana Purchase, while the British gained Florida.

As for the "Indians," they were courted by both sides, but it sounds like the Brits made some pretty dubious promises (you can't stay here, but you can have land west of the Appalachians), which led most native tribes to side with the French.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 3 -- Washington surrendered, and a World War started.
Beauty: 2 -- rolling hills of western Pennsylvania
Fun: 2 -- a cool museum, some footpaths
Overall: 2 -- interesting enough if you're in the area.

Accessibility: Roughly 30 miles off I-68, a few hours from any major city
Logistics/signs: 3 -- good movie, nice visitor's center, clear signs
Time required: about an hour, more if you walk to Washington's Tavern
Time to visit: fall/spring as it's mostly outdoors.
Kid friendliness: medium -- a playground, places to romp around

Friendship Hill National Historic Site

2011-10-03T22:04:00.002-04:00

Pressing on in the rain, I passed very quickly through West Virginia into Pennsylvania where I'd already been to the high point and the state capitol. So, I took the opportunity to see two small NPS units in the southwest. First up was Friendship Hill National Historic Site, home of Albert Gallatin, an early Secretary of the Treasury for the U.S.

The site is his old house (still about 50% original) and the surrounding grounds. The house was way out on the frontier back to the late 1700's, and part of the story was about how his 2nd wife was unhappy so far from civilization. Having been to plenty of such houses, this one was nothing special.

But his story was interesting, coming to America from Switzerland, getting involved in setting up various businesses, most notably a glass works, and in teaching French when business was bad. He came from an influential family, which led him to having good connections in America. Thus, when he entered the political world, he was sought after by those in leadership.

His lasting fame came in developing a monetary policy for the young US, trying to get it out from under the burdensome debt of the Revolutionary War. His actions as Secretary of the Treasury under Jefferson also earned him credit with Lewis and Clark, who named a river in Montana for him, since he'd basically financed their adventure.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 2 -- he's a 2nd-tier figure in early American history, but that's made up for by this being his actual house
Beauty: 2 -- rolling hills of western Pennsylvania
Fun: 2 -- a house to explore, but many footpaths through the grounds
Overall: 2 -- interesting enough if you're in the area.

Accessibility: An hour off I-70 from the west, 40 minutes from I-79, 20 min from I-68..
Logistics/signs: 2 -- not much of a movie, and the placards about his life were virtually strewn through the building in little order.
Time required: about an hour
Time to visit: anytime -- mostly indoors.
Kid friendliness: low

Columbus, Ohio

2011-10-02T21:53:00.001-04:00

Pressing on to Ohio, the state high point was a little too far off the path, so I headed to Columbus. It was night when I arrived, so I settled into a downtown hotel with apparently 100 weddings on this Friday night. At least the gym and pool were empty. I caught up with the rain by this point, having been behind it all day.

The next morning I walked a couple blocks to the Capitol. I don't know if and when they plan to put on a dome, but it looked incomplete. Being Saturday, I didn't get to go in, so all the pics here will be from the outside. The place of honor went to President McKinley featured, but they did make room for a statue of Columbus himself.

Indianapolis, Indiana

2011-10-01T21:28:00.003-04:00

After a stop with family in Janesville, WI, I pressed on into Illinois, skirting around Chicago and into Indiana. I then cut south to I-70 and Indianapolis, where I stopped in to see the capitol.

I'd been through Indianapolis plenty during my time living in Dayton, OH, but I only remember blasting through. I did go to one big Promise Keepers stadium event back in the late 90's that may have been in Indianapolis, but I can't be sure.

Being another weekday, I was able to get in to the capitol again. Nothing as exciting as Madison, but very nice nonetheless.

Down the street was another very impressive Civil War memorial, and it's being spruced up since Indianapolis is hosting the Super Bowl this year.

I then pressed east and discovered that the Indiana state high point wasn't too far off I-70. It was a bit of a scavenger hunt as my only guide was a Road Atlas, and that part of Indiana wasn't exactly mountainous. But, sure enough I did keep climbing on the road, and thankfully, there was a sign.

The actual spot is privately owned, but at least they've put up a marker. Not that notable of a view either -- but that's part of the fun!

Madison, Wisconsin

2011-09-30T20:44:00.002-04:00

After a stop in Minneapolis to visit my sister's family, I passed through St Paul and then on down to Madison, for my 8th and 9th state capitals on this trip. I'd been to Madison before, getting a tour of the campus with one of my cousins. This time I went, as you could guess, to the Capitol.

It's on a finger of land between two large lakes -- I imagine that makes traffic rather a mess regularly, and I got caught in some of it. It was a cloudy, misty/rainy day after many of hundreds of miles of sunshine. It was another impressive structure on the outside, shaped like a plus sign, with roads radiating from the inside corners. Not many statues outside, so I wandered in again.

Well, this time, on top of the marvelous architecture again, there was something else to see -- people...gathered under the dome...singing! No, it wasn't a gospel choir, though there was a running theme of overcoming despite oppression. Yes, it was the remnants of the crowds that occupied the capitol earlier in the year. They sang surprisingly well, and it echoed through the building, adding an unusual soundtrack to my visit.

After being able to walk into Lincoln's capitol with no security and seeing almost no one, it was actually heartening to see democracy in action. "Congress shall make no law [...] prohibiting [...] the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

Des Moines, Iowa

2011-09-29T20:23:00.003-04:00

Leaving Nebraska, I was warmly welcomed into Iowa, as you can see. My only stop in the state was at the capital, Des Moines (which of course means "of the Moines" in French), which was another very pleasant place to stop.

The Capitol's up on a big hill overlooking the rest of downtown. It's unique among state capitols in that it has not one but five domes. The gold is a beautiful touch too. It was open, so I went in for a look around. Again, it was very beautiful, right down to the library.

I asked about the Liberty Bell replica, and the guide said, "Oh, it's out on the far end of the parking lot..." Nice...

Near there though were some England-esque war-memorial statues, worthy of Trafalgar square.

A return to "Lincoln"

2011-09-28T22:47:00.005-04:00

After seeing many monuments to Lincoln over the last year or two, I finally made my first visit to his namesake city in Nebraska. While living in England, I went to church in Lincoln there -- the name was unusual there as it didn't end in one of the major suffixes: -by, -ford, -ton, -ham, -thorpe, -cester.

I got to Nebraska's Lincoln too late to see much of anything, despite going nearly non-stop there from the Springs. The drive was melancholy -- reversing all the excitement of getting closer and closer to the mountains. Still, the wide-open spaces are still exhilerating in their own way.

The next morning I drove down to the Capitol to have a look around. It was a big, flat, gridded town -- classic Americana. I parked right by the Capitol and took the opportunity to go in, since it was actually not a weekend. For a humble, earthy midwestern state, they surely had a grand Capitol. I had an excellent walk around.

On an earlier journey, I'd been to the two western Nebraska national parks and the high point. That leaves 3 more parks to go for them, with one especially far off the interstate -- Nicodemus revisted...

Colorado, Rocky Mountain High

2011-09-17T12:17:00.000-04:00

I finally got caught up on my adventures en route to Colorado, and here are a few pictures from my adventures once I got here. A friend came up from Albuquerque to scale one of the 14,000-ft mountains in the Colorado Rockies. Our first adventure was 8 years ago climbing another "14-er," and we've done many hikes with our friends over the years, but all before I started blogging.

For this trip, we drove over to Buena Vista, CO, on friday night and got an early start for the climb. In the summer, you want to start early to avoid getting caught in a thunderstorm at the top where there won't be any shelter (indeed, there won't be a tree for the last 3,000 ft!). It started off cloudy with a bit of mist, but that's normal for early morning, so we pressed on.

The climb was normal for us -- start off in the forest with a mix of steep walking and more gentle slopes, the alpine meadows, and then some rocky places. I've yet to do one that requires true mountain climbing equipment (which is why I'm not intending to climb all 50+ 14-ers), but this one required using my hands for balance at some point.

As we climbed, the sun kept peeking through the clouds, but it didn't clear. Once past tree-line, we found snow on the trail, never more than a few inches deep. Then the wind picked up, and more snow pellets fell. By the time we got to the top, we had significantly restricted visibility, but we made it :-) As someone who's been living at sea level for awhile, I was pretty pleased.

I marked this post as "high point" since we were very close to Mt Elbert, the highest in Colorado. We scaled that one back in 2005, and we were rewarded with much nicer views:

Nicodemus National Historic Site

2011-09-11T13:43:00.002-04:00

Cruising west through Kansas, I took a detour north off the interstate to the Nicodemus National Historic Site. Unlike back east where getting off the interstate means an automatic large time penalty, in rural western Kansas, I'm not sure that made much difference at all.

The site consists of 4 buildings, only one of which is open. There you can watch a video and read some plackards about the original settlement of this town back in the 1870's. It was promoted among recently-freed slaves as a place to have a new start -- a community just for them. What was not advertised so well was that it was in the middle of nowhere, and not much like Alabama, so those first few years must've been brutally hard. But eventually, a town of reasonable prosperity grew up.

However, the final blow to the town came when the railroad lines were being run through the area but they bypassed Nicodemus to the south, as the interstate does now. That, plus the overall hardship, led many to find other homes closer to civilization. Still, the village stands, and there's a lot to be said for that. And who knew that 2 of the 20 NPS civil rights sites would be in Kansas?!

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 2 -- a testimony to new beginnings and perseverence
Beauty: 1 -- a few old buildings on a flat, treeless, dusty plain
Fun: 1 -- not at all designed for that
Overall: 2 -- it's really for completists, but I appreciated it nonetheless

Accessibility: An hour off I-70 from the east, but under that as a detour if you're passing through
Logistics/signs: 3 -- good signs, reasonable video, lonely ranger.
Time required: about an hour
Time to visit: anytime -- mostly indoors.
Kid friendliness: low

A word about getting there -- the "town" of Nicodemus may or may not be in your GPS -- or on your state-wide map -- it's really small. But, the site is literally 100 yards off of US 24, and there are signs.

Brown v the Board of Education of Topeka, KS National Historic Site

2011-09-10T21:54:00.003-04:00

Pressing west, I came close to the Harry S. Truman national historic site, but I'd been having such a nice time wandering Jefferson City that I was going to be too late there. Instead, I crossed into Kansas and got to the capital, Topeka, not long before dark.

The next morning I went downtown and had to fill my tires since it had gotten so cold that night. I drove to the Capitol, which was under construction. Topeka's 3x the size of Jefferson City, and it just seemed more run down and more industrial. After a walk around the under-construction Capitol, I made the short drive over to the Brown vs the Board of Education National Historic Site.

Ends up, it could've been my 2nd Supreme-Court-ruling NPS site in as many days, but I didn't go into the St Louis old courthouse where the Dred Scott case was argued. Even so, it was interesting being at a civil rights site so far from all the others I've been to from Alabama to Boston. But, it was here that the flagship of 5 de-segregation lawsuits was filed. Mr Brown was the one male litigant among 7 on the original Brown case, and his name was put on the overall case since it was from Kansas and not a southern state.

While many states mandated segregation, and many outlawed it, Kansas allowed school districts to decide. The plackards there told of the black children of Topeka being forced to walk to far away schools while white children were bused to closer ones. The NHS is at one of the original schools, and pictures inside show segregated classrooms, if not segregated schools. I guess integrated classes came later...

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 3 -- an actual school part of a landmark civil rights case.
Beauty: 1 -- school in a flat, treeless community
Fun: 1 -- not at all designed for that
Overall: 2 -- definitely worth a stop as you pass through Kansas.

Accessibility: Downtown Topeka, just a mile or two off of I-70
Logistics/signs: 4 -- very good, with especially helpful rangers, very good displays & movie.
Time required: an hour or so
Time to visit: anytime.
Kid friendliness: for mature kids it should be very sobering

Jefferson City, Missouri

2011-09-09T00:30:00.002-04:00

Once I escaped the Grant memorial traffic, I headed west again for Jefferson City. After days on the interstate, it was nice to be on state routes for awhile through rural central Missouri.

The "city" is more like a town, with 40,000 people, a pleasant but not large downtown area of shops and restaurants. I sat outside for lunch on this amazingly pleasant, sunny day. Being Labor Day, I didn't have a lot of company there or on my subsequent walk to the Governor's Mansion and capitol.

It was my usual walking tour -- one loop around, checking out the artwork and the normal state war memorial (often accompanied by memorials for fallen firefighters and policemen). And I found the Liberty Bell...

But up front, in no surprise, was the man behind the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis & Clark expedition, Thomas Jefferson himself. Overall, a very pleasant place to spend part of an afternoon.

Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site

2011-09-08T19:58:00.000-04:00

After the Gateway Arch, I attempted to go to a site that I actually, no-kidding have never been to before, but boy, was it harder than I thought. The target was Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site, a house where he lived much of his adult life.

So, I was one turn away from getting to the site when traffic just STOPPED. There was a light at the bottom of a hill turning right, and I could see a half-mile's worth of cars waiting to turn left where dozens of us waited to turn right. My GPS clearly showed a large park, but I couldn't figure out why there was such a crowd and why it wasn't moving, just a few cars per light cycle. I also presumed that the site and the park were the same.

I turned on a side street before the light, and I wound my way through an exclusive looking neighborhood, but there was no other exit. Rather than rejoin the queue, I tried driving around the park and was surprised to see this huge city park completely fenced in with absolutely no other way in. Looping all the way around, I got to the source of the problem -- the park had a single parking lot with a single person taking money from people to enter. But the good news was that that was not the NPS site -- the entrance to that was blocked by the crowds to the other.

The movie at the visitor's center told the story of Grant's life and how he met his wife, who'd grown up in this house. They eventually bought the property, and it became a place of rest for him in between his various tours in the military and eventually the Presidency. Those historic aspects of his life were brought up, but it was more of a family story. An old barn was converted into a display case with artifacts and plackards about his life. The house and many out-buildings still stand and are in good condition.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 2 -- it's a good spot to commemorate a war hero and two-term president.
Beauty: 2 -- wooded farmland
Fun: 2 -- mostly you just wander the farm
Overall: 2 -- worth a stop if you're in the area.

Accessibility: SW of St Louis 7 miles off of either I-44 and I-55
Logistics/signs: 3 -- good, with helpful rangers, good displays
Time required: an hour or so, especially if you do the house tour.
Time to visit: not on a pleasant Labor Day weekend!
Kid friendliness: low

Jefferson National Expansion Memorial

2011-09-07T23:49:00.001-04:00

Pressing on west, I cut through Illinois, spent the night in Mt Vernon, which is an interstate crossroads that has become a hub of hotels. The next morning, I pressed on to see two NPS units near St Louis, starting with the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. And for the 2nd time in 3 days, I had deja vu....

The directions were clearly leading me downtown, and I knew from a handful of previous visits that whatever this memorial was, it must be near the iconic Gateway Arch. Well, no kidding is it near...it is simply the name for the park associated with the Gateway Arch.

So, I waited in a substantial security line on this gorgeous fall day to simply get into the visitors center underneath the monument to get my stamp and brochure. There I found an interesting seriosu of exhibits about America's expension in the 1800's, but especially the Lewis & Clark expedition. Having been to a number of these sights on the L&C trail before, this wasn't especially exciting. Nor was I interested in another ride up to the top of the Arch or to see any of the movies.

But, it was an excellent day and time to take pictures of the Arch, so that was worth it. All my previous memories of St Louis are positive -- it's a major league city with much to offer visitors.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 4 -- one of the iconic sites of America, an engineering marvel, and the jump off point for Lewis and Clark.
Beauty: 2 -- cityscape along the Mississippi River
Fun: 3 -- Arch, parkland, movies, museum
Overall: 3 -- St Louis is definitely worth a special visit, and this is a must-see.

