Park Unit 150: Mary McLeod Bethune Council House

 

After spending the day at the NAEYC conference, we took time in the late afternoon to visit the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House. "Mary McLeod Bethune achieved her greatest recognition at the Washington, DC townhouse that is now this National Historic Site. The Council House was the first headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) and was Bethune’s last home in Washington, DC. From here, Bethune and the NCNW spearheaded strategies and developed programs that advanced the interests of African American women". Not only was the history very interesting at this site, it was also cool to see the Victorian home as well. The ranger shared much of the history with us in an informal tour and then we explored the home. After leaving the house, we also explored some of the African American history in the Logan Circle Heritage Trail. This little bit of history was a wonderful way to end a busy day! Tomorrow we are off for more D.C. parks!

Park Unit 147-149: Fort McHenry National Monument; Greenbelt Park; Rock Creek Park

 We left today for a trip to Washington, DC as I am giving a presentation at NAEYC on Thursday. On our way, we were able to visit three parks - two in Maryland and one in Washington, DC.

The first park was Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine. O! say can you see,...by the dawn's early light, a large red, white and blue banner? Whose broad stripes and bright stars... were so gallantly streaming...over Fort McHenry! The valiant defense of the fort during the Battle of Baltimore on September 13-14, 1814 inspired Francis Scott Key to write the words that became the U.S. national anthem. The fort's history holds many other stories too, from the Civil War to WWII. 

 

 

 

We toured the fort, noting the similarities to Castillo de San Marco in Florida which is also a star fort. We enjoyed watching the school children who were there on a field trip, and the views of the river. The monument includes a beautiful park and walking path, that was being well used.

Next we drove to Green belt park in Maryland. The NPS website says, "Greenbelt Park is a hidden jewel located just outside of Washington, DC. It provides a sylvan escape from the busy city life where you can camp, hike, and enjoy time with friends and family." We drove through the park and enjoyed the acres and acres of woods, and the peace and calm. It felt like home and looked like much of NJ, but it was indeed an escape in the midst of the city. The park stamps were at the little ranger station where Libby enjoyed the taxidermied animals. She used her "cat" squeal to show her excitement. We loved the little smart car they use in the park.

We then entered DC and drove to Rock Creek Park. "This 1,754 acre city park was officially authorized in 1890, making it the third national park to be designated by the federal government. It offers visitors the opportunity to escape the bustle of the city and find a peaceful refuge, recreation, fresh air, majestic trees, wild animals, and thousands of years of human history." I was impressed by the many locations within the park and many things to do. We went on a short hike with Libby in the carrier and enjoyed the woods. We also toured the visitor center displays that we great because they showed simply and boldly the wildlife and plant life in the area. We hope to return and do more activities here in the future, but for now we are on to our hotel in D.C.!

Park Unit 146: Cape Cod National Seashore

We left early this morning and drove all the way to the northernmost part of Cape Cod, to the Province Lands Visitor's Center. We first went down across the dunes to the beach for a beautiful morning view of the cape. The sand is lovely and more granular than in Westhampton or Fire Island. The dunes are also much larger - many were 20 feet or more and very rugged.

We were all so excited to be at the beach again so soon!

Bird tracks across the sand

We next went to the visitor's center building where they had a deck overlooking the dunes. One of the rangers excitedly gave us a pair of binoculars and pointed out the whales that were breaching along the shore. We watched them for a little while, then climbed the tower they have to an upper observation deck that gives a 360 degree view.

You can see by the photos that the weather was perfect! Cool, clear, and calm. We stopped into the store and bought some sweatshirts and got to chat with the rangers, who were very friendly. We also viewed some of the exhibits about the cape and the geography. We unfortunately left our paper with our park stamps on it at the visitor's center so we called them and they promised to mail them

 to us. 

Libby enjoyed touching the objects in the visitor's center displays

Next we drove about 40 minutes south to the southern Salt Pond Visitor's Center. We met Catherine's friend Hannah for the first time so it was a joyous occasion. Catherine and Hannah took Libby and went for a walk on the trails and I explored the museum at the Visitor's Center and watched the film. My one goal was to learn more about the physical geography of the cape and how it was formed and I got my wish! The film was old, but very informative about the geological process during the time when the glaciers receeded from the area. Excellent graphics and information. I got some gifts at the gift shop for Weston's birthday that we are celebrating tomorrow. 

