Stamp Hunting in DC: The National Mall & Memorial Parks

If you are looking to collect cancellations in your National Parks Passport book, there is truly no better location than Washington, D.C. in the National Mall area. While I didn’t have my Fitbit at the time, we certainly got some good walking in hopping from monument to memorial to museum. Here were some of the stops on our tour of the National Mall and surrounding area:

Constitution Gardens is the area just East of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and North of the reflecting pool. There is a small lake to walk around, and in a plaza on the lake, you will find the memorial to the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, such as John Hancock, of course!

Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site encompasses the stretch of Pennsylvania Ave. leading from the White House to the Capitol Building. There are a number of sites of interest along the way, including the National Archives, the National Gallery of Art, the FBI building, and the Old Post Office Tower. The Old Post Office Tower’s main attraction was the view from the top, but the tower closed for renovation a few weeks ago. I wonder if they will have updated exhibits when they reopen in 2016?

In a great example of why I like the Passport program, when I picked up the cancellation for West Potomac Park, I had to ask the person behind the kiosk what “West Potomac Park” actually is. In addition to getting my answer (basically, the entire western section of the larger National Mall & Memorial Parks, including the area around the Tidal Basin), I got a great history on the building of our nation’s capital and the National Mall from how it was first envisioned by Pierre Charles L’Enfant in 1791 through the addition of West Potomac Park and the Tidal Basin later. It’s amazing what you can learn from people when you have a simple conversation starter!