Accessibility: downtown St Louis at the convergence of 4 interstates.
Logistics/signs: 3 -- good, with helpful rangers
Time required: a few hours to explore the grounds, catch a movie or two, ride up the arch.
Time to visit: fall or spring away from the crowds when the weather's nice
Kid friendliness: medium, especially if they like heights.

Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial

2011-09-06T19:35:00.001-04:00

For my third state of the day, I passed across the Ohio River at Louisville into Indiana. I was nowhere near the capital or high point, but the road did take me reasonably close to another NPS unit -- the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial. As on many trips before it, I was cutting it close -- I arrived with only 5 minutes to spare before the visitor's center closed.

Having looked at the website in advance, I knew the main part of the park would be available until dark. Still, I was glad to get my brochure and passport stamp. And I didn't think I needed to really hear Lincoln's life story, which was on display at the impressive visitor's center.

The name says it all here -- it's not his birthplace (a separate site in Kentucky) but farmland where his family lived from 1816-1830. His mother died there and is buried on the property. Besides the gravesite, the foundation of the old house has been excavated, and there's now a period farm reconstruction on site.

The last main exhibit is a path through the woods with marked stones every 50 feet or so. Each one is from some significant place in Lincoln's life, not just from his boyhood in the area, but even from his birthplace and the White House. It's an interesting way to reflect on his life and seemed like the most kid-friendly part of the park.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 2 -- I just don't think Lincoln needs this many national park sites, and this is the least significant of them. The logo even gives it away -- Indiana trying to claim a piece of the man...
Beauty: 2 -- forested land
Fun: 2 -- a walk through the forest is the main activity.
Overall: 2 -- go if you're in the area.

Accessibility: under 10 miles from I-64 through southern Indiana.
Logistics/signs: 3 -- good, with helpful rangers
Time required: an hour or so to explore the grounds and perhaps catch the movie
Time to visit: early or late summer as it's mostly outdoors
Kid friendliness: low, some places to run around, but mostly it's history and you have to stay on the paths.

Frankfort, Kentucky

2011-09-05T18:54:00.003-04:00

Heading west from Charleston, my next stop was Frankfort, KY. Not a lot to say here -- I was in a bit of a hurry, so I went straight to the Capitol. Big story here was that I couldn't find any statues for anyone outside, nor was the Liberty Bell on display outside. Being on a weekend, there was no entry either.

As nice as it was, the more startling building was the Governor's mansion right next door. Nice digs and a great commute!

Otherwise, Frankfort seemed like a pleasant small town trapped between the much larger cities of Louisville (which I did drive through for the first time) and Lexington.

Charleston, West Virginia

2011-09-04T21:42:00.000-04:00

With my visit to Bluestone, I've now been to all the NPS units in West Virginia, and I'd previous been to the high point. Today I made it to the capital, Charleston.

I didn't get to see much the night I arrived as a major rainstorm arrived just as I did, but the morning brought sunshine and a chance to go down the river, through downtown and over to the Capitol. With a river, flanking mountains, and converging major roads, it seems like a nice place to live with a reasonable level of prosperity.

At the Capitol, I got to play the "find the Liberty Bell" game again -- replicas were cast and sent to each state. Many are with the state capitols, and I normally see them if they're kept outside.

The other fun game is picking out whose statue can be found around the Capitol. Virtually every state has a war memorial on site, and many, like West Virginia, have Abraham Lincoln. But, what do you do when one of the most famous Americans was born in your state, but fought on the other side of the Civil War...well, I guess you give him a corner spot...

West Virginia's National Parks

2011-09-03T20:02:00.004-04:00

Hot on the heels of the Seattle trip, I'm on the road again -- this time to Colorado for a training class. Unlike the last trip that focussed on national parks, this one is centered on state capitals. Olympia, Washington, was #28 for me, and I should pick up another half dozen this trip. However, before I could get to my first capital, Charleston, WV, I passed by the visitor center which serves 3 NPS units under the banner of New River Gorge National River.

Twenty years ago when I was a graduate student at NASA-Langley, some friends and I visited this area -- long before I was tracking my NPS sites. We rafted on the truly awesome Upper Gauley River which is the main attraction of that National Recreational Area. It's the highest class rapids in the East that companies can get permission to run trips down. When the water is released, there is real danger on the river, and no other trip before or since was like it.

We also traversed the New River Gorge Bridge, which you can find on the West Virginia State Quarter. most notably, we went on the catwalk underneath, over 800' above the river. An amazing site. I didn't have a camera then, and the bridge itself was too far off my path, but I drove along the river this time and took a few pictures. So, it ends up I'd been to 2 NPS units that I didn't recognize as such.

The road I took was to get to Bluestone River, the only one of the three I hadn't been to. Access is funny -- a state park owns the land on the north end of the river. To get to the NPS-administered part, a ranger explained that I could drive to the furthest corner of their park, park my car, and then hike along the river as far as I wanted. Sounded easy enough.

I did as instructed, and sure enough, 10 steps from my car, I was on the NPS property. But not 10 steps more and I was hearing thunder... Behind me over the gorge were looming big clouds. I waffled back and forth about what to do, but in the end, I trotted the short distance down to the river and waited to see which way the storm was going. It seemed to be getting worse, so I trotted back to the car.

Good thing I did -- a nasty storm with heavy rains and wind stuck us. I high-tailed it to get out of the park which was densely forested. Downed limbs actually blocked part of the road once. I made it out, but it was a mess there for awhile, and my trip to Bluestone River National Scenic River qualifies as the shortest visit I've made yet to an NPS unit! I don't think I missed much though...

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 2 -- of the three river parks, the Upper Gauley seems the most unique and needing protection. Bluestone seemed especially unexciting
Beauty: 3 -- some waterfalls, some surrounding mountains, but mostly just rivers and a gorge.
Fun: 3 -- if you whitewater raft. Otherwise, the hikes seem awfully tame and not unlike what you'd find at any state park near a river.
Overall: 2

Accessibility: the visitor center is on I-64 -- it will take from 30 minutes to an hour to get to the heart of any of the parks
Logistics/signs: 3 -- decent signs, very helpful ranger
Time required: A day to raft the first two, a half day to explore Bluestone
Time to visit: early or late summer
Kid friendliness: low, though they did try

Seattle

2011-08-31T22:38:00.001-04:00

The rest of my day in Seattle, I just wandered about. Being near Pioneer Square, I wandered that district first -- it's full of interesting shops, little museums, and of course, coffee shops. Very quaint, as renovated old places tend to be, and full of the interesting collection of people that gives Seattle its charm.

The waterfront's not far from there where cruise ships depart and there's a more modern, carnival-like atmosphere. Also close are the shorts arenas -- I happened to be there while a soccer match was beginning. Having all the major sports teams many hundreds of miles from another such city must be a real draw for the area.

From there, I drove over to the Space Needle -- I could hardly not, given my penchant for high places and scenic overlooks. It did not disappoint on this clear, but warm, day. The line took about 40 minutes, but I finally got on one of the 3 elevators to the top for a good look around. I could see many of the places I'd already visited or seen from other vantage points, which was cool.

The Needle is in a park with stages, auditoriums, more museums, and parkland. Again, it was an interesting collection of people out for a reasonably unusual bright sunny Saturday afternoon.

Overall, I was impressed with the city and the surrounding areas -- excellent place for a visitor as they can cater to a whole variety of interests. It wasn't even hard to get around by car, surprising given its size. And I got to listen to the Top 107 "END Songs" of all time, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the launch of the alternative rock radio station that takes credit for popularizing the Seattle grunge rock song.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Beauty: 3 -- shore line, surrounding mountains, nice parks, decent architecture, public art
Fun / Food -- 4 -- world-class variety of food and music, sports, arts, access to mountains
Overall recommendation: 4

Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park

2011-08-30T00:19:00.005-04:00

Once off the ferry, I headed straight for Seattle for a wedding rehearsal dinner. I then had the next morning and early afternoon to explore Seattle properly. My first stop was to the one NPS unit left on my itinerary, and the only one in Seattle, the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park.

The park is simply a museum, but it was unexpectedly interesting and worth a stop if you're in Seattle. It tells the story of the gold fever that struck many Americans when gold was discovered in relative abundance in the Klondike area of the Yukon territory in Canada in 1897.

Seattle is included in the Park since it was the main departure point from the US for many of the prospectors and the place a great many of them brought their gold back to. This led to a revitalization of the city during the early 1900's in the wake of a depression. The other part of the park is in Skagway, Alaska in one of the towns that sprung to life with the arrival of the prospectors.

Overall, the story was depressing -- no roads, no railroads, so it was men, their horses, and some sleds that had to pass over some amazingly steep and treacherous terrain with enough supplies to last them a year in the frozen wasteland. Once over the ridges, it was long boat ride up to the Klondike itself, and the boats were all made by the men themselves.

For those who finally made it, of those who didn't die or give up, the best spots had already been claimed, so they were forced to work for others. Good wages, apparently, but hardly what would make a man rich. And getting the gold out of the river/ground sounded amazingly difficult too. And then you had the whole issue of your personal safety in a relatively lawless area even if you did strike it rich. I liked the Wheel of Fortune on display, which showed just how unlikely it was that you would strike it rich even if you made the journey!

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 2 -- an interesting story for a certain period in American history
Beauty: 1 -- two urban buildings
Fun: 1 -- not designed for that -- purely educational.
Overall: 2 -- worth a stop if you're in Seattle.

Accessibility: downtown Seattle, Pioneer Square
Logistics/signs: 3 -- decent signs, parking's a bit tough, movie's excellent, the staff seemed distracted by each other on this slow day.
Time required: under an hour for the movie and the exhibits.
Time to visit: anytime.
Kid friendliness: low, though they did try

Lake Chelan National Recreational Area

2011-08-29T20:27:00.000-04:00

The last part of the North Cascades complex is the Lake Chelan National Recreational Area. Not only do no roads go into that part of the park, but it would've been a 10-mile hike from the nearest parking area just to reach the boundary on foot. But, there is another way...

After yesterday's mammoth hike, I continued driving down the ring road to the town of Chelan at the south end of the lake. Note: it's a resort area, and in peak seasons, lodging can be scarce. The only national chain hotel was booked when I looked a few days in advance, and exploring that night, I found only a few rooms at some sketchy-looking motels available. I picked one, and it was alright.

So, to get to the Lake Chelan NRA, the option from the town of Chelan is to take a ferry up the lake to the north end. A village there (Stehekin) still to this day has no roads leading to it, and its 100 residents are completely dependent on the ferry for supplies, mail, etc...

The ferries run on a limited schedule, and since I was on a limited time budget I chose the "fast" boat up and back with an hour layover. This boat still takes 2 1/2 hours! There was seating for everyone, and on the way up, there was quite a bit too look at, so the time went reasonably quickly.

Once there, I took a shuttle bus to the official cool sight of the town, Rainbow Falls (so, yes, if you're counting, I was 5 modes of transportation away from my home: Metro to airplane to rental car to ferry to shuttle bus). The operators know the ferry schedule, so it was an expedited (to the minute!) tour, including a 6-minute stop at a local bakery. I had just enough time to get to the ranger station also to get my passport stamp.

Back on the boat, I just read -- it felt rather like an airplane ride. I was in a window seat with the only way out involving stepping over people, and unlike other ferries, there was not a lot of deck space for lingering and picture taking. Still, it wasn't a bad ride, and we were treated on our way back into Chelan with some waveriders and parasailers.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 2 -- a long, glacier fed lake
Beauty: 3 -- lake, surrounding mountains, waterfall
Fun: 2 -- The max ferry layover is 3 hours, during which you could hike and bike around the area.
Overall: 2 -- I saw no reason for it to not just be part of the North Cascade NP itself. Completists only, expecially given the $50 cost and long length of the ferry ride.

Accessibility: miserable. 2 1/2 hour ferry from a point 3 hours from Seattle, 1 hour off I-90 in central Washington state.
Logistics/signs: 3 -- fine
Time required: it's determined by the ferry schedule. 6 hours minimum, 10 hours max without camping. The slower ferry takes 4 hours -- absolutely no reason to do that!
Time to visit: summer, if you want to get around the park and hike.
Kid friendliness: low, the younger kids on this trip were really restless, the older ones just got bored.

North Cascade National Park

2011-08-28T23:44:00.000-04:00

...aka, "how not to explore a national park"

When I visited the North Cascade visitor center, the ranger recommended a particular day hike trail -- 4 to 5 miles, he said, with panoramic views over two lakes. He showed me the trail on the main park map, duplicated on the brochure I'd grabbed, and it looked simple enough -- Rainy Pass trail. How I wished I had gotten a trail guide...

First was the confusion when the road signs indicated I was entering a national forest, leaving the park. Finally getting to the parking lot, I started hiking up the one trail there. But, the direction it went didn't make any sense, and even with the tiny map in the corner of the little brochure, I knew I had to double back. Ends up (no sign on the trail where I was...) I was on the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail. It's not a NPS unit, but it's partly administered by the NPS. It's now the 21st of the 27 I've been on -- I've completed none!

Back to the parking lot, I ran out to the main road, I discovered that there was a parking lot on the other side of the highway...oh! "That's where I should've started!" No indication on the brochure... It was a loop (though the signs were homemade!) so I arbitrarily went counter-clockwise. It was a paved trail, and when it ended at Lake #1, the trail just ended... What?!? It was beautiful though, with a grand waterfall off a glacier pouring into the lake.

So, back I tracked, and sure enough, there'd been a split off trail, but its name wasn't on the tiny map on the brochure... It indicated that 'Maple pass' was 3 miles away. OK, then, another mile or two on the backside of the loop...well, not so much.
I'd been climbing up about 20 minutes when I passed folks coming the other way, and they reassured me I was on the right trail, but they made it sound like I was a LONG way from being done. They were right.

You see, I was going up switchbacks, and it just kept climbing! Soon, I was looking DOWN on the big waterfall I'd seen, and I could see a ridge of mountains behind it. Surely, I'm not going there? There must be a branch off to the other lake...not so much. The tiny map did not indicate it went all the way to the pass...

So, I climbed and climbed, each time sure I was at the top. I eventually entered an alpine meadow, at which point it was clear -- I was going to the top of the ridge! I am a fast hiker, so I did make it to the top in an hour all told, and I had a grand view into the North Cascades. In fact, I actually left the National Forest for a little while to enter the park. I could see both lakes left and right and this grand vista straight ahead...and not one human!

At this point, it was later than I thought, so I was eager to continue the last mile or so back around. I could see part of the trail on the far side of the lake, and it was quite straight, which is how I accounted for the way back being shorter. Well, problem one was there was snow on the trail, and it wasn't exactly clear where the main trail was up on the ridge area -- so many side paths had been carved around the snow. No worry though, as I could see in the distance the trail I knew I wanted, but how to get there?

I finally had to go off-trail completely, cutting down through the brush and some rocks -- I've only had to do that a couple times, and it's no fun. But alas, it got less fun later on -- once I did get back on the trail, it was a gentle slope and wide enough, so I began to trot. Bad idea. I took a couple of spills along the way which left me with a sore rib cage for a couple weeks.

Even with the trotting, the "mile or two" back downhill took me longer than the 3 miles uphill. When I finally got back to civilization, I googled the trail and found the answer...ends up the trail is 7.5 miles long, and the elevation goes from 2,100 ft to 7,000!! Just a few details the ranger left off.