We left about noon for our 8-hour drive home that went better than we expected. It was a terrific weekend and it felt so good to be able to travel again after two years of covid restrictions. We are excited to start planning more national park trips soon!

Park Visits 143-145: Blackstone River Valley NHP, Roger Williams NM; Tuoro Synagogue NHS, and New Bedford Whaling Museum NHP

Since we were visiting my sister in Connecticut yesterday, we decided to stay overnight and then spend the weekend finishing up our national park units in New England.

We left early to get to Blackstone River Valley National Historic Park in Rhode Island when they opened. We started at the northernmost part of the park, at the Kelly Mill. We met a wonderful docent who was so nice and helpful. This is a small house with new displays and activities about the importance of the Blackstone River Valley in the history of textile production in the area. The had a new item - a little passport book just for the locations in this park. So cute and fun!

Next we went to the southern part of the park to the Old Slater Mill site. This has a couple of mill buildings, old house, and waterfall that powered the mills. We did not do the tour but the main visitor center has a good video about the history and importance, and some good exhibits. Libby enjoyed herself playing with the cotton on display and charming everyone she met!

A short distance away was the Roger Williams National Memorial. This was an amazing site because, although ostensibly about Roger Williams, it's really dedicated to the IDEA of standing up for what you believe in, even when there is pressure to conform. Roger Williams became famous for creating a community that was more egalitarian than the norm for the time period. The Visitor Center is a small house with a short film and some very modern displays that make the links between Roger Williams actions and our time period.

Next, we drove south to Newport R.I. to visit the Tuoro Synagogue National Historic Site. Although it was closed for tours because it was a Saturday, we were able. This is the oldest existing U.S. synagogue, built in 1763. We toured the site and some of the surrounding areas that are from colonial times, or the Civil War period. A very intersting place to visit. 

Finally we headed back north to the New Bedford Whaling Museum National Historic Park. There is a large visitor's center with many rooms of exhibits about the importance of the maritime lifestyle, whaling, the underground railroad, and other information about the town and time period. Once again, Libby charmed the rangers while we toured the exhibits. Next we went down the street a bit to the New Bedford Whaling Museum. This was an amazing place with whale skeletons, ship models, scientific displays, lots of art, including a room of handicrafts from ivory. We spent a couple of hours here and we could have spent more. We also took a walk around the vicinity, down to the ferry terminal to Martha's Vineyward and Nantucket and back. Very historic and interesting area with lots of preserved buildings. 

We ended the day in Hyannis for our overnight stay. Libby and we had a wonderful time today. We were able to make so many connections to the things we learned today with other places we've been, such as Lowell, Edison, Springfield Armory, and Fire Island. This is one of the reasons I love the national park units - the way they help us see the big picture and trends in history. Tomorrow we are off to Cape Cod!

Park Unit 139-142 Allegheny Portage Railroad NHS, Johnstown Flood NM, Fort Necessity National Battlefield, Friendship Hill NHS

 After months of quarantine, we've been going a little stir crazy so we decided to venture out for our first trip in a long time. We've had to cancel our trip to Washington state and our trip to Washington, DC this summer, but the Covid numbers are low right now so we feel safe venturing into Pennsylvania.

We started our journey with the Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site. This was one of those fabulous visitor's centers that taught us so much about history and physics! 

We had no knowledge of this railroad or the challenges of getting a railroad through the mountains before our visit. "The first railroad to circumvent the Allegheny Mountains, the Allegheny Portage Railroad was the finishing piece of the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal. "The Portage" opened in 1834, marking the first time that there was one, direct route between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. All things to all people, it served merchants, passengers, slaves in pursuit of freedom, and soldiers from the Mexican War."

 The displays were an excellent way to learn about the process.

Next we drove to Friendship Hill National Historic Site.  "Tucked away in a wooded spot overlooking the Monongahela River in southwestern Pennsylvania is Friendship Hill National Historic Site, home of Albert Gallatin (1761–1849). Gallatin is best known for serving as Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison." 

We toured the house and beautiful grounds and had a fascinating discussion with the ranger about the politics in the area and how hard it was that he was not in agreement with his friends/family's values. It was a little uncomfortable to even drive around this part of the state.

