Happy Presidents Day Weekend!

Happy Valentine’s Day/Presidents’ Day weekend combo! In case you didn’t know, this is a fee-free weekend in most National Parks.  If you really wanted to mark the occasion, you could spend the day in a Presidentially themed park or historic site, such as Theodore Roosevelt National Park or one of the Presidential homes and birthplaces. Or, always free-of-charge, you could walk around the Presidential memorials of Washington, DC. Washington MonumentHere’s a couple from my trip a few years back:

Washington Monument

Still waiting to get the passport cancellation for this one. Someone (husband) convinced me I had to actually go up to the top to collect the stamp, and we didn’t wake up early enough to get tickets. However, if you have fewer scruples and/or forgot to stamp your passport book elsewhere in the National Mall, the lobby of the Washington Monument has (or at least had) quite the collection of stamps.

 

Lincoln Memorial and Ford’s Theatre

pres02A couple locations in the National Mall area are devoted to the 16th President. Of course the famous Lincoln Memorial is a must see, and just north of the Smithsonian is the infamous Ford’s Theatre, where Lincoln was assassinated. You can take a tour of the theater – or see a historical show – as well as visit the pres03Peterson House across the street where Lincoln died (closed when I visited so not sure if there’s a cancellation – or perhaps I passed uppres11pres10 the opportunity to stamp it at the theater on the same principle I mentioned above?).

 

 

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial

pres06Thispres07 one was new since I last visited the area on that 8th grade field trip. A good stop if you’re walking around the Tidal Basin en route from the Lincoln Memorial to the Jefferson Memorial. There are four sections  to walk through dedicated to the president’s four terms, and the memorial gives a pretty balanced look at the highs and lows of a very eventful presidency. This memorial is also near the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, which was still fenced off before opening the year we were there.

 

Thomas Jefferson Memorialpres04

One of the top three most-recognizable memorials, it is patterned to look like Jefferson’s home in Monticello. My camera died before we got there, so I only have this not-so-great cell-phone pic. A nice stop on the tour of D.C. memorials, but if you really want to get in the Jefferson zone, I recommend a pres09visit to Monticello near Charlottesville, VA.

 

George Mason Memorial

Not a president, but George Mason was an influential “Founding Father” and Virginia delegate to the Constitutional Convention. I admit, that until I visited this small memorial a short walk from the Jefferson Memorial, the only reason I had heard of George Mason was because the name pops up occasionally around NCAA tournament time (including a final four appearance and, perhaps more importantly, second round win against UNC in 2006). Mason held the relatively progressive opinion at the time that the slave trade should be prohibited by the new constitution (although he was a slave holder himself), and he was influential in the adoption of the Bill of Rights. pres08

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Stamp Hunting in DC: The National Mall & Memorial Parks

White House
If you want to tour the White House, make a request through your local member of Congress at least 30 days in advance. There’s likely a link on your Congressperson’s official website

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:

Signers of the Declaration of Independencenacc03 nacc09Constitution 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!

Old Post Office
View of the Capitol from the Old Post Office Tower, now closed for renovations until 2016

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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!

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