Still, it was an incredible hike, and though I had to drive in the dark to get to my next destination, it all worked all right in the end, except for the sore ribs...and I got to officially enter the North Cascades, not just see them.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5), combining the Cascades, Ross Lake, and the National Forest
Significance: 3 -- a majestic mountain range
Beauty: 4 -- mountains, forests, alpine meadows, awesome lakes, waterfalls
Fun: 3 -- if you're a summer hiker or winter sportsman -- could use more day hikes
Overall: 3

Accessibility: an hour off the interstate to the beginning. To ring the loop road takes substantially longer
Logistics/signs: 2 -- good signs to get to the parks, but trail guides at the trail heads would've been very useful! And lots more signs once you were on the trail.
Time required: a half day to drive through and take a hike, but you could clearly camp and hike for many days.
Time to visit: summer, if you want to get around the park and hike.
Kid friendliness: low, tough trails, only a few big overlooks. Wait until the kids can hike.

Ross Lake National Recreational Area

2011-08-27T21:12:00.003-04:00

After some time in Olympia, I drove north back through Seattle and on up to the North Cascades National Park Complex. Seattle was surprisingly busy for 1 pm on a Thursday, perhaps because of a strange phenomenon -- they're rather slow, hyper-courteous drivers! Anytime I was going even a few mph over the speed limit, I felt like Mario Andretti! Bit of a change from DC...

Anyway, the road to the park was through beautiful farmland with small mountains all around. Mid-week traffic was non-existent. I got to the North Cascades visitor center and they confirmed that the three NPS units in the area are administered as one -- Ross Lake and Lake Chelan National Recreational Areas plus North Cascades proper. The visitor center and the road through was all in Ross Lake boundaries. The other two required hiking or a boat ride.

So the first few stops were in the Ross Lake area, including some nice waterfalls and, not suprisingly, Ross Lake. But, the iconic shot is actually of Diablo Lake with its interesting shade of green. Some hikes were offered down by or overlooking the lakes, but fewer than I expected. I wasn't dying to hike down to the lakes, so I called the drive-through sufficient for this one, along with the hike up to the waterfall.

Olympia

2011-08-26T20:50:00.002-04:00

One small downside of Olympic National Park is the lack of lodging in the area. Knowing the next day I'd be making a substantial drive, I went to the first substantial sized town in that direction -- the state capital of Olympia. The drive down I was chasing daylight and driving along a slightly winding but very pleasant, nearly deserted road along a long lake.

Lodging is still not widely available even in the capital, to my surprise. I went with a Quality Inn, the first name I recognized, and as I later explored the city I didn't see many other options. In the morning the clerk gave me a downtown map, and the capitol was easily walkable as was downtown, so off I went.

The Capitol was like many others I'd seen in a nice plaza on the edge of the downtown area. Walking into downtown, I got the best view of the city, looking over a lake, park, and part of the harbor.

Unfortunately, the town itself seemed to be in desparate need of some capital. For a town with a waterfront and the Capitol, I was surprised it seemed so economically depressed. I would not recommend it for a visit, unless you're just doing what I did.

Olympic National Park

2011-08-25T21:41:00.002-04:00

Continuing south from Ebey's Landing, I soon ran out of island and needed to take a ferry from Coupeville to Port Townsend in order to get to the Olympic National Park. After my experience zooming across Cape Hattaras in order to make a connection of ferries I'd pre-booked, this time I just took my chances, knowing it was a busy route and banking on relative quiet on a weekday. Well, it was a little too quiet -- they took some normal ferries out or service. I arrived as one was boarding, missed by about 10 cars, and then was told I just might not make the next one since I didn't have a reservation! Oh, and it would be 1:30 hours as opposed to the 45 min cycle from the website. So, I highly recommend making a reservation!

The journey itself was short and pleasant enough, but alas, I was one of the last off the ferry, and I then had a 60-mile drive down a 2-lane road to Port Angeles, the northern gateway to the Olympic National Park. Since we all arrived at once, it made for quite a log-jam on that road, and it was too winding to pass very often.

I got to the park mid-afternoon and was surprised at the relative quiet there at the ranger station and driving up to Hurricane Ridge, the main area accessible by car in that part of the park. The ranger recommended the 1.5-mile Hurricane Hill trail, and boy, was she right. Warmer than in Rainier, it still had an alpine feel throughout. The scent from the pine trees was incredible! And the trail was downright easy most of the way.

But my favorite part of such hikes is a big "wow!" moment at the end, and I got one here. It's hard to capture on film, but it reminded me of climbing Snowdonia in Wales where you get this amazing view of the sea from the top. Similar here, except that it also included all the islands I'd seen and visited already further north, just like I'd seen this ridge from down there.

Back to the visitor center, I wandered a few more of the short trails there, but Hurricane Hill was the best. I had to keep pressing on around Washington, but given two more days, I would've encircled the park and seen the Washington coast. Next time!

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 3 -- a majestic mountain range
Beauty: 3 -- mountains, forests, alpine meadows. Further exploration may raise that number.
Fun: 3 -- if you're a summer hiker or winter sportsman
Overall: 3

Accessibility: 2 hours from the nearest interstate in rural western Washington.
Logistics/signs: 3 -- normal -- good signs once you were close, good rangers, facilities.
Time required: a half day the way I did it, but you could clearly camp and hike for many days.
Time to visit: summer, if you want to get around the park and hike.
Kid friendliness: low, though it had more easier sorts of trails than Rainier -- older kids may appreciate it and be able to get around.

Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve

2011-08-24T00:06:00.001-04:00

While on San Juan, a local person pointed out some cliffs across the sound --"that's Ebey's Landing," she said, and suddenly my visit to that national park seemed nicer. Well, I drove down Whidbey Island, and I was treated to another awesome bridge over Deception Pass. My buddy crosses it every day to get to the Naval Station -- quite a view.

Like at San Juan, I could've really used a map of the park in advance. The park itself is a cobbled-together set of land that is apparently trying to preserve "rural working landscape & community on Central Whidbey Island." Frankly, it all looked like a bunch of farms to me, and the efforts to preserve this land means that there are very few signs. I finally followed a small marker and ended up at the base of the cliffs, which was nice. A park volunteer sat there at a picnic bench -- no formal center -- and she was very helpful.

The house of Mr Jacob Ebey, the father of the first European settler, still stands, and that's where the visitor center is. It was a pleasant enough walk up the bluffs and then inland, but alas, it's closed on Wednesdays (!!). So, back to the beach 7 the car I went and I drove to the administrative offices which gave me my passport stamp.

I had to pass that way to get to Olympic National Park, but otherwise, it was a dud.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 1 -- completists only. Perhaps it'll be better once they've acuquired more land.
Beauty: 2 -- the bluffs are the nicest bit -- otherwise, it's prairie.
Fun: 2 -- coastal hikes are always nice -- nothing else to do.
Overall: 1

Accessibility: not easy -- either a 3-hour drive from Seattle or ferry rides from a couple different points.
Logistics/signs: 1 -- terrible signs, closed center, even the one helpful person was a volunteer, not a ranger.
Time required: under an hour
Time to visit: fall, spring -- it's all outdoors.
Kid friendliness: low, for all ages -- the beach isn't even a place you'd hang out for long.

San Juan Island National Historic Park

2011-08-23T22:47:00.000-04:00

After dropping the groom off in Seattle, I headed north to Anacortes, WA, where I spent the night with my goddaughter's family. It seemed like a great small town tucked away on a rocky coast in northern Washington, with the usual pine trees and independent coffee shops. It's also the departure point for ferries to Victoria, British Columbia, and to San Juan Islands, home of the San Juan Island National Historic Park.

The trip to the San Juans is worth it just for the cool ferry ride through the archipelago. We took a direct ride to Friday Harbor, but other ferries will shuttle you between islands. It was a comfortable ride for the kids, taking just over an hour once you leave the dock. You'll need a car to get to the national historic part, but I think many could enjoy an afternoon shopping and eating at Friday harbor.

The site's an NHP since it was the center of a 50-yaer dispite betwen the US and the British about who owned the islands. An earlier treaty had settled the US/Canadian border on the mainland and made an exception for Vancouver Island in Canada. But, this small group was in dispute, and both armies had camps on the island near the beginning of the US Civil War.

We visited the British side first on the north/west end, adn it had a couple original structures, a re-done English garden, and a nice overlook. The video explained the conflict very well, and the ranger was especially helpful.

The US side had a modern visitor center and fewer structures, reflecting the more spartan nature of their encampment. But, they got the nicer side -- we had a marvelous walk down the coast that brought back lovely memories of southern England or Wales. Given the moderate climate, I can see why the Hudson Bay Company folks settled that part of the continent. Definitely take the coastal road between the sites -- awesome vistas en route.

In the end, the dispute was settled by Kaiser Wilhelm in Germany, and the US was granted full custody.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 2 -- a tribute to peaceful arbitration!
Beauty: 3 -- forest, coastal areas, gardens
Fun: 4 -- coastal hikes, a little history, and a ferry ride! Throw in some time in Friday Harbor and the beaches we didn't get to linger at, all at a very pleasant pace.
Overall: 3

Accessibility: not easy -- an hour ferry ride from the mainland, 2 more hours back to Seattle, 30 more minutes to get back to I-5.
Logistics/signs: 3 -- great rangers, one good visitor center, but pathetic signage to get to it.
Time required: plan a whole day -- a few hours to visit the sites, plus the two ferry rides
Time to visit: summer
Kid friendliness: medium, the exhibits aren't really exciting, but they'll like the boat ride. Other than that, it's easy hiking through a forest and along a coast.

Mount Rainier National Park

2011-08-22T20:17:00.002-04:00

I'm in Seattle for a wedding this coming Saturday -- I decided a good way to spend a week at the end of the summer was to visit Washington state, see friends, and knock out a bunch of National Park Service units in the process. It's a long haul to Seattle, but since we lose 3 hours outbound, I arrived just before noon. The groom met me at the airport, and we went off to conquer park #1 -- Mount Rainier National Park.

It seemed easy enough to get to -- after all, you can see it from Seattle, and it looks big! But, unlike 14,000' mountains in Colorado, Rainier's surrounding area is at about 0 ft above sea level, so it stands as an absolute collosus. We drove 90 minutes or so just to get to the park. It was so good to be out west again! Pine trees, cooler & drier air, and a utter lack of sprawl!

We ended up looping the park counter-clockwise. You gotta check for road closures though after the summer. There was PLENTY of snow around even in late August. Like many other western parks, the approach is all lined with enormous pine trees, with the occasional waterfall and overlook of the mountain to make things interesting. Our goal was the Paradise visitor's center -- not a bad name!

It sits at 5,400 feet, on the south side of the mountain. We saw some people who had clearly summitted, but since it's another 9,000 feet to the top, we assume those people had camped en route the night before. We opted for a day hike up to Pinnicale peak for a grand vista on the area. Along the way, we were suprised by the number of creeks, amount of alpine flora, and occasional fauna. Much of the trail was snow covered, though normal hiking boots sufficed.

Given our late start and need to be back in Seattle that night, it was the only hike we did -- still, it was amazing, and if I never make it to the top of this state high point, at least I got halfway up :-)

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 3 -- an amazing, iconic mountain
Beauty: 4 -- waterfalls, glaciers, huge mountain, forests, alpine meadows
Fun: 4 -- if you're a summer hiker or winter sportsman
Overall: 4

Accessibility: 90 minutes from Seattle down rural, mountain roads.
Logistics/signs: 4 -- easy to get to, lots of signs, enormous visitor center
Time required: a few hours once you get there to do a hike and go through the museum.
Time to visit: summer, if you want to get around the park and hike.
Kid friendliness: low, except for older, adventurous ones

Bowman's Tower

2011-08-17T19:25:00.004-04:00

Our next stop was Bowman's Tower, built on a hill that overlooks the Delaware River valley. It's part of Washington's Crossing Historic Park , and is thought by some to have been a lookout point for Washington's forces, especially as they prepared to cross the Delaware.

The tower was built as part of Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression. An elevator wasn't added until the 1980's, but no matter -- it was out of service the day we visited. So, up the winding stairs we went, just like so many lighthouses and other monuments I've climbed in recent years. The view was commanding over the valley.

The most interesting part was the British ticket taker -- odd for a Revolutionary War site! 12 years after his dad brought him here in presumably his early teens, he hasn't lost his accent at all. Ends up he was from Surrey, a place I visited a few times in my England days. Active duty military members and their families get in free, so that was a nice bonus.

Moravian Tiles

2011-08-16T21:06:00.005-04:00

This weekend I went up my brother's house, and we visited a couple of local sites. The first was the Moravian Tile Works and nearby Fonthill castle built by Henry Mercer.

I had never heard to this place before, but it was quite a sight! Mercer was part of the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 1800's that rejected much of the impact of the Industrial Revolution. The particular arts he developed an expertise with were decorative tiles. The castle has them on virtually every flat surface in the house -- floors, ceilings, walls -- they're everywhere. And the house itself is a fascinating place -- all made from poured concrete, good for setting tiles into. The rooms, passageways, and stairwells were all rather random in size and arrangement, which made it fun to explore. No photos allowed inside though.

After building the house, he needed more space for making his tiles, so he built a small factory on the grounds in a Spanish Mission style. The building has changed hands a few times, but now it's owned by the county. Artisans now work there making tiles of his design in much the same way as he did a century ago -- except the kilns have been upgraded to not be coal-fired.

Overall a very interesting place, tucked away in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

Wheel of Fortune

2011-07-23T17:58:00.006-04:00

As my long-time friends know, I've always enjoyed the game show "Wheel of Fortune." And in the past week, I received the best gift a Wheel-lover could ever want. Scroll to the bottom or keep reading.

When I say "always," it's almost literally true -- I watched it back in 1975, years before Pat Sajak took over. Chuck Woolery (later of "Love Connection" fame) was the original host, and he starred along with Susan Stafford, the original letter turner, for seven years in the pre-Pat & Vanna era. Back then, I even acquired the home game, pictured here. That's Chuck on the cover. I tried out for the show as a college student and made it to the final cut, but then I could not solve for this event: "CARNI_AL IN RI_" Even when it was revealed, at the tender age of 18, I had not heard of it, and that had not happened before or since!

The original home game board looks like this, where the MC spells a puzzle backwards for people to guess. The downside of this approach is that the MC can't be playing/guessing. Later versions changed this to have puzzles that slide in a slot with windows. A code book told you which windows to open, if for instance, "L" was guessed.

Being part game show host myself, I always liked my version better since I could make up any puzzle I wanted. The game languished in Mom's attic for years, but I took possession of it in the late 90's, and it became an an integral part of an 80's Games Night I'd regularly host and then at other Games Nights especially during my year in Montgomery. Over time I perfected my hosting lingo and always found a way to weave in a puzzle based on the conversation that night, including ones kids might know or really geeky ones. My goal has always been rather long puzzles that are missing many of the common letters, especially "L" as that way I can sing "Noel" if anyone guesses it!

The provided wheel was a normal spinner, but I didn't like only having one set of values on the wheel.

So, back in the 70's I made overlays for Rounds 2 and 3. Amazingly, they're still intact.

My sister and I also augmented the provided prizes (remember when you had to shop after winning a round?). I find that adds some humor even today as I set up the next puzzle.

Well, when arriving here, some friends from church really enjoyed playing Wheel. One night the husband said that he could certainly make a better spinner than the one I had. He took pictures of the original, and over the next year gave me updates on his progress. Check out the finished product -- absolutely beautiful!