 

Next we traveled to Johnstown Flood National Memorial. I was very familiar with the story of this tragedy from a book I read in Social Work school, so it was very meaningful to see the actual site. The visitor's center had an amazing recreation of the chaos as seen in this photo:

"The South Fork dam failed on Friday, May 31, 1889 and unleashed 20,000,000 tons of water that devastated Johnstown, PA. The flood killed 2,209 people but it brought the nation and the world together to aid the "Johnstown sufferers." The story of the Johnstown Flood reminds us all, "...that we must leave nothing undone for the preservation and protection of our brother men." We learned a lot from the first-hand accounts of the events and it was a sobering experience. This spurred us on to listen to the Johnstown Flood book by David McCullough. NPS sites are so good at motivating us to learn more!

Finally we drove to the Fort Necessity Memorial Battlefield. "The battle at Fort Necessity in the summer of 1754 was the opening action of the French and Indian War. This war was a clash of British, French and American Indian cultures. It ended with the removal of French power from North America. The stage was set for the American Revolution."

 

The surrounding area was beautiful and we learned a lot from the rangers about the details of the location and people involved. The reconstructed fort was very interesting. We also explored  the Mount Washington Tavern, which was build in the 1830's along the National Road (which we learned about for the first time here!). It was a stopping place for stagecoaches and their travelers.

We also visited the Stone House added by Gallatin in 1823.

 

It was a successful trip that reminded us how important our NPS visits are! Can't wait for Covid to settle down enough to start traveling again!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Virtual Visit: Park Unit 138 James A Garfield National Historic Site

This morning we virtually traveled to Ohio to visit the James A. Garfield National Historic Site. The National Park Service has the visitor's center film online, which is a terrific introduction to the life of James Garfield, the 20th president, the politics and political history of the time, as well as a video of a virtual tour of the Garfield House, which in many ways, is better than being there in person because you get close up views of the items in the house as well as excellent explanations from a variety of rangers. Both of these films are terrific and worth watching!


We learned a lot about the family, but also about the architecture of the time (beginnings of modernism and glimmers of art deco and craftsman styles), life style (writing hundreds of letters, playing piano, entertaining visitors), and family life (children, parents, grandparents). I thought, as I always do, that this is a much better way of learning about history than any textbook in school!

Google also has a 3-D view of the house that is quite remarkable. You can walk around and look in the rooms and it really feels like you are exploring the house.

Our virtual visit also spurred us to read more about Garfield's election as a compromise candidate in the republican party, his 6-month presidency, and his assassination. This was an interesting glimpse into the politics of the day and a reminder that political discord and dysfunction are not unique to our current time period. This virtual visit is highly recommended!!

Virtual Visit: Park Unit 137 - Wrangell- St. Elias National Park and Preserve

We woke up early this morning and decided to adventure virtually to Wrangell-St. Elias to continue our Alaskan exploration this week. The NPS website for Wrangell-St. Elias is excellent in that it provides a clear overview of the importance and nature of the park:

Park Superlatives:

• Largest national park in the United States.
• Largest wilderness area in the National Wilderness Preservation System.
• Designated as a World Heritage Site with Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve, the Canadian neighbors Kluane National Park & Reserve and Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park. (Making this the world's largest international protected wilderness.)
• Four major mountain ranges:Wrangell, St. Elias, Chugach, and the eastern part of the Alaskan Range.
• Mt. St. Elias, at 18,008 feet (5.5km), is the second highest peak in the United States.
• Nine of the 16 highest peaks in the United States.
• Mt. Wrangell, at 14,163 feet (4.3km), is one of the largest active volcanoes in North America.
• The Nabesna Glacier, at approximately 53 miles (85km), is the longest valley glacier in North America and the world's longest interior valley glacier.
• The Malaspina Glacier, larger than the state of Rhode Island, is the largest non-polar piedmont glacier in North America.
• The Hubbard Glacier is one of the largest and most active tidewater glaciers in North America.

After reading the park site, we headed to youtube for video adventures and found three terrific films. The first was a professional film from Go Traveler that showed the grandeur and diversity of the park, as well as a personal story of visiting as a child. Very well done.

The second one was a National Park Service video that must have been made as the film for the visitor's center a few decades ago. This was an excellent overview with incredible scenery - about 30 minutes long. It made us feel like we had really visited the park.

The third video was made by a family with two boys who are on a quest to visit all the national parks before their boys turn 18. This video was fun, charming, and more realistic about what it's like to visit, drive, through, lodge, and hike in the park.


All in all, we spent a couple of hours exploring this amazing park - and discussing our plan of attack for visiting the park when we finally get to Alaska in person! In the meantime, this virtual visit was a great win!