The Votes Are In!

We had a lot of fun in the DMV over the past nine days! Here are the highlights that marked our ballots...

☑    We achieved our goal of collecting enough passport stamps (235), units (77), and regions (6) to earn the Gold Master Traveler Award from the National Park Travelers Club for this year! Woohoo! 

☑    We have visited 200+ units in the National Park System (R's lifetime total is 6 less than mine).

191. Wolf Trap NP for the Performing Arts

192. Lyndon Baines Johnson MEM Grove on the Potomac

193. Theodore Roosevelt Island

194. Mary McLeod Bethune Council House NHS

195. Martin Luther King, Jr. MEM

196. World War I MEM

197. Dwight D. Eisenhower MEM

198. Belmont-Paul Women's Equality NM

199. Clara Barton NHS

200. Fort Washington Park (me)

201. Piscataway Park

202. Thomas Stone NHS

203. George Washington Birthplace NM

204. Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial NMP

205. Prince William Forest Park

206. Greenbelt Park (R)

207. Frederick Douglass NHS

☑    Favorite new unit visited?

R: LBJ Memorial Grove, for the great views of DC across the Potomac

 

Me: Martin Luther King, Jr. MEM, seeing the text of his quotes inscribed on the walls really made an impression on me. It's even more dramatic at night.

 

☑    Place(s) to visit again?

Me: We missed Wilderness and Spotsylvania at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial NMP and Second Manassas at Manassas NBP

 

R: Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens when the lilies and lotus are blooming