So, like on the show, you grab a peg and give the wheel an actual spin. No more having the spinner stuck on a border between two amounts, and just a terrific sound. For later rounds, the one disc comes out and two others can be placed in, all true to the originals in font, color, and amounts. I was shocked and very impressed at how it turned out. I now have a wheel that is the envy of all other Wheel aficionados for the rest of my life!

Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site

2011-07-05T17:52:00.000-04:00

On my way home, I was passing through Richmond on a Saturday afternoon, so I decided to check off one more site from my NPS list: the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site. Rather like the Carter Woodson and Mary McLeod sites, it was the home of a prominent person in the civil rights movement from the early part of the 1900's.

To help preserve the house itself (which was closed when I went by), the visitor center is set up in a nearby home. Wall posters describe her life, but the movie was actually the most helpful. Born just after the end of the Civil War to former slaves, Walker(then Maggie Mitchell) aggressively pursued her education. At age 14 she was a founding member of a prominent benevolent society for African Americans, a gourp she was later the national leader of.

Through this, she also established and edited a newspaper and set up a savings bank in 1903. In this, she was the first female bank president in the US of any race. She was a vocal advocate for equal rights, fair employment, and other humanitarian causes.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 1 -- a notable life, but it's a stretch to have her be an independent park within the NPS.
Beauty: 1 -- a nice Victorian house on a renovated urban street
Fun: 1 -- not designed for that

Overall: 1
Accessibility: a few blocks off I-95 in central Richmond
Logistics/signs: 2 -- a helpful movie, a few displays, a couple signs, reasonable parking on a Saturday afternoon.
Time required: 30 minutes or so to tour the house and hear the story.
Time to visit: any time

Raleigh

2011-07-04T17:20:00.000-04:00

After some time with family, I wandered into the downtown of Raleigh for the first time. I'd been around it dozens of times, flown in and out of the airport numerous times, but hadn't visited anything else in the city except for NC State.

I headed straight for the state capitol which ended up being a great spot. Cheap parking was available, and it was right there in downtown. On one side of the capitol were the usual downtown banks and shops, while the other side had the major state museums.

I first wandered into the state history museum, armed with a little knowledge from Moore's Creek. The main hall was the history of the state through the Civil War. The last 150 years will be covered in another hall opening in the fall. The main little fact I learned about was how the state was formed by 8 Lords Proprietor working for King Charles. It's easy to forget how rudimentary transportation/communication links would been in the 1700's, so each official had a lot of autonomy. When one attempt to unify the colony were attempted, it was simply recognized that the two most southern ones were developing quite independently -- thus South Carolina was born almost by accident.

The other main museum was natural history which was again surprisingly well stocked with interesting exhibits. It's quite new also, well-designed, and just interesting to walk around. Not as cool as the national museum, but great if you live in that area.

Overall, it seems like a good city to visit -- just at the edge of major leagues, but a big step up from Montgomery. No way I'd call it a tourist destination, but for those in the region city, it's worth a visit.

Moores Creek National Battlefield

2011-07-03T17:58:00.004-04:00

Having traversed the North Carolina coast, I went inland to another national battlefield, this time at Moore's Creek. For those of you Civil War buffs thinking "what?" -- it's actually a Revolutionary War battlefield, commemorating action before the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The actual battlefield is small, but the NPS has done a nice job weaving together the story, maintaining a good visitor's center, and having blocked off the right space.

The basic story is that early in the Revolutionary War, a 1,600 British troops had gathered in central North Carolina. Their hope was march to the ocean to meet up with arriving British naval forces in Wilmington and re-establish control over the colony. All that stood between them were a rag-tag bunch of Colonial militia men. The area that had to be traversed was, and is, full of rivers and creeks, and the land is boggy.

The militias basically knocked out all sorts bridges to the sea, leaving the British troops one main path. Not expecting much resistance, the loyalists got to the Moore's Creek bridge and began to cross, despite it being dismantled to the point that only one person could cross at a time. Once they crossed, they stepped into an ambush. One cannon and one gun on a pivot were all they needed. It was a crushing defeat.

North Carolina shortly thereafter became the first colony to vote for independence. And with that, I've now been to all the North Carolina NPS sites. 43 more states to finish :-)

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 3 -- one of the few Revolutionary War battlefields
Beauty: 2 -- forest mostly
Fun: 2 -- not really designed for that -- you can take a short hike and a nature walk
Kid-friendliness: 2 -- not much to do for small kids -- a movie and a walk

Overall: 2 -- a good park
Accessibility: a couple hours from Raleigh, not far off I-95, in rural eastern NC
Logistics/signs: 3 -- good movie, some displays, not a lot of signs, good rangers, well-kept trails

Time required: an hour or so for the movie and walking about
Time to visit: spring/fall when it's not beastly hot and buggy.

Cape Lookout National Seashore

2011-07-02T17:49:00.000-04:00

This is the sort of story that my long-time readers will certainly understand, but any normal person will think rather odd. Having come off the last Cape Hattaras Ferry at about 3 pm, I kept driving down the coast until I go to the mainland visitor center for Cape Lookout National Seashore shortly after 4 pm.

I had been looking at the Cape for much of the drive down -- it's not far off the mainland and nearly connects with Hattaras. In fact, you can take a relatively short ferry ride from Ocracoke Island, but it's only for pedestrians as no road runs the length of the barrier islands. I decided to go to the visitor center instead to make sure I got my brochure and stamp, plus I had to work around the car ferry off Okracoke.

So, I ask the ranger about ferries to the barrier island and she tells me the last one outbound is about 4:15 and then back inbound about 5. And, no, they didn't run them -- it was private operators. So I zoomed out back down the road to the first ferry operator. He was giving a rather long explanation of how their whole system worked to another visitor looking for a ride for the next day. Once he was finished, I asked if I could go today. He got kind of wide-eyed and said, "Sure, if you don't mind a simple out-and-back ride -- in fact, the captain's loading up now for his last run -- better get out there!"

The "ferry" was a small motor boat with seating for 20 on the sides. I was alone outbound, and to my surprise, he did let me go explore once we arrived as he had 20 minutes until the last visitors had to meet him for the ride back. So, I had the 20-minute Cumberland Island experience -- I saw the main lighthouse, spent a couple minutes in the keepers house museum, trotted the boardwalk to the oceanside for a brief glimpse up the beach, and then had to hoof-it back.

Another storm was coming, but we dodged it. In fact, we even meandered on the way back, seeing some wild horses and birds on the smaller islands. He even let 3 of the kids steer the boat for awhile. Good fun all around -- and techincally counts as #171.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 3 -- as an extension of Hattaras
Beauty: 4 -- again, just like Hattaras.
Fun: 3 -- no civilization on the island and no adventure activities -- it's for chilling out and seeing the wildlife.
Kid-friendliness: 3 -- not much to "do" but plenty for little legs to explore.

Overall: 3 -- beautiful
Accessibility: still the end of the earth, but a little closer to Wilmington, NC, and the short ferries run from the mainland.
Logistics/signs: 2 -- no movie, small displays, not a lot of signs

Time required: minimum of an hour, but the clear intent is to spend whole days
Time to visit: spring/fall when it's not beastly hot, but before the place totally shuts down for winter.

Cape Hattaras National Seashore

2011-07-01T21:46:00.000-04:00

The ultimate goal of this trip was to complete a trip around the Cape Hattaras National Seashore. I'd been to the north edge of it before, but I don't think I'd ever gone in, much less driven all the way around.

You certainly can't get lost on it -- it's a single road in the middle of the barrier islands, mostly tall dunes on the east side between the road and the ocean. To the west were the marshes, intercoastal waterway, and ideal spots for kayaking. A few stretches at various points are also national wildlife refuges, I presume mostly for the beautiful birds in that region. A few small towns dot the cape, but it's a far cry from the Kitty Hawk area, which is itself a lot more peaceful than the average east coast beach town. I don't suppose the original keeps of the iconic lighthouses had such conveniences.

To complete the loop, you need to take a free, 40-min car ferry from the main barrier islands out to Ocracoke Island, and then from there a 2+ hour ferry back to the mainland. Since I needed a ticket for the latter, it added a bit more structure to my day than I'd normally want. Then again, a terrible rainstorm came in which would've made lingering long on any of the islands or around town problematic. Still, a very pleasant drive, and I think I would really enjoy a longer vacation there.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 3 -- the east coast has many barrier islands, but these are the nicest and most extensive. I'm glad they're protected.
Beauty: 4 -- wide open beaches, coastline, waterways, birds
Fun: 4 -- just enough civilization to give you tons of ways to explore, but quiet enough to have the ultimate chill-out vacation. And you can climb lighthouses :-)
Kid-friendliness: 4

Overall: 4 -- very glad I went -- beautiful!
Accessibility: really tough -- the end of the earth, almost literally.
Logistics/signs: 3 -- good movie, rangers, exhibits

Time required: a day minimum up to a month! You can feel your blood pressure drop.
Time to visit: spring/fall when it's not beastly hot, but before the place totally shuts down for winter.

Fort Raleigh National Historic Site

2011-06-30T21:19:00.003-04:00

For all the times I've been to the Outer Banks, I'd never been to the nearby site of the very first attempt of an English colony in America -- Fort Raleigh. So, this time I finally knocked it out, and it frankly didn't take too long.

You see, as important a story that it is, there are two things playing against this site -- 1) Zero signs of the original colony exist; 2) thus, Jamestown can claim all the "first English colony in America" business; and 3) Spanish colonies in Florida are older. To make up for this, they have rebuilt what the original fort would've looked like, not much bigger than a Civil War "fort" at Petersburg. They also stage shows nightly dramatizing the story of the orginal colonists.

I watched the movie instead -- and it is quite a tale. Intended to buffer against the Spanish, Sir Walter Raleigh sponsored initial voyages in 1585 to this area with Queen Elizabeth's consent. The first visit was just men, but the 2nd time, women and children came too intending to have a permanent settlement (indeed, Virginia Dare was born there, the first English child born in the New World). But, for various reasons, relations with the natives turned sour and the settlers were short of the necessary skills to truly make a home here.

So, they sent their leader (John White, master illustrator and Virginia Dare's grandfather) back to England to bring back more supplies and better trained people. Unfortunately, it took so long for him to find sponsorship to return (3 years!) that by the time he got back, everyone was gone. Gone. And no one knows to where even to this day -- the mystery of the Lost Colony.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 4 -- the actual spot of the first English settlers in America
Beauty: 2 -- forest walk, with an English garden you can pay to walk around
Fun: 2 -- Not bad -- some walking, a play
Kid-friendliness: 2 -- museum exhibits, a movie, a nature walk (explaining how each plant was useful for profit or for life), a play.

Overall: 3 -- well done, making the most of what they could.
Accessibility: tough -- 2 hours from the nearest city at the end of the earth.
Logistics/signs: 3 -- good movie, rangers, exhibits

Time required: an hour for the walk and movie; more for the play or English garden.
Time to visit: spring/fall when it's not beastly hot

Jockey's Ridge State Park

2011-06-29T21:01:00.000-04:00

I know...what's the deal with a post about a state park. No fear -- I'm not beginning a grand quest to see all the US state parks, but this one's good fun. Just a couple miles from Kitty Hawk are these awesome sand dunes.

I first visited over 20 years ago when I worked at NASA up in Hampton, VA, and I vividly remember the visit. I was with some volleyball-playing friends who decided to take a trip down to the Outer Banks on a cool Fall day. The approach road to the park is tree-lined, so you have no sense at all of what you're about to see. Coming out of the trees, it's like you're walking on the moon!

We saw few people that day, so we just played king of the mountain and scrummed for footballs and frisbees. Today was much warmer, and the dunes were well populated with kite-fliers and "sledders." On other trips, I've seen people learning to hang glide with the kind folks from Kitty Hawk Kites who have a store across the street.

Speaking of KHK, it is the greatest store in the world -- full of any
thing (unmotorized) that can fly and cool gear to go with it. In these 20 years, it's expanded up and down the coast and facilitates adventure trips for people -- kayaking, parasailing, dolphin watching, and of course hang gliding.

Wright-Brothers National Monument

2011-06-28T21:40:00.002-04:00

After Petersburg, I visited some friends in Newport News, VA, before heading south to one of my favorite places on earth -- the Outer Banks of Virginia. Like Edinburgh in the UK, it's one of the few places I've visited for many vacations, big and small. The beaches are beautiful, the pace is slow, and First Flight took place there 107 years ago at Kitty Hawk. The spot is now commemorated as Wright Brothers National Monument.

It must've been 20 years ago when I first went there, back when I was living in the Hampton area. It's hardly changed -- a nice visitor's center with a full-scale model of the Wright Flier. A small museum walks you through the Wright Brothers' process of developing smaller, lighter engines and a better wind tunnel for measuring the amount of lift force they'd get over a wing. Every hour, a ranger tells the story while manipulating the model flier.

You can then go out onto the actual field where they flew -- I've never been in December, but it had to have been cold and blustery. They have mock-ups of the shelters they stayed in and markings on the ground where the 4 flights landed. After the 4th one, the plane was broken up in a stiff wind -- but it was already accomplished -- the first heavier than air vehicle to take off and land from the same elevation. Within 70 years, man walked on the moon. Unbelievable.

To mark the 100th anniversary, more museum, teaching, and shopping spaces were added on-site. This increases the kid-friendliness significantly, since the only other thing to do there before was to climb a large hill to see the monument.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 5 -- the actual spot of the first airplane flight
Beauty: 4 -- if you include the Outer Banks as a whole. The actual site is perhaps a 2 -- a sandy, wind-swept small plame.
Fun: 4 -- again, adding the Outer Banks. On site, perhaps a 3 with the addition of the kids area for more hands-on things. No picnicking, kite-flying, or anything like that on the site itself.
Kid-friendliness: 3 -- museum exhibits, a movie, some walking, kids activity areas.

Overall: 4 -- very well done, easy to get swept into the history.
Accessibility: tough -- 90 minutes from the nearest city at the end of the earth.
Logistics/signs: 3 -- good movie, rangers, exhibits

Time required: a couple hours
Time to visit: spring/fall when it's not beastly hot

Petersburg National Battlefield

2011-06-27T20:08:00.001-04:00

On the road again, continuing my tours through the national parks. This one I pass every time I go to my Mom's house, but I'd had yet to give it a proper visit -- Petersburg National Battlefield. It was a somber story near the end of the Civil War, told in a pensive way.

I started at the visitor's center which had a dated but quite effective film about the whole battle. After a terrible defeat in attempting to seize Richmond at Cold Harbor late in the war, Gen Grant pushed his troops south to beseige Petersburg, a town through which all supplies heading to the capital had to flow. The only thing was, he didn't have to beseige -- the initial attack near where the visitor's center sat was a tremendous success. But, remembering Cold Harbor, they did not press the advantage, giving Lee's troops the chance to reinforce and dig in.

In what must've been a horrible 8 months, the train lines supplying Petersburg were taken one by one while the city was bombarded by Union artillery, like that pictured here. Union forces also dug a tunnel under one of the main Confederate forts -- explosives were packed into it, and the blast was enormous. Again, the Union troops didn't seize the advantage and ended up being repelled.

