One Park at a Time: Park Unit 151-169: National Capitol Parks and Washington, DC

Today was our big day in Washington, D.C.! We planned the day to take in as many of the capitol parks as we could. Since Catherine and I have already been to most of these parks (a variety of times) we focused on the overall experience of being in D.C. and taking photos. It was a VERY cold day for November but it was clear and beautiful.

We left the hotel about 8:30 and walked first to Ford's Theater, which took us about a half an hour. We had Libby in the stroller and we were bundled up from the wind! From there we took in World War I Memorial, then we walked to the Capitol Mall and started with the Washington Memorial. From there, we used the DC Circulator Bus system to get around the other monuments. The bus was terrific with lots of room for the folded up stroller, but we didn't realize it doesn't stop unless you tell them you want to get off. Oh, well, we worked around this issue and backtracked a bit to get to the Martin Luther King, Jr. and FDR Memorials. What a contrast between the two! There were lovely views of the water and the Jefferson Memorial. We ate lunch in a sunny spot at the FDR Memorial while Libby slept in the stroller. We really loved this memorial and the sensory experience of it. We noticed the other visitor's interactions with the statues which brought them to life.

We continued on foot to the other memorials, ending at the World War II memorial and taking the bus to the Smithsonian stop. We had planned to end with the Eisenhower memorial but we were too tired and cold so we added to our plans for tomorrow. We got the Metro back to the convention center and then walked back to the hotel. We were really exhausted from the cold and all the walking, but we had a marvelous day, really immersing ourselves in history!

Here is the list of the DC parks from today.