One of My Favorite Places: C&O Canal Celebrates 60 Years

This morning I was surprised to read an interesting article about the C&O Canal National Park in the Washington Post. It turns out I knew nothing at all about the history of the Park, and I'm glad this article taught me a thing or two! Basically, the story boils down to U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas and his wife hiking in the park many weekends, then hearing about a 1954 plan to build a highway along or over the area, and finding a clever way to protest this. The highway plan was abandoned, and in 1954 President Eisenhower designated the canal and towpath a national monument. Although many people outside of the DC area have not heard of the park, it is the ninth most popular park in the country, given that five million people visit annually!

Over the weekend I hope to finally finish my post about the great Latvian conference I attended last week, but in the meantime I plan to enjoy the sparkling weather we are having -- maybe even with a hike along the C&O!