The Confederates made one more offensive attack at Fort Stedman and even held it for a short time (note the size of this "fort"), but they were soon overrun and had to withdraw. Shortly thereafter, the movie concludes, they had to withdraw from Petersburg, and thus Richmond. The capital fell without a shot fired. The War was almost over. But given the tremendous costs and lost opportunities on both sides, no one seemed to be rejoicing.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 4 -- an important story to cap the Civil War
Beauty: 2 -- some fields and mostly forest, the City Point unit is along the confluence of two rivers.
Fun: 1 -- not designed for that
Kid-friendliness: 2 -- some museum exhibits, a movie, lots of walking reading placards, lots of places you can't walk, one interactive exhibit with a period-dressed interpreter

Overall: 4 -- really well done, easy to get a sense of the battle, feel the desparation.
Accessibility: easy -- a few minutes off I-95, 90 miles south of DC.
Logistics/signs: 4 -- good movie, excellent signs, helpful rangers

Time required: at least half a day if you visit all four major sites, walk a bit, and see the movie.
Time to visit: spring/fall when it's not beastly hot

Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historic Park

2011-05-31T19:23:00.004-04:00

After coming down off the highs of West Virginia, I made another 2nd attempt...this time to the Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historic Park. Back in January, I'd been on the far west side of the Metro area for some reason. Having a few hours to kill, I drove out to the end of I-66 to see what there was at the Park.

First, it took a couple passes to realize a house on the road was the closest thing to a visitor's center. Appearing rather run down, it was actually closed on a Saturdy afternoon. Peaking in, it appeared to be effectively a Confederate Museum. Reading the plackards outside, apparently, the Union forces late in the Civil War had pushed the Confederates south out of a nearby town and then settled in, with their commander Gen Philip Sheridan riding back to Washington to meet with the President.

Well, what the Union forces didn't know was that Gen Jubal Early for the Confederates decided to make a suprise counter-attack. It worked at first, and it fact, it was looking like a rout when Gen Sheridan raced back, rallied the troops, and pushed the Confederates even further south, ending the Campaign of the Shenandoah. Occuring close to election day 1864, this was seen as important to Abraham Lincoln's re-election.

I then drove over to Belle Grove plantation house, and what do you know, it was closed too! On my return trip this week, I tried Belle Grove first -- CLOSED! Then to the visitor center -- it was open, but almost all the artifacts had just recently been moved out. And no, I could not tour the battlefield as all the land is still held by private individuals or foundations. I got my stamp and my brochure, and I'm counting this one done.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 2 -- late battle in the Civil War
Beauty: 1 -- mostly just rather flat fields
Fun: 1 -- not designed for that
Kid-friendliness: 1

Overall: 1 -- completists only -- or wait until the NPS owns more of the land, or wait until re-enactment day in October.
Accessibility: just a few miles off the I-81/I-66 junction, 90 miles outside DC.
Logistics/signs: 1 -- a few displays, few signs, closed for no reason, only a small TV to watch a short video.

Time required: under an hour
Time to visit: spring/fall when it's not beastly hot

West Virginia High Point

2011-05-30T20:03:00.002-04:00

On my way back from a church youth retreat, I made a 2nd attempt at ascending to the high point of West Virginia. Back last year, I went with Ethan, but we got stuck in the snow half-way up. No danger of that today as we're experiencing our first real heat-wave of the year.

Like many high-points in the east, you can drive right up to the top. But unlike South Carolina, there are nice viewpoints along the way and at the top. They've even built a nice observation tower. It's not much different than similar places along the Appalachians, and the nicest part was actually the drive through rural country.

Traffic was even light, so I spent little time stuck behind slow vehicles, or sheep, or goats.

Running total: 22 state high points

Woodrow Wilson Bridge

2011-05-14T20:14:00.005-04:00

In this city, the road construction is non-stop, but one advantage of when I arrived is that three of the biggest messes on my side of town were already done -- I-95 at 395, 495 at Route 1, and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge -- the subject of today's entry.

It's not a national park, but when running or riding bikes along the Mt Vernon Trail / Goerge Washington Parkway, it's an easy spur to cross the bridge. Despite having 5 lanes of traffic each way on a draw bridge over a mile long, the designers accommodated a nice wide, safe-feeling pedestrian/bike lane. Other local bridges have less substantial barriers between you and the traffic, but this one's great.

I've ridden across a few times now, but today I decide to run so I could stop easily and snap a few blocks. While crossing, you pass from Virginia, into the District of Columbia, and then into Maryland, so it's also an easy place to get pics of "Welcome to..." signs.

Visible from the bridge on the Virginia side is old towne Alexandria. On the Maryland side are three military bases to the north and National Harbor to the south. Maryland even built a small park at a pedestrian overpass to allow nice views down the bridge.

Back when Ethan and Jas were here, we took a water taxi from Old Town, under the bridge, to National Harbor, but I can't find a single picture from that for some reason. It's a nice trip and saves the extra-expensive National Harbor parking.

Assateague Island National Seashore

2011-04-30T20:24:00.006-04:00

I had a friend visiting from Atlanta this weekend, and we had a whole day to kill, so I layed out the DC options. He specified "not south," so that left technically as far north as Ney Your City or out to the Atlantic. We decided on the latter, giving me a great excuse to revisit Assateague Island National Seashore. I'd been about 10 years earlier, I later recalled, long before I started the national parks quest.

It was a very pleasant day for such a journey -- last year we'd hit the 90's by the point, but we got a very comfortable 60's-low 70's with some sun and shade. We decided to meet a friend of his for dinner back in DC, given a not-too-early start and gentle drive across Maryland and part of Delaware, we had a few hours to explore.

Being a seashore, there is a beach, of course -- much like the outer banks of North Carolina -- substantial dunes, wide beaches, and a bit cool since the water circulates down from the Arctic. But what makes Assateague worth a visit is the other side of the island, with all the awesome inlets...and wild horses!

Given more time, the very best way to explore that side would've been with kayaks, which can be rented. However, we did very well with driving to each of the main vantage points, walking the paths. Many had rented bikes, but given the reasonably short distances you could ride, I didn't see the value. The shoreline is continuous with the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge (total: 30 miles), but no roads or bike paths connect them on the island.

We saw and heard a lot of interesting water fowl, and we saw many of the wild horses which contentedly grazed in the natural areas and in the grass in the median strips in the parking lots.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 3 -- an important habitat
Beauty: 4 -- ocean, beaches, wildlife, forests
Fun: 3 -- swimming, fishing, camping
Kid-friendliness: 5 (6-12 yr olds)

Overall: 3 -- well worth a visit
Accessibility: a long way from any interstate out on the Maryland/Virginia shore, abotu 3 hours from Metro DC.
Logistics/signs: 3 -- very good visitors center, good maps, good signs

Time required: as long as you want to decompress -- no facilities though, so bring food and water!
Time to visit: spring/fall when it's not beastly hot

Battle of Spotsylvania Court House (Fred. & Spots. NMP) (Pt 4/4)

2011-02-24T18:51:00.000-05:00

After the Wilderness, I went to the site of the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, the last of the four battlefields which comprise Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields National Military Park.

This battle took place only days later -- Grant had flanked around Lee's troops with an eye to the Spotsylvania Court House spot to get between Lee and Richmond. Lee got there first at set up at the "Bloody Angle", and what ensued were 2 weeks of relentless fighting. According to the NPS site, 152,000 total forces were engaged (US 100,000; CS 52,000) with estimated Casualties at 30,000 (US 18,000; CS 12,000)

"The Union attack against the Bloody Angle at dawn, May 12-13, captured nearly a division of Lee’s army and came near to cutting the Confederate army in half. Confederate counterattacks plugged the gap, and fighting continued unabated for nearly 20 hours in what may well have been the most ferociously sustained combat of the Civil War. On May 19, a Confederate attempt to turn the Union right flank at Harris Farm was beaten back with severe casualties. Union generals Sedgwick (VI Corps commander) and Rice were killed. Confederate generals Johnson and Steuart were captured, Daniel and Perrin mortally wounded. On May 21, Grant disengaged and continued his advance on Richmond."

So, another draw, but Grant was able to continue on, and the war of attrition strategy of Grant's appeared to be working. The seiges of Petersburg and Richmond lay ahead.

However, after visiting so many places in a row where the Union Army was victorious, it was interesting going to four battlefields in a row where the Confederates didn't lose and won twice decisively.

Like the Wilderness, this last battlefield had no visitor's center, had only road-side plackards, and was largely a driving loop. However, this loop was not a public through road, which made it nicer to visit. There seemed to be more room for hiking around as well as it was a contained area and not just a strip of road.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 2
Beauty: 2 -- just forested land, rolling hills
Fun: 1 -- not designed for that

Overall: 2 -- worth seeing as part of the set
Accessibility: just a few miles off I-95 between DC and Richmond.
Logistics/signs: 2 -- no movie, but decent displays, and quite the variety of them as you can see from the pictures.
Time required: under and hour
Time to visit: anytime, as you're mostly in the car

Battle of the Wilderness (Fred. & Spots. NMP) (Pt 3/4)

2011-02-23T21:56:00.003-05:00

Pressing on from Chancellorsville, I continued west on the highway, and within a few miles, I was at the entrance to the road mostly used for access to the fields of the Battle of the Wilderness. We're now at May of 1964, the Confederate Army still protecting Richmond, having been thrown into Defensive mode after the losses at Gettysburg the previous summer.

On the Union side, Gen Grant was over the entire Union army at this point and he was marching with the Army of the Potomac, under the command of Gen Meade. They were on an overland campaign to destroy Lee's army and then capture Richmond, and the Wilderness was the first of three major battles in that campaign. It was also the first time Grant and Lee met in battle.

The battle was through the same basic terrain as Chancellorsville, only with denser forests adding to the fog and friction of the battle. Most notable about the action was how it ended -- rather than face Lee's force's earthworks, he tried to bypass them and get between him and Richmond at Spotsylvania Court House. However, Lee got there first, but that's tomorrow's story... But, 28,000 casualties were left behind, significantly more for the Union, but they had many more to spare. This the Battle of the Wilderness is alternately called a draw, a tactical Confederate victory, or a strategic Union victory.

The site itself has no special visitor's center, and it had a single way-station shelter which told the story. Then markers have been placed at various points on the road to commemorate particular actions in the battle.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 2
Beauty: 2 -- just forested land, rolling hills
Fun: 1 -- not designed for that, and not so much as a hiking trail

Overall: 2 -- worth seeing only as part of the set
Accessibility: just a few miles off I-95 between DC and Richmond.
Logistics/signs: 2 -- no movie, but decent displays, and quite the variety of them as you can see from the pictures.
Time required: under and hour
Time to visit: anytime, as you're mostly in the car

Chancellorsville (Fred. & Spots. NMP) (Pt 2/4)

2011-02-22T18:55:00.000-05:00

From Fredericksburg, I drove west to the site of the Battle of Chancellorsville. It's the right direction to go chronologically, but unfortunately, that stretch of road has become wildly commercialized and was slow going even on a Monday afternoon -- even an hour outside a real city...

When I got there, there was much less to see than Fredericksburg -- after all, Chancellors-"ville" is a misnomer. It's just a single road crossing where a single inn sat. It's now April 27, 1863, the Union Army is under Gen Hooker, and he has twice the troops as the defending Confederates still under Generals Lee and Jackson.

It was quite the chessmatch as each side tried to outflank the other. The Union forces split and attempted to attack Lee from the West via Chancellorsville. Lee, already facting the Union across the Rappahannock again, split once to face the new threat and split again to have Jackson attack Hooker from his rear. Stonewall was injured by friendly fire, but in the end the attack worked. The Union forces ended up nearly surrounded and finally had to retreat back to U.S. soil.

From the lay of the land, it's amazing that Hooker attempted to defend that crossroads -- it's nearly flat, and if anything, it's the _lowest_ spot in the area. I had a chance to walk some of the hills that he had retreated from -- that would've been a lot more defensible to me.

Not a lot is left now -- the old inn was decimated, though its foundations remain, and sit astride this busy, noisy highway. The back roads around it are nicer, many of them dedicated to the park with some hiking and walking trails.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 3 -- an important place in American history
Beauty: 2 -- just forested land, rolling hills -- and a noisy highway!
Fun: 2 -- not designed for that, but some hiking trails

Overall: 3 -- worth a visit, especially as part of the set.
Accessibility: just a few miles off I-95 between DC and Richmond.
Logistics/signs: 3 -- another good movie, good displays, helpful rangers, and reasonable roadsigns.
Time required: an hour or two for the movie, walk a little, drive the loop, and see the few ruins.
Time to visit: spring/fall as it's mostly outdoors

Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields National Military Park (Pt 1/4)

2011-02-21T22:08:00.000-05:00

After a few weeks of wintery weekends, I got out on the road again to see another national park. I'm glad I did a little looking ahead of time -- a few different places I'd wanted to go were closed for the winter or were not open on a Monday. My destination this time is perhaps the longest name in the NPS system: Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields National Military Park.

The park contains 4 distinct battlefields -- Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania, and I'll do a separate entry on each. The last two took place mere days apart, but the first three all took place at distinct phases of the war, which makes for an especially good park for the Civil War as a whole.

My first stop was the town of Fredericksburg. It's November 1962, after the stalemate at Antietam, and Union forces were racing down the north/east side of the Rappahannock River. McClellan had been fired, so the Army of the Potomac was led by General Ambrose E. Burnside, looking for a place to cross on the way to Richmond. Meanwhile, Gen Robert E. Lee oversaw the Confederates on the other side. Lee's side had the town of Fredericksburg with a large, long hill behind it. In it's day, the approach to that hill was a field, and as the Union forces came across, they never managed to scale it. Today the town has grown to cover most of the approach, but the top has a cemetery, from which you can easily get the lay of the land.

Even crossing the river was tough for the Union troops -- sharpshooters were entrenched in the town. Attempts at building a bridge were fruitless, and it finally took boatloads of Union forces and massive artillery to get the sharpshooters out. This virtually destroyed the town, which ended up having serious effects on the public perception of the war on both sides.

In the end, though outnumbered, Lee massed enough troops (including Stonewall Jackson's forces) and with the entrenched position, effectively repelled the attack. It was a great victory for the Confederacy.

I recommend visiting the Stafford house on the Union side of the river -- it provides another good vantage point. The largest area of protected land is on the Confederate side south of town where Lee had his hedaquarters. It's a 5-mile stretch with no traffic except for visitors to the park. Some old earthworks remain, and the path is good for running and biking.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 4 -- an important place in American history
Beauty: 3 -- a nice town, forested land, rolling hills
Fun: 2 -- not designed for that, but some places to bike or picnic.

Overall: 3 -- worth a visit
Accessibility: just a few miles off I-95 between DC and Richmond.
Logistics/signs: 3 -- good movie, good displays, helpful rangers, and reasonable roadsigns.
Time required: a few hours for the movie, to walk the old walls and hills, and see the old structures.
Time to visit: spring/fall as it's mostly outdoors

Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail

2011-01-29T23:25:00.004-05:00

There are 29 national historic trails managed by the NPS, and three of them are important enough to be counted among the 392 official units of the NPS. I've already written in the past about the other two -- the Appalachian Trail and the Natchez Parkway. The 3rd is the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail.

I decided to blog about it today as it was an especially nice day to take some pictures of the Potomac in this area. But I've already spent plenty of time at the sights along the trail -- the headquarters is in Harper's Ferry, WV; the C&O canal trail runs along it; Great Falls is on it; the GW Parkway runs along it; Fort Washington and Piscataway Park are alongside it; I've kayaked in the Dyke Marsh on the river's bank; and the Memorial Bridge runs over it within sight of the Lincoln Memorial.

So, here's to the Potomac, one of the great rivers in the US.

Ford's Theater National Historic Site

2011-01-20T17:46:00.005-05:00

After some lunch, Chris and I went to our 4th NPS unit in as many hours when we went by Ford's Theater National Historic Site. I'd visited a few years ago, but the theater itself was closed, and all you could visit was the house where Lincoln died, Peterson House. Now, it's reversed -- Peterson House is under renovation, and the theater where the assassination took place is fully open.

