Park Units 181 and 182: Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park

We had an extra day after the conference, so we went to two national park units. First, we drove up to the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. We started at the small museum in the visitor's center that was disturbing in the way it glorified the Confederacy and the civil war. The displays and materials were very biased, describing the confederacy as it's own country and honoring it's president. It glossed over the reasons for the civil war as preserving the economic way of life without any mention of the social implications of slavery. We left right away. Ughhhh. I don't even have any photos (although the park land was lovely).

Next we drove to the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. The Hewett Lodge Visitor's Center is housed in a beautiful lodge built in the 1930's as a private retreat. We had a fun chat with the ranger on duty and bought two stuffed birds that chirp for Libby. Then we walked the trails by the Island Ford section of the park.

We walked down to the river and along the trails in a loop back up to the visitor's center. The weather was in the 60s in Dec and misty. Really lovely. Libby enjoyed seeing the river (she called it an ocean) and the birds, squirrels, and trees and sticks. 

 

Park Unit 180: Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Park

Catherine, Libby and I were at the Literacy Research Association Conference in Atlanta this week so we took some time off to visit the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Park that was a few minutes away.

From the NPS Website: "A young boy grows up in a time of segregation…A dreamer is moved by destiny into leadership of the modern civil rights movement…This was Martin Luther King, Jr. Come hear his story, visit the home of his birth, and where he played as a child. Walk in his footsteps, and hear his voice in the church where he moved hearts and minds. Marvel at how he was an instrument for social change."

This is a beautiful museum with many informative panels, videos, displays, sculptures, etc. There are other sites in this park that we didn't get to visit, but the museum was well worth the time. I was surprised to learn more about Dr. King's connection to Ghandi and loved the statue in front of the building.

There is a lovely playground just outside the museum and nice deep puddles for Libby to play in!

Park Unit 178- 179: Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad NHP and Assateague Island National Seashore

Happy New Year! To celebrate the holiday, Catherine, Libby and I took off south to visit Maryland for a couple days. We first went to the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historic Park. This park included a new, large visitor's center that serves as an orientation center and gateway to the Underground Railroad Scenic Byway. From the website: "The woods and wetlands of Maryland's Eastern Shore shaped Harriet Tubman's early life in slavery, and using her skills as an outdoorswoman, Tubman was able to navigate the landscape for multiple return journeys to bring friends and family north to freedom." There were well constructed educational displays that shared information about Harriet Tubman's like and work. Very engaging and a terrific example of effective museum education. 

Next we drove east to Assateague Island National Seashore. We stopped at the Assateague Island Visitor Center which is on the mainland before crossing the bridge. This was very informative with beautiful views and educational displays. Great way to get acquainted with the area.

Next we waited in line to enter the park, drove south to find a spot to leave our car, and saw a pony by the side of the road. We were ridiculously excited because we knew it was a long shot to see them. We then took a terrific hike on the Life of the Dunes Trail. This went through dune habitat, and shrub thicket. We know this habitat well, of course, but we still learned a lot from the educational signs along the way. The weather was surprisingly warm for January and beautiful for being on the beach.

We had planned to go to the Virginia end of the park in the morning, but I ended up not feeling well and we went back home - turned out I had Covid, so I was glad we left. We'll have to keep the VA part of the park on our bucket list!