September 3, 2013
Cherry Hill Park, College Park, Maryland
As always, please click on any picture to enlarge...
We had a nice start to our trek southward, and spent a few
days in the Washington, D.C., area. We even shaved a few miles off the route in
the process. Leaving Watkins Glen, we headed south on US-15, eventually to be
I-99. (This is an anomaly in the Interstate numbering rules, but I guess they
ran out of room, or numbers.) Passing Williamsport (home of Little League), we
picked up US-11 then US-22/US-322 into Harrisburg. Along the way, we found a
truck stop for a fuel stop. This cut 35-40 miles off our route, as I’d planned
to swing slightly east to fuel up along I-81. Saving 6-7 gallons of diesel at
$4+ per gallon is always a good thing!
I was a little worried about going through Harrisburg after
we were caught in a huge traffic jam there on our way north in May. I knew that
the I-81/US-22 interchange was closed for several days at that time after a
truck overturned and burned, but couldn’t get much current information from the
DOT sites in August. But, things worked out fine, even though there was still
some construction going on, and we were able to make the transition to I-81 and
then I-83 easily. We followed I-83 south to Baltimore, then I-695 to I-95.
Soon, we were exiting, just before the I-95/I-495 split northwest of
Washington, D.C.
We’ve been to Cherry Hill Park before, several times in
fact. That didn’t stop them from losing our reservation, which wasn’t a huge
issue since they weren’t full. I did get a little indignant when they claimed
to have no record of my deposit, though. A little searching got that
straightened out, and we were soon heading to our pull-thru site. I should have
asked for a back-in, because these sites were narrow, but we were fine as it
was, especially when the RV next to us left a few days later.
Once we got settled, a Facebook suggestion was made that the
Mets were in town to play the Nationals, so I made the buy on StubHub for
Saturday night. We enjoyed the game and Nationals Park is a decent venue,
although they need to upgrade their concessions (us being foodies, and all).
On Sunday, I ventured into DC to visit the National Mall. No
shopping here, just monuments. There is way too much walking involved here for
Geri, so she relaxed at the coach. I decided to drive to the Metro station (I
took the bus to the train the last time and it was a project), but the
Greenbelt station was closed (track work) with – you guessed it – shuttle
busses! I decided to pass on that and let Siri guide me to the next Metro
station.
I wanted to visit some of the newer memorials and things
I’ve missed before, so I Crossed the Mall, passing the Washington Monument
(under repair from earthquake damage, of all things), and the World War II
Memorial. Across to the Tidal Basin, I found the new Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Memorial. Smaller than most, it’s nicely done and was quite crowded a few days
after the 50th anniversary of the “Dream” speech.
Continuing along the Tidal Basin, I came upon the FDR
Memorial. This one is tucked out of the way and much less known. I was at the
wrong time of day for pictures, with harsh shadows everywhere, so this one will
be checked off for a future visit.
Continuing on, I finally made it to the Jefferson Memorial.
In all the times I’ve been here, I’ve always missed this one, probably because
of its location off the mainstream part of the Mall. We were supposed to stop
here on my Eighth Grade Class Trip but there were protests going on and that
part of the visit was summarily cancelled. I’m glad I finally made it.
Heading back to the Metro, I decided to make a quick stop at
the Museum of American History. It was interesting to see various parts of
Americana, from Julia’s Kitchen from PBS to the Greensboro Lunch Counter, in a
museum setting. They also had a separate exhibit noting the 200th
anniversary of the Star Spangled Banner. They even have the original flag that
inspired the song, but for some reason photography isn’t allowed in that
exhibit.
Overall, it was a nice stop on our trip south this fall. Of
course, it’s still summer and the temperatures are still high, but we’re hoping
for some moderation as we go. Tomorrow, we’re back on the road again…
No comments:
Post a Comment