The tour starts in the basement which has not only the story and an impressive collection of artifacts surrounding the assassination, but it also tells the story of Lincoln's presidency. Thus, it's in many ways another Civil War site and another Civil Rights site if either of those are your interests. It doesn't have the level of detail that Gettysburg or the Road to Selma sights have, respectively, but they're a good introduction.

As for artifacts -- how about the actual gun, the clothes Lincoln was wearing, and a blood-stained door! I hadn't remembered how large the conspiracy was, nor that Booth had jumped to the stage to proclaim his deed! He'd expected to be received as a hero. As for the other conspirators, the man set to assassinate the Vice President chickened out, and the secretary of state was save by a bodyguard. Ulysses S. Grant was also spared when he backed out of his intention to go to the play that night.

The theater itself is a quaint place, completely re-built, though the Presidential box is no longer used and has period furniture in it.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 3 -- an important place in American history
Beauty: 2 -- a quaint playhouse
Fun: 2 -- not designed for that, but the theater and museum are much more interesting than similar sites. Very dramatic tales of intrigue

Overall: 3 -- worth a visit if you're in town
Accessibility: 3 blocks north of the National Mall -- don't attempt to park! The Metro will get you very close and the walk is fine if you're on the Mall.
Logistics/signs: 3 -- some movies, great displays, terrific rangers, and reasonable roadsigns.
Time required: an hour or so
Time to visit: any time -- all indoors.

Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site

2011-01-19T17:48:00.004-05:00

We reached our third site before lunch, a site to honor another Civil Rights champion, Mary McLeod Bethune. Born in 1875, she was educated by missionaries as a child, learning most the value of education, and went on to become an educator and founder of a college.

This raised her profile, and she became a highly-sought after lecturer, educator, board member, and spokeswoman for African-American women. This ultimately lead to her becoming an advisor to President Roosevelt on "Negro Affairs." The site dedicated to her was her last home and the headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women, which she founded. It currently holds the National Archives for Black Women's History.

The house and its furnishings are nothing particularly special, but what is on display is largely original from the 1950's.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 2 -- Encompassing Bethune herself, her organization, and the archives
Beauty: 2 -- a nice 50's-era house on a picturesque part of DC.
Fun: 1 -- not designed for that

Overall: 2 -- should be merged into a larger Civil Rights of DC site
Accessibility: 10 blocks north of the National Mall.
Logistics/signs: 2 -- an audio-only movie, some displays, no roadsigns, and the same under-informed ranger as for Woodson. Parking is TOUGH around there too, even on a holiday.
Time required: 30 minutes or so to tour the house and hear the story.
Time to visit: any time

Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site

2011-01-18T18:17:00.005-05:00

After learning about Frederick Douglass' life, we headed over to the address listed for the Carter G. Woodson home National Historic Site. I'd picked up the brochure from another park, from which I learned that he was one of the first black men to graduate from Harvard. Woodson then became the premier historian for African Americans and a renowned educator.

The house is one of very many Victorian row houses in DC, and he occupied it from 1922 until his death in 1950. However, all we can see now is the outside. It's relatively new to the park service, and renovations and displays are yet to be finished. We had to go to the next site on our list to see this printed placard with information about him.

While I'll grant that it's a good place to have on the National Registry of Historic Places, this one was hard to imagine ranking among the 390 national park units. It could easily be lumped with other civil rights sites in DC under one banner. But for now, it's the quickest one I've yet to visit!

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 1 -- Woodson seems to be a noteworthy figure, but at the national level?
Beauty: 1 -- delapidated row house at this point -- perhaps it'll be a 2 once the renovations are done in 2015.
Fun: 1 -- not designed for that

Overall: 1 -- NPS completists only
Accessibility: 10 blocks north of the National Mall.
Logistics/signs: 1 -- no movie, one placard, one under-informed ranger at the other site.
Time required: 10 minutes! Enough for a picture and to read the placard.
Time to visit: any time

Frederick Douglass National Historic Site

2011-01-17T19:53:00.007-05:00

Happy MLK Day everyone -- after a month with some travels, but no new sites, it was another banner day for NPS sites today. All had a Civil Rights theme in keeping with the spirit of the holiday. First stop was the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site in southeast DC.

The site is the house Douglass lived in at the end of his life while he was the Marshall for the District of Columbia. It was a strikingly beautiful home in a great location on top of a large hill. That section of DC has a lot of poverty, so the house stands out even more. A visitor's center has been built into the base of the back side of the hill, and there we got to watch a dated but informative movie about Douglass' life.

Born into slavery, he taught himself to read secretly. After a harsh young adulthood as a slave, he finally escaped to the north. His eloquence and clarity of thought soon made him a powerful voice of abolition. He ended up being the advisor to many presidents and one of the largest figures in the history of civil rights for African Americans.

The house itself was worth a visit as it is preserved almost exactly as it was in the 1890's when Douglass die of a hreat attack, having spoken in the morning and planning to speak at another meeting in the evening. All the furnishings and personal effects are original, generously donated by his widow. The house even has no electric lights, simulating how Douglass would've known it.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 4 -- Douglass is most worthy of a national historic site, and this house is as good a place as you can get.
Beauty: 2 -- beautiful house overlooking the city, including the Potomac
Fun: 1 -- not designed for that

Overall: 3 -- well worth a visit and worth preserving
Accessibility: across the Potomac from the Capitol, a few minutes off I-295.
Logistics/signs: 4 -- excellent rangers, good movie, plenty of signs
Time required: an hour or so for the movie and guided tour of the grounds
Time to visit: any time but mid-summer as it involves some walking outdoors. It was perfectly fine on this 35-degree winter day.

Christmas Contest

2010-12-13T17:36:00.004-05:00

When Roger visited, he saw many signs that were different from what he'd see in the UK. And like me when I was over there, he took pictures of many of them that he thought were especially unusual.

So, when he saw this sign, he did not think "Flagman Ahead," but instead interpretted the sign in a very funny way. For "Further In and Higher Up"'s Christmas contest, the winner will be the person to post or email me the funniest alternate interpretation of this sign. Entries close on 31 Dec. Good luck!

Piscataway Park

2010-12-12T19:38:00.003-05:00

Just a few minutes down the road from Fort Washington is Piscataway Park, another NPS unit that no one's ever heard of. Having done a quick check on the website, I was ready to list this as the new least worthy national park site. It's a funny thing about having near-zero expectations.

The park is located directly across from Mount Vernon (itself NOT an NPS site), and the first line describing the park uses the word "easement." It was basically a land grab to keep the view from Mt Vernon being spoiled by modern subdivisions or other people who might actually like to have a view of the Potomac.

Thankfully, a foundation has decided to something useful with the land, and in the end, it's not a bad little place to visit, especially with younger kids. You see, they've built a 19th century tobacco farmstead on the land, and at some points in the year, re-enactors live and work there, like in Williamsburg. There are also nature walks, a fishing pier, and a marina.

While I didn't see any re-enactors, I saw more animals than I normally see in my urban environment, so that was worth the trip alone.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 1 -- absolutely insignificant -- it's just land on the right side of a river.
Beauty: 2 -- overlooking the Potomac, historic farm
Fun: 2 -- Exploring the farm, nature walk -- this could be higher for small kids.

Overall: 2 -- this escapes a 1, though it really is for locals with children
Accessibility: in the Maryland suburbs, 25 minutes off the Beltway.
Logistics/signs: 1 -- poor -- no movie, few signs, I was completely ignored by the caretakers, more of a giftshop than a museum
Time required: a couple hours with children and the re-enactors; under 30 minutes if you just walk the grounds.
Time to visit: Spring (May) / fall (Oct) as it's mostly outdoors

Fort Washington Park

2010-12-11T20:26:00.003-05:00

It was a quiet Saturday, and I didn't have a lot to do, so I drove around to the other side of the Potomac to see Fort Washington Park. I'd seen it from the Virginia side a few times, riding along the Mount Vernon trail, but I hadn't been for a visit.

At first, it seemed like any other city park, but then you come around a bend and see this old house on the crest of a hill. From the crest, you can see the Fort, and on a day with low-hanging clouds and temps in the 30's, it was deserted. It felt like you might really be walking back in time to when the fort was operational.

The visitor center had a short film with the history of the fort. Its construction was prompted by the War of 1812 when the meager defense at that location didn't hold. Over the next 30 years it became a formidable fortification, but it never did see any action. Maybe _because_ it was so formidable...and because the Union Forces blockaded the whole Chesapeake Bay so effectively...

The Fort was like many I'd seen along the east coast, with the allure of this one being the loneliness of it. Back in the early 1800's, it was a lonely outpost -- no subdivisions backing up to it then. And so much of the river bank is protected land, that when there are no boats out, its timelessness is evident.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 2 -- yet another fort, and this one never saw combat.
Beauty: 2 -- nice bluff overlooking the Potomac, cool old fort.
Fun: 3 -- even the historic video spent a couple minutes showing modern people enjoying the recreational nature of the park.

Overall: 2 -- well done for what it is, but hard to see many going out of their way. Pretty cool for locals and children would enjoy both the park and the fort.
Accessibility: in the Maryland suburbs, 15 minutes off the Beltway.
Logistics/signs: 3 -- well done -- a good movie, helpful guides, small museum
Time required: an hour for the movie, grounds, and museum areas.
Time to visit: Spring (May) / fall (Oct) as it's mostly outdoors

Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site

2010-11-27T17:09:00.001-05:00

Coming back from my brother's, and avoiding the nasty tollbooth in Delaware, I passed close enough to another National Historic Site to stop in and take a look. It was Hopewell Furnace, a small collection of houses in rural Pennsylvania surrounding an early, very successful iron furnace.

Before the War of Independence, Mark Bird built the furnace, taking advantage of the nearby stream, abundant trees for charcoal, and nearby coal. But rather than making simply iron castings to send to England to be finished, he and others produced actual finished iron products. Their stoves in particular were well made and profitable.

During the war, prodcution turned to cannons and ammunition. But the years after the war proved tough, and the furnace was eventually sold. It had a renaissance from 1815-1831, which is the period it's preserved to resemble. During this period, the furnace produced iron goods for ever-more prosperous American people, until newer processes and methods eventually drove them out of business.

The grounds include a manor house from that era, a store, other small homes, and the furnace itself. And being set far back into a national forest really helps preserve the illusion of stepping back in time.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 2 -- yet another "old industry" site in the Northeast.
Beauty: 2 -- rolling hills, river, some forest
Fun: 2 -- not really designed for that -- didn't seem like the place to picnic, ride, or hike, though it's surrounded by forest. Some may really enjoy exploring how all the parts of an old blast furnace work.

Overall: 2 -- well done for what it is, but hard to see many going out of their way
Accessibility: over an hour from downtown Philadelphia, but buried in the hills
Logistics/signs: 3 -- well done -- a good movie, helpful guides, small museum
Time required: 2 hours for the movie, grounds, and museum areas.
Time to visit: Spring (May) / fall (Oct) as it's mostly outdoors

Valley Forge National Historical Park

2010-11-26T17:45:00.001-05:00

After our Thanksgiving feast, my brother, sister-in-law, and I went over to see Valley Forge, which is an easy day trip from their house. This is an especially good park to see as it puts a real face on a place that has has such a central place in American mythos.

We took a trolley around the park, as it would've been a healthy walk on this cool breezy day. We stopped at a re-creation of the sorts of small cabins that the men stayed in -- that was always the first job whenever the Colonial army made winter encampment. From there it was a drive by various monuments or other statues erected by the states. No battles were fought here, so it's not covered like Shiloh is.

Further around tucked more up to the Schuykill River and a couple small mountains is the house where Washington and many of his staff stayed. It's a nice stone house, little different from the others of that area that are scattered up the east coast.

We heard the story of the encampment from our tour guide and also from the movie that we saw afterward. The questions remain -- was it as arduous as the schoolbooks tell us? How much snow, really? Were men starving? At this park anyway, the rangers were trying hard to convince us that yes, it was hard, but few starved, the deaths came after the coldest parts were over, and it was just a normal Pennsylvania winter.

Even so, it was fascinating to see the place -- you could see in a moment why it would be such a good place -- easy to defend, easy to keep an eye on Philadelphia where the British troops were, ready fields for training exercises, abundant sources of wood, and easy access to water and transport.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 4 -- a key place in the story of America
Beauty: 2 -- rolling hills, river, some forest
Fun: 2 -- not really designed for that -- not enough space even for much bike riding, not enough forest for a good hike.

Overall: 4 -- fascinating -- really brought it to life
Accessibility: an hour from downtown Philadelphia, close to an interstate
Logistics/signs: 4 -- very clear, big visitor's center, good movie, helpful rangers, and free
Time required: 3 hours for the movie, grounds, and museum areas.
Time to visit: Spring (Apr) / fall (Oct) as it's all outdoors, or go for the full experience and visit in January!

Vietnam Veterans National Memorial

2010-11-21T18:54:00.003-05:00

In a stark contrast with the Korean Memorial, the Vietnam Veteran's National Memorial has a mere two statues off to the side. The centerpiece is The Names...yes, the etched name of every soldier killed or missing in action from that long war. 58,267 names in all.

It is a stunningly simple design, seemingly dug into the hillside, and from there you walk, panel after panel of names. No politics, no controversy, just names... and if you walk through, day or night, winter or summer -- you'll find people there, and someone will be mourning. Few memorials have that kind of impact.

Korean War Veterans Memorial

2010-11-20T18:26:00.002-05:00

Looking through Roger's pictures, I found some from his exploration of the monuments while I was at work. He took some nice shots of both the Korean and Vietnam memorials -- and looking back through my blog, I'd not posted anything about either. Both are very close to the Lincoln Memorial and an inevitable part of any DC monuments tour.

The first post is about the Korean War Veterans Memorial, which stands to Lincoln's right. This one really highlights the men who fought the war -- statues of men with overcoats slogging along. Even in the height of summer, they look cold. Of course, it looks positively stark during the winter.

Along the adjoining wall are etched images of the men who fought, which again adds to the poignancy of the monument -- there's something about the images, haunting in reflection. 38,000 Americans died, perhaps 800,000 died in all -- both sides having come close to winning, and yet resulting in a 60-year stalemate. Having read a lot about the war during staff college, I was struck by some of the bold decisions on both sides, but also the constrained nature of decisions during the Cold War.

The overriding message is etched right into the marble "Freedom is not Free" -- and so many paid the price then, and the South Koreans continue to live with it, having a belligerent neighbor to the north all these years. I still hold out hope that, like Germany, these neighbors will ultimately be reunited.

Williamsburg Not-actually-national Historic Park

2010-11-16T19:02:00.004-05:00

After Jamestown, we made the mandatory stop at Williamsburg to complete, what I thought, was the Colonial National Park trifecta. Well, as I learned by the time we reached the Visitor's Center, Williamsburg is not a national park -- it's run by a private foundation, which charges over $30/visitor. Thankfully, you can walk the grounds of the historic area for free. But, you can't go into most buildings, and the hired period-dressed actors won't engage with you.

We decided for the at-most couple hours we'd spend there that it was not worth it to pay, so we just wandered. Having lived in the area for 3 years back in the 90's, I don't think I actually ever paid! But, having been in plenty of colonial-era houses through the years, I don't think I'm missing much.

Still, it's a pleasant walk. The old governor's mansion and state house are still there, along with lots of "ye olde shoppes" and the like. On this quiet, mid-week day in November, we about had the run of the place -- just a few tour groups were around. What came to mind most, now having live in the UK, is how spread out the houses are. Outside of one densely-packed commercial area, the houses all clearly have their own plot of ground -- especially wise if they're build of wood, I suppose!

