Find Your Park!

To celebrate its 100th anniversary this year, the National Park Service launched a new advertising and marketing campaign called "Find Your Park" last year. Although it has only been in the last several years that I have begun to fully appreciate the NPS and its diversity, I now count myself as a huge fan. Just check out this video, and tell me this isn't an impressive park system?

Over time I have been fortunate to visit quite a few parks across the country: from Alcatraz Island in California to Sleeping Bear Dunes in Michigan, from Craters of the Moon in Idaho to Boston National Historic Park in Massachusetts. A few visits I've blogged about include: Shenandoah National Park in Virginia,Yellowstone which I visited a few years ago, Cape Hatteras National Seashore which I saw and loved in 2014, Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland on a hot summer's day, Harper's Ferry National Historical Park in nearby West Virginia, plus recalling an earlier visit to Sleeping Bear Dunes. Naturally, given that the National Mall & Memorial Parks in Washington is also a national park, that's another spot about which I have blogged.

A park that I visited on the same trip as Yellowstone was neighboring Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Although I was there for only part of a day, it was a beautiful and memorable visit, as the place is stunning!

Doing some hiking for the best views!

There are many more I would love to visit some day, including Acadia in Maine, Yosemite in California, Glacier in Montana, Arches in Utah, and - well, the list goes on!

However, if you asked me to name "my" park, I would quickly answer: the C&O National Historical Park. While spots like the Grand Canyon (which I've had the fortune of visiting twice!) are far more impressive, the beauty of the C&O is that it's close enough for me to visit frequently. Also, the impressive 180+ mile length, which stretches from the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington through all the way to Cumberland in western Maryland, means that there is lots to explore! I have hiked only about 25 miles of that. I have written about several (but certainly not all!) of my visits over the last several years, both in areas that are close to Washington, such as the ever-popular Great Falls overlook, and areas further away, such as the Monocacy Aqueduct and the town of Williamsport.

It's no surprise that my first outing to a national park this year was to the C&O. I took a five year old friend for a walk in the Great Falls area. The weather had been quite variable that day, and as we drove to the park, a quick downpour almost changed our plans. However, perhaps sensing our dire need to experiences the great outdoors, the rain stopped. After parking the car, we began walking, and I noticed other hikers looking above us, so we turned around to spot a lovely rainbow. I did not have a camera along; this photo was snapped with my very old cell phone. I'm hoping for many more visits to national parks this year (as well as better quality photos)!

Happy 100th birthday, National Park Service!!!

Longwood Gardens: Orchids and More

My December visit to the beautiful Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania was timed so that I could see the popular Christmas displays, but the indoor greenhouses are so impressive that they deserve a post of their own. Well, actually more than just one post, otherwise I will overwhelm you with a hundred photos! Thus, below is a small selection of orchids and other flowers. If the cold winter temperatures have you longing for warmer weather, may these colorful blossom remind you that spring and summer will eventually come!

I've no idea what this is - but I love it!

Just some of the many orchids!

More Longwood photos to follow in the future!

Christmas at Longwood Gardens, Part I

Longwood Gardens is considered to be one of the most beautiful gardens in the country, and after years of hearing about it, I finally managed to visit - specifically to see the magnificent Christmas displays. Although its location in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania (near Philadelphia and Wilmington) made for a relatively long solo day trip from the Washington area, the time and effort were well worth it. My visit was lengthy and colorful enough that I will have share photos and observations from my adventure over at least two blog posts! With over 1,000 acres, Longwood Gardens offers visitors a great deal to explore no matter what the season, though I'm having a difficult time imaging anything being more spectacular than what I saw!

Thanks to its magnificent seasonal flower, Christmas tree and light displays, Longwood is exceedingly popular in December, thus if you plan on visiting then, I recommend reading the tips on their website. For example, weekdays are much less crowded than weekends, and tickets are also less expensive then ($20 vs. $27). I was glad to visit on a Thursday when at times I had certain areas almost to myself, though as dusk fell the gardens did become increasingly more crowded.

Greenest greens & reddest reds!

I began my visit during daylight and in the gigantic conservatory. With many different areas and gardens, these greenhouses were impressive in their variety and beauty. In this post I will focus on the Christmas-y aspects. Due to the bright sunny day (and my lack of skill with my relatively new camera!), many of the photos are not as spectacular as the actual sights were. And due my lack of recent free time, I won't write much more, but will share many photos.