Anyway, I think it's over-rated and over-priced, but it's an interesting enough place to see Colonial-era crafts, costume, and architecture. Definitely go in the cooler months -- it's very humid in that part of Virginia.

Colonial National Park II -- Jamestown

2010-11-15T16:46:00.003-05:00

From the Capitol, we visited the Library of Congress (which the Brits burned :-) thanks to a "secret tunnel" that allows you to pass straight there without going through security again. Gorgeous building, but no pics were allowed in the most interesting areas. We then went to Roger's first professional basketball game, which was basically all spectacle and little basketball. You'd have to go to a game in the UK to understand the difference...

Saturday was a day trip to the Air and Space Museum and then to Harper's Ferry, where I went a year ago. It looked awfully familiar with the foliage almost exactly the same. We did wander into a few more of the museums this time than I had seen in the past.

Monday then was the next new adventure for me. We headed south to Hampton Roads, where we went to Jamestown and Yorktown. The latter was a repeat for me from back in May -- the difference was taking a 'Redcoat' with me. It was also MUCH nicer on the Colonial Parkway which had the nicest foliage we'd seen yet.

We got to Jamestown with daylight running low. We did see the introductory film (yes, with more fire) which was distractingly attempting to be Politically Correct, but still told the story well of this early American settlement. Not much remains of the settlement, so it's been supplemented with a significant archeological exhibit and a few re-created structures. The story of those early years, the profit motive, the attempts at democracy, and the relations with the indigenous people all come across very well.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 5 (first permanent English settlement, first representative government)
Beauty: 3 -- if you add in the Colonial Parkway especially -- right along the James River.
Fun: 2 -- not really designed for that.

Overall: 4 -- definitely worth seeing as part of a Colonial National Park tour -- it's easy to get a sense of the earlist days of colonial life.
Accessibility: half and hour off I-64 near Williamburg
Logistics/signs: 4 -- very clear, big visitors center, helpful rangers
Time required: 2-3 hours for the movie, grounds, and museum areas.
Time to visit: Spring (Apr) / fall (Oct) as it's all outdoors
Warning: like Yorktown, the state also maintains a visitor's center, but it'll cost you while the NPS sites are free for pass holders

US Capitol

2010-11-12T17:01:00.006-05:00

After our Arlington adventures, for a couple days we visited and photographed sites I'd already chronicled before -- Iwo Jima, Washington Monument and other presidential monuments, Baltimore/Ft McHenry, and Annapolis. We also got a no-cameras-allowed tour of the State Dept, which was very interesting. The Annapolis trip was unusual in that we biked in from BWI -- Roger gutted out the 38-mile ride on a borrowed bike! Roger had also never heard of the War of 1812, so Ft McHenry was suddenly a must. I'd never been there for the folding of the enormous flag.

The next day we went with Tim on a run from the Pentagon. Normally Tim and I run a 5-mile loop to somewhere around the Washington Monument. This time we made our much-less common 8-mile loop to the Capitol! After the bike ride the day before, that was a challenge, even on this perfect day.

After cleaning up, Roger and I took rode the Metro back to the Capitol for my first tour in many years (pre-9/11). Security was tighter, but the Visitors Center is now finished. In the introductory video, he heard more about 1812 and the 2nd of many times he heard "...was built in 1803, but then it was burned by the British..."

The highlight of the basic tour is the amazing rotunda and all the statues -- it requires tickets which are best acquired in advance, even off season. The tour guide did a great job, but in the end, we hadn't seen the House or Senate chambers, which require separate tickets. Luckily, foreigners can acquire them virtually on the spot, so we saw everything (no pics there though, even out of session).

While not a national park, it was well worth a visit -- a gorgeous building full of history, very well presented.

Arlington

2010-11-09T22:41:00.000-05:00

This week I'm hosting another visitor, this time a friend from my church back in the UK, here on holiday for awhile. I was looking forward to seeing the US through Roger's eyes, and I was not disaapointed. On the way back from the airport, our first stop was a simple one, dropping into Andrews Air Force Base so I could pick up groceries for us. I also knew Roger would be rather shocked by the generous facilites offered at that (as well as most) bases.

I had to work the next day, so he saw many of the standard monuments on Day 1. We met by Lincoln to wander up to see a friend at the State Dept for a tour (no pics, sorry), including Madam Secretary's office. Next was a big meal at a Lebanese restaurant in the city -- my first, and very enjoyable family-styled dinner.

Wednesday was our first full day of touring together, so we went somewhere new for me -- Arlington House, where Robert E Lee lived prior to the Civil War. It's now the central point of Arlington cemetery. The house itself is another National Park Site (#159), though the cemetary is part of the national cemetery system.

The house was quite a let down -- an antebellum mansion, partly falling apart, with no furniture and nothing about Lee. The views were grand though, right down the Mall to the Capitol. Inside were some displays for the election of 1860 -- hard to believe that 4 different men won states that year, and the upstart Republican party won the day, putting Abraham Lincoln into the presidency.

The Cemetery itself is of course as holy of ground as you'll find in America. The fields of tombstones are simply immense, most of which are quite simple and in perfect rows. Even Edward Kennedy's marker is simple, if given a more prominent space than most, near his brothers at the base of the hill in front of the house.

But the holiest place of all is the Tomb of the Unknowns, where sentries march alone providing silent honor to fallen comrades "known only to God." Coming back from there, we were stopped by a funeral procession -- a small marching band, military officers in full dress uniform, the casket drawn by a horse on a cart, and mourners behind. It was an honor to give our own silent tribute to that one.

Visitors Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 1 (house), 5 (cemetery)
Beauty: 3 -- remarkably so, for a cemetery, especially on an autumn day with leaves turning.
Fun: 1 -- certainly not designed for that.

Overall: 4 -- profound and sobering, though the house is only for NPS completists.
Accessibility: a healthy walk from the end of the Mall -- recommend the tour mobiles or at least taking the Metro there.
Logistics/signs: 3 -- very clear, big visitors center
Time required: 2 hours to bike the park thoroughly.
Time to visit: Spring (Apr) / fall (Oct/Nov) as it's all outdoors

Prince William Forest Park

2010-11-06T19:18:00.004-04:00

It was another pleasant autumn day here in Virginia, so I grabbed a friend and we drove down to Prince William Forest Park between DC and Richmond, right off I-95. Yes, it's in the National Park System, though after this visit, I wonder why.

Don't get me wrong, it's a pleasant swath of rolling hills, almost completely wooded. We rode our bikes around the "scenic loop," which had zero overlooks or other specifically scenic spots. A few spots were rather steep, but largely it was gently flowing.

On the way back, we cut through on some less developed roads meant for bikers and hikers. Those were a little more scenic, but it was harder to pay attention since leaves covered these trails. Under any leaves could've been mud, rocks, roots, or branches -- combined with some significant downhill areas, this part was more exciting than I'd planned for! However, these paths led us to a few cool bridges, which I always like.

The visitor's center focussed on the Conservation Corps which developed the park back in the 1930's as a work project (I wonder if any shovel-ready projects from the stimulus will likewise end up as national parks?!). The center (and wikipedia) dutifully attempts to make the place significant by saying the Algonquin Indians, early European settlers, and soldiers from the Revolutionary and Civil Wars all passed through here. By that measure, I think the entire state of Virginia would qualify :-)

Anyway, we had a nice day, and by biking we explored it at just the right pace. There's not enough to see to warrant hiking, and driving through would be a joke. So, if you happen to have your bike with you driving north of Richmond, stop on in!

Visitors Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 1 -- sorry.
Beauty: 2 -- forests, a creek, rolling hills.
Fun: 3 -- if you have a hybrid or mountain bike. It's a 2 with a road bike (not enough trails), perhaps only a 1 if you're on foot.

Overall: 1 -- completists and locals only
Accessibility: just off I-95, just south of the DC greater metro area
Logistics/signs: 2 -- fine. Decent signs & path markers, small visitor center, no movie, uninspiring rangers
Time required: 2 hours to bike the park thoroughly. 20 minutes if you drive, longer if you hike and camp.
Time to visit: Spring/fall as it's all outdoors. I imagine it's bug central in the summer.

Shenandoah National Park, Part 2

2010-10-11T18:26:00.003-04:00

After my first rather disappointing drive or two up the Shenandoahs, I'm learning to appreciate this piece of the Appalachians. On Columbus Day, Tim and I took a drive over to the park to hike "Old Rag," the premier mountaintop hike in the park. I'm really learning to love Columbus Day, especially here in the east where the summer heat breaks in September, but the winter chill hasn't hit yet.

From the reviews we read, and from Ethan's rave review, we knew it would involve some scrambling over rocks, the views would be good, and the crowds would be a bit ridiculous. All ended up being true! The first few miles were rather normal eastern forests, with few signs of autumn, but with lots of company.

It gets interesting up aroung the 3 mile point where the occasional-break-in-the-trees vista breaks out into wide-area overlooks. From there, the trail becomes as much rock scramble as hiking trail for the next mile up to the top. There are crevaces to hop over or squeeze through. You can take multiple paths around, through, or over the boulders. This helped mitigate the pinch of the crowds.

Once at the top, you may wonder how so many people got there, but there's a much easier forest trail around the back side. There were easily 50 people at the top when we arrived, but the 360-panorama and bounty of boulders made it seem not so bad.

Fair warnings for visitors -- older websites quote shorter distances and times since you could park 0.9 miles closer to the top. That's closed now, and everyone parks at the lower lot. Nonetheless, we finished in under 4 hours, including a rest at the top and quite a few stops for pics on the way up. It's only 2500' elevation gain, for all you Mountain Time Zone guys...sorry!

Perfect time to come? End of October...but everyone else knows that too! Don't bother in the summer -- it'll be miserable hot and the haze will be awful. That's the time for the waterfalls hikes.

The Money Factory

2010-10-08T23:39:00.002-04:00

As long as we were in the city, we also visited the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, aka the Money Factory. I was quite impressed -- the tickets are timed and can be picked up on the day. The waiting area had some good displays about the history of money. Before the tour, they show a movie telling the basics of how money is printed. Then the tour group is run through through the "factory" seeing special pieces of paper turned into $20 bills step by step and thoroughly inspected. Free samples were available too...tomorrow...

The guide was very knowledgable, and he kept the group moving, yet without rushing. I normally hate guided tours, but this one was good. We found out that one of the dollar coins costs 30 cents to make, compared to about 7 cents for a dollar bill...but they last ten times as long. We could also easily see why the US hasn't gone to different sized bills, despite the UK and Euro having that feature for the visually impaired. The entire printing process would have to be changed, rather than just a design. We also learned that no bill over the $100 had been minted in over 50 years. Just comparing the old and new style bills was very interesting.

Now I want to go visit the mint in Philadelphia!

Washington Monument

2010-10-07T22:27:00.003-04:00

I've seen the Washington Monument multiple times per week since I've been in this area -- I see it on the train ride to work, it's obvious the moment I leave work to go for a run, and I see it virtually every time I drive around. After all -- it's 555 feet tall and the tallest structure in DC. Yet, until today, I hadn't been inside it.

Jeffrey arranged for tickets for us and his family -- you'll want to do the same if you decide to visit. Even on a weekday in October, timed tickets for the day were already all gone by 1030. We could hardly have had a better day -- clear & cool, very pleasant for waiting outside and great views from the top. My apologies to all you poor folks who visit my fair city in July and August, only to be greeted by hazy skies, terrible lines, and uncomfortable waits.

Due to vandals, the stairwell to the top is closed, but the elevator runs efficiently with the timed tickets. My favorite part of the view was the pictures they had of what the view would've been like 20, 50, or 100 years earlier. Then on the way down the elevator, we slowed down to look at some of the oldest stones in the monument.

As for visiting, you literally have to see it if you come to DC, and with the timed tickets, worth going to the top. There's no view like it. You'll need to go elsewhere though to learn much about the man, though

Great Egg Harbor National Scenic & Recreational River

2010-09-28T20:32:00.002-04:00

After wandering around Philadelphia, I wanted to get out an explore a bit of the countryside. Within an hour of downtown is the only NPS site in southern New Jersey, so I drove over to take a look. It's called Great Egg Harbor National Scenic & Recreational River, which seems connected with the Pinelands National Reserve.

Thankfully, I'd done a little homework in advance or I'm not sure I would've found a stamp, brochure, or any information about the park. The main site at npg.gov says the very useful -- "hey, go here for some canoeing!" -- and no park map. A google search led me to this site, where the couple visited over 350 parks in 2 years and reviewed them. Thet helpfully pointed to a state park visitor center with information about all of Great Egg.

In the end, that state park at least was little different than my own George Washington Parkway, with trees leading to marshlands along the river. I took a 1.8 mile run along a boardwalk to the end, but the view there was anticlimactic. Seeming neither especially scenic nor well suited for recreation, I'll agree with the other reviewers that this site is a bust (they're even tougher on the Pinelands). But for NPS completists, it's Warren Fox Nature Center in Estell Manor County Park that you're looking for.

Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 1 -- a mystery to me. By this token, every river and marsh in the US would be NPS protected
Beauty: 2 -- forests, a river, some marsh
Fun: 2 -- especially disappointing since it's got "Recreational" in the name.

Overall: 1 -- completists and locals only
Accessibility: an hour from Philly, 10 miles off the Atlantic City Expressway.
Logistics/signs: 1 -- no signs, no dedicated visitor center.
Time required: an afternoon if you had a boat. Otherwise, whatever you want to hike.
Time to visit: Spring/fall as it's all outdoors. I imagine it's bug central in the summer.

Independence National Historic Park

2010-09-27T18:55:00.001-04:00

In the center of historic Philadelphia is Independence National Historic Park. Visiting it properly could take all day as the city has done a terrific job maintaining lots of historic buildings -- the skyscrapers of downtown are over a mile away.

Among the many sites, the most important historically is Independence Hall, where both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted. It was the principal meeting place of the Second Continental Congress from 1775 to 1783 and was the site of the Constitution Convention in the summer of 1787. It's one of the few man-made places in the US to qualify as a World Heritage Site.

Just outside Independence Hall is a new building housing the Liberty Bell, a true icon of America and especially freedom. Apparently it was not rung on July 4, 1776, but it certainly was rung on many important occasions. But, the story gained legendary status through a short story by George Lippard.

The NPS has also built an impressive new visitor center near the Bell, telling much of the American story of freedom. A museum dedicated to the COnstitution stands nearby.

Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 5 -- the shaping of America took place on many battlefields, but the principles were enshrined here. As such, few places in America are more important.
Beauty: 2 -- a very well preserved set of 18th century buildings, alas interspersed with modernity.
Fun: 2 -- not designed for that.

Overall: 5 -- one of the great sites of America, well preserved.
Accessibility: right it the heart of Philly
Logistics/signs: 5 -- numerous signs, multiple movies, wide variety of placards, plenty of rangers.
Time required: a few hours to see the minimum, but you could spend a whole day easily exploring around.

Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Monument

2010-09-26T17:26:00.002-04:00

"Who?" you may be asking. I wondered myself, but I was glad I went by the Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Monument as it's the only NPS site I've found that commemorates an engineer (!!). On the south side of the downtown historic area, it's a pleasant walk from Independence Hall.

Once there, it's like the Poe house -- one place among many that Kosciuszko lived, a multi-story brick building. Unlike the Poe house, it's not only full of displays, but much of it is furnished in period pieces including many artifacts from his life.

But who is he? If you're Polish, you probably know, as he's a national hero. He fought for freedom in Poland in the late 1700's against the Russians. He then lent his most remarkable engineering skills to the Colonial side during the American War of Independence. He led the design and building of Fort Saratoga, key to defeating the British in the north. He build remarkable defenses for West Point and the Hudson. Going south, he designed and built mass-producable long boats to manuever Colonial forces through the Carolinas.

A great friend of Thomas Jefferson, he worked after the war tirelessly to see his own homeland freed. He led the ill-fated 1794 Kościuszko Uprising against Imperial Russia and the Kingdom of Prussia as Supreme Commander of the National Armed Force. Captured by the Russians, he was freed but exiled. At this point, he came back to America and lived in the home now preserved.

So, should he make the cut of the 100 or so Americans with a named national monument? Arguable, but I'm glad to see this warrior/engineer did.

Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 3 -- actual home of a Polish national hero of indispensible service to the US as well.
Beauty: 2 -- 1770's-era house in the midst of a pleasant neighborhood
Fun: 1 -- a small museum of artifacts and placards.

Overall: 3 -- visit if you're in Philly, simple but effective tribute.
Accessibility: under a half mile from the Philly historic center. Parking's tight but managable.
Logistics/signs: 4 -- good signs from all over downtown, especially knowledgable rangers, a solid introductory film that summarizes his life.
Time required: about an hour

"Nevermore"...The Edgar Allen Poe NHS

2010-09-25T19:20:00.001-04:00

I drove up to Philly for the weekend and checked a few NPS units off my list. My first mistake in my planning was only noting when various sites closed for the day. Having stayed on the south side, I drove to the southernmost of the three I planned to see -- alas, it wasn't open yet and wouldn't be for a couple hours.

So, I walked up and through the historic downtown Philadelphia area, and kept going north to the Edgar Allen Poe National Historic Site. I definitely recommend driving -- there's lots of parking nearby, and the walk from Independence Hall is not exactly picturesque.

The site is simple enough -- it was a house he, his wife, and her mother lived in for about a year during one of the peaks of his creativity. The rangers freely admit that not a stitch of evidence of his residence there is still available. Still, they've done a good job with the displays, and anyone with a passing familiarity with Poe's works will find the place reasonably interesting.

Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 2 -- actual home of a major US author
Beauty: 1 -- 1850's-era house in the midst of a poor neighborhood
Fun: 1 -- just an old house to wander through and read old placards.

Overall: 2 -- visit if you're in Philly or a big Poe fan.
Accessibility: 1 mile north of downtown Philly
Logistics/signs: 4 -- good signs, especially knowledgable rangers, a solid introductory film that summarizes his life and works
Time required: under an hour, unless you linger in the reading room.

Catoctin Mountain Park

2010-09-19T09:35:00.000-04:00

After my short visit to Monocacy, I realized I was quite close to yet another of Maryland's NPS properties, Catoctin Mountain Park. How this got national status, I can't really tell. It was just another stretch of the Appalachians, near as I could tell.

The main attractions are a lake, a waterfall, and a few viewpoints. Well, the lake and the waterfall are actually in the neighboring state park, Cunningham Falls. I hiked to the falls first, and it wasn't anything too special. But, the rather amusing thing was the multitude of signs warning people not to climb the rocks near the waterfall. Well, I think the picture says it all. Amazingly, an awful lot of those people were children with parents, the same ones who won't let them ride bike without a helmet...

Then I took the hikes, and having made it to 4 of the marquis viewpoints, none had especially interesting rock formations, and the views were narrow. Spoiled by the Rockies I guess.

Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 1 -- No idea why it's protected nationally
Beauty: 2 -- hills, forest, waterfall
Fun: 2 - hiking mostly -- no biking. The lake over in the state park probably has more.

Overall: 1 -- visit if you're on the way from Gettysburg to DC just to get the passport stamp, and maybe it'll be a nice day for a walk in the woods.
Accessibility: just a few minutes off US-15, within 90 minutes of DC
Logistics/signs: 3 -- decent visitor center with small museum, quite well marked trails.
Time required: as long as you want to hike, but don't look for big payoffs.

Monocacy National Battlefield

2010-09-18T17:38:00.004-04:00

I took a big bike ride up the C&O Canal towpath today, and I've added pictures to my C&O posting from a few weeks ago. Clearly, I hadn't found the nicest parts -- we went 14 miles upriver without having to cross a road!

We were done around lunch time, so I pressed on north and west to visit what appeared to be a small national battlefield at Monocacy, near Frederick, MD. I admit, I'd never heard of it, but it ended up being more important than I'd expected.

Confederate forces were rather trapped at Petersburg, and the Union forces had largely left Washington undefended. Lee decided to press this by sending General Jubal Early to stealthfully swing up the Blue Ridge, up into Maryland, and down to Washington's NW corner. This was in July 1864, and one hope was to embarrass Lincoln and cause his defeat in the election.

Well, the plan worked well except that the owners of the B&O railroad noticed the Confederate advance and were able to get word to Gen Grant at Petersburg who sent forces to defend Washington. However, Early would've beaten those troops to the capital except that General Lew Wallace and his outnumbered troops met him at Monocacy. His delaying action cost Early a whole day and many men, blunting the advance. This gave Grant's troops time, preventing the sacking of the capital.

I dwell on the story as there's not a lot to see at the park itself. The brand new visitor's center is nice enough, but there's basically one big room with the story of Monocacy laid out. No movie. From there, it's basically a bunch of farmer's fields. The farmhouses and an old mill are still there, but you can't tour them. A strategic bridge was alas wooden, and it didn't survive even that day.

Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 3 -- I doubt this would've ended the war, but Wallace saved DC and kept the war from being prolonged.
Beauty: 2 -- grain fields, a few farmhouses, a river, some bridges, rolling hills
Fun: 1 - minimal hiking, no house tours, on top of the general no-fun-allowed rules of a Battlefield.

Overall: 2 -- significant event, and you're on the spot.
Accessibility: just a few minutes off I-270, within an hour of DC
Logistics/signs: 3 -- nice visitor center
Time required: an hour or so.

Gettysburg National Military Park

2010-09-11T21:23:00.004-04:00

After visiting 149 other national park service sites, and likely a dozen Civil War battlefields, I finally visited the granddaddy of them all -- Gettysburg. And half-way through my visit I was pretty disappointed.

My buddy Chris and I decided to go there for one of our periodic bike rides, so I swung by Baltimore, we had breakfast, and then we finished the trek into Pennsylvania. Our first concern was that we had to park in OverFlow Lot #3...imagine what it's like in the summer!

The Visitor Center was first class -- terrific movie, extensive professional displays, big gift shop, lots of rangers, and a dome containing a circular painting of the battlefield. Had to be the nicest visitor center I've seen for a national park, but the downside was the cost -- $10.50/person, no parks passes accepted. Boo!

We then went back to the bikes to ride. Needing lunch, we headed north first and just had a slow-going time as there were lots of lights and lots of traffic for a small town. We did the northern loop before lunch, but because it was so close to town, it hardly felt like a park at all. The classic markers I'd seen at some many other battlefields were right on the side of a football field!

After a nice lunch, things got much better. We went down the western side of the park, the Confederate front, and you could really tell what they were facing. The Union high ground was formidable. No bikes were allowed down Pickett's Charge, so I'll have to save that for a later trip. The bike trail then led along to the Union lines -- the feeling of hopelessness for the Confederates increased.

I ordinarily learn a lot about these battles by going to the parks, and this was no exception. As the tipping point of the Civil War, the site of the Gettysburg Address, and in recognition of all who died, this park's a must see.

Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 5 -- right up there with Yorktown as pivotal points in American history, and you can walk right in their footsteps.
Beauty: 2 -- rolling hills, fields, some forest -- lots of impressive state displays.
Fun: 2 -- not designed for that, though they at least allow bikes.
Facilities & displays -- 5 -- first class.

Overall recommendation: 5
Accessibility: 90 minutes north of Baltimore.
Time needed: half a day with a bike, which I recommend -- it's faster than walking, and easier to stop than a car.

A Morning in St. Paul

2010-09-09T21:55:00.000-04:00

Hopping down river, I made my first real visit to St Paul, checking another one off my list. The Capitol wasn't too hard to find -- both is and St. Paul's cathedral are easy to spot from the interstate and each other. Both are very impressive.

Like Minneapolis, it sits astride the Mississippi, and a lot of the land along the river is protected as part of the National Recreation Area. We found the science museum, which houses the headquarters for the National Recreation Area. Getting to the Visitor Center is free, but the rest of the museum has a fairly hefty price, which we decided not to spend.

Instead, we played on the coolest staircase -- with each step, you break a beam, which sets off a chime. Going up or down steps sends the tone up or down the scale. Dashing up and down those stairs was good fun!

Mississippi River NRA / Minneapolis

2010-09-08T20:57:00.001-04:00

I spent the week with family up in Minneapolis. This is far from my first visit, but this time I stayed in the heart of downtown and enjoyed seeing a different side of the city. I was within walking distance of the new Twins stadium, and only a block from a nice pedestrian mall. That mall leads down to the Mississippi River waterfront, which has been converted from the old mills that used to line the river, to a series of bike/running trails. This is all part of yet another NPS site, the Mississippi River National Recreation Area.

I loved all the bridges, and one day I ran up as far as the University of Minnesota. Classes are in session, and it felt great to be back on a campus again. Can't help but think I'll be back in that environment again before all's said and done.

A few old mills still stand, but two notably have been left as memorial ruins in Mill Ruins Park (!!). I don't know what some future archeologist or anthropologist will learn from this. But it doesn't take away from what's (in September at least), a very pleasant, fun, even "hip" city, at least for Minnesota, dontcha know.

Clara Barton National Historic Site

2010-09-06T20:16:00.001-04:00

After my ride, I took the long way home, looping up the GW Parkway, and I had just enough time to swing by what I figured was a quick box to check -- the Clara Barton National Historic Site. I was right :-) It's just a single house near the corner of Maryland, DC, and the Potomac.

As you may recall, Barton was a devoted nurse during the American Civil War, nursing the wounded, gathering supplies, and performing other acts of mercy. After the War, she moved to Europe, where she again ministered amidst the horrors of war. She worked tirelessly back home in America to lobby for the newly created Red Cross. She then ran the American Red Cross, which expanded its charter to include peacetime and natural disaster relief.

The house that constitutes the site was both her home for many years and the first headquarters of the American Red Cross. While nice, it's nothing especially notable, at least not compared to a life lived so well in service to others.

Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 2 -- it's only a house, but sure nice to see one with a solid historical connection to an important figure.
Beauty: 1 -- just a house at a park
Fun: 1 -- just a house to explore
Facilities & displays -- 3 -- good -- clear signs, displays. The story of her life is well laid out.

Overall recommendation: 2
Accessibility: Half an hour from the center of DC
Time needed: an hour, tops.

Rock Creek Park

2010-09-05T19:45:00.001-04:00

Having been thwarted on my bike ride at Roosevelt Island, I went up river a mile, crossed the Key Bridge, rode down part of the C&O canal, and entered Rock Creek Park. I mostly knew it from my times driving up to visit friends who live near the zoo, which the bridge to the left leads to.

But north of the zoo, the traffic drops off and it becomes a startlingly quiet urban park. The tree canopy is nearly continuous, lining both the road and the creek. I made my way to the visitor center / Nature Center, which had a planetarium (alas, closed). A horse-riding center was next door, though I did not partake.

Returning south, I took another path which had a multi-mile stretch of actual road, but free of traffic -- awesome for bikes, especially since I was going downhill -- and a few cool bridges!

Overall, after giving the Chattahoochee River NRA lukewarm reviews, I can't rate this too high either -- it's for the locals. If it were in any other city, I'm sure it would just be a large city park. But, if you're local, definitely go!

Visitor's Rating (ratings out of 5)
Fun -- 3 -- forest walks, creek, nature center
Beauty -- 2 -- very nice for a city
Significance -- 1 -- should be a city park
Facilities and Displays -- 3 -- good visitor center displays, helpful rangers.
Overall: 2 -- a very pleasant place for an afternoon.

Time required: 2 hours to all day -- depends on the time spent walking, biking, picnicking.
Accessibility: right in the heart of DC
Time to visit: late spring to late summer as it's all outdoors.

Theodore Roosevelt Island National Memorial

2010-09-04T17:46:00.004-04:00

It was a great day for a bike ride, so I drove up the GW Parkway to Theodore Roosevelt Island. It's a mile or so up river from the Memorial Bridge, and it's a place I've often run to from work. I hadn't stopped to take some pictures. No bikes allowed, but that was fine.

There's a full national park for Roosevelt in North Dakota, as he's the Father of National Parks. This National Memorial is simply an island in the Potomac, with a monument for Roosevelt on the north side. It's not as elaborate as FDR's across the river, but it's appropriately "monumental."

The rest of the island is simply trees and marsh, with a 1.3-mile walking/running trail around it. From it, you get a nice view of Georgetown and the Key Bridge, and you can see the other direction toward the Kennedy Center and the National Mall.

This is another locals-only park, unless you're an NPS completist -- no special connection to the President.

Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor

2010-08-28T19:59:00.000-04:00

With summer winding down, and the heat continuing mercilessly, I got the idea to go whitewater rafting. I hadn't been in years (back to my Colorado days) -- and the Lehigh River is close enough for a long day trip. So, I grabbed a couple friends from church, we drove to Harrisburg, stayed at the Groovy Marriott, and pushed on to Jim Thorpe, PA, for our adventure.

We went with Pocono Whitewater Rafting -- all the companies in the area use the same river and charge about the same. They had the fewest negative reviews, so I reserved with them. Despite the reviews, it was well run -- a reasonable bus ride to the river, we all got in our rafts reasonably expediently, and we were given wide latitude when rafting. And they were there to help if you got stuck.

The river's not too fast too often, even on a dam-release day like today. So, there's a bit of meandering time -- and the water guns they rent out kept life from getting too quiet. We were paired up with a mom and two teenagers -- by the end, we were having a grand time together, going the wrong way down the river, switching seats often, and just laughing a lot.

The river is part of the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, affiliated with the NPS, so of course I wanted to go see one of the visitor centers. It was in a cool historic train station. No brochures or passport stamps though :-(

Outside town was a monument for Jim Thorpe, one of the best athletes of the 20th century. After he died, his hometown was disinterested in memorializing him, so basically, his widow put his burial place out for auction. This small town in PA did, and they changed their name for him.

Overall, a very fun day with good company.

Georgetown in an Evening

2010-08-22T16:28:00.003-04:00

Jeffrey and I met for dinner the other night in the city, and we ended up going between two college campus, George Washington University and Georgetown. It was only my 2nd trip to the GWU campus, despite living in the area and despite being an alumnus! I'd gone to a satellite campus, so I've never especially identified with the campus. It's also not especially interesting.

The neighborhood of Georgetown (formerly a city, but now a part of Washington, which has the came boundaries as the District of Columbia), is mostly known for it's main drag of nice restaurants and shops. The canal runs right through, ending at a nice waterfront area from which you can take a water taxi to Alexandria and National Harbor.

Jeffrey's main quest was some cupcakes from Georgetoown Cupcakes, which had been recently featured on local television. We waited in line 15 minutes, and it was looking to be 30 minutes more so we bailed. We went to another place on the canal with no wait and delicious offerings!

Besides the canal, I also wanted some pictures at the Francis Scott Key memorial next to the Key bridge. I run or bike past this fairly often, but never with my camera. Note the 15-star flag from the War of 1812 era.

I can't say it should be at the top of anyone's to-do list in DC, but it's got a lot going for it, especially near supper time in the spring and fall.