Pussy willow lights - love!

Gorgeous ballroom.

After spending a fair amount of time in the conservatory, I stopped in the cafeteria for lunch (relatively expensive, but also quite tasty) then continued my explorations outdoors.

One Christmas tree was decorated with edible ornaments for the woodland animals, and the decorations replenished by the Longwood gardeners as needed. I particularly loved the beautiful bird bath!

 

Longwood has three "treehouses," which I absolutely adored. 

Enormous wreath made entirely of pine cones!

Christmas tree of pine cones

I loved these diamond-shaped wreaths!

May you and yours have a very merry Christmas! (And stay tuned for part II!)

More Highlights from Charleston

Although Charleston is a relatively small city, there's much to do, and we managed to squeeze quite a few activities into our short trip. Highlights included...

Seeing dolphins play in the water while we took the ferry out to Fort Sumter (the Ravenel Bridge is in the background)...

Visiting Fort Sumter, which is the spot where the Civil War began...

Driving to Sullivan's Island for a walk along the ocean and to see what might be one of the least attractive lighthouses...

It was chilly, but these pups didn't mind.

..and catching glimpse of beach houses that might be on my list of "dream vacation home."

Strolling around Mount Pleasant, which included seeing some attractive homes - and this sign:

Ambling around the center of Charleston, including Waterfront Park and its iconic fountain....

...and the many beautiful historic buildings, as well as the city market. 

We were also tempted to stop by Jeni's Ice Cream a second time, as there were too many flavors we'd left untested...

Getting out to John's Island to discover a tea plantation and learn more about tea (turns out neither of us knew all that much!) and sample lots of hot and iced tea...

Tea fields and their all important drainage system

The plantation's mascot had a broken leg, so I signed the cast.

Other tea plantations are rather far away...

And while on John's Island, pay homage to the impressive Angel Oak Tree, which is at least 400 years old, and over 66 feet tall, and essentially impossible to capture in a photograph...

 

Wherever we went, we stopped to appreciate any blooming camelias...

One tip - if you visit Charleston and rent a car upon arriving at the airport, I suggest renting from one of the larger companies that have their rental counters and vehicles on airport grounds. The walk from the gate to the counters is no more than 4 minutes, and the cars are located right outside the door - definitely made picking up the car and dropping it off quick and simple.

Overall, Charleston is an incredibly charming city, and I am grateful I had the chance to visit!

Long Weekend in Charleston, South Carolina

A federal holiday, and a $112 round-trip fare. A city I've never visited, and a travel buddy able to come along. These four factors combined to create a fun and necessary winter excursion to Charleston, South Carolina. It is a beautiful historic city, and fortunately also offered a brief respite from winter weather.

When I told people that I was going to Charleston due to a $112 flight, every single person's reaction was, "Round trip?!" Yes, thanks to the lull in travel in January and February, a number of airlines were having tempting sales, and this fare was found on JetBlue, one of the better (read: more comfortable and customer service oriented) airlines. Travel itself was smooth and without incident, and I wish JetBlue flew to more destinations, as their planes are quite comfortable for us tall folk.

On our first afternoon we wandered the gardens and mini zoo at Magnolia Plantation...

 

I can recommend all of the restaurants at which we ate, which were: Old Village Post House for Sunday brunch; Home Team and Swig & Swine (get the beans and brisket side dish!) for barbeque; Hom for burgers. Sweet treats included Jeni's Ice Cream (amazing - worth price and the wait in line!) and a pecan praline from a shop whose name escapes me.

More photos and info to follow in the next post!

Trying to Settle into 2015

Winter has always been my least favorite season - the dark and the cold make it difficult to get motivated to wake up in the mornings or to do much in the evenings, plus after the excitement of the holidays, January and February can seem long and dull. We have also had lower than average temperatures in the DC area this month, and many days after work all I've wanted to do is curl up on the couch with a book. On the positive side of that coin - I have made good progress on my reading goal for this year! However, to break up the monotony of winter there are one or two little trips and projects in the works. More on that later. In the meantime - enjoy your weekend!

Waiting for spring to explore more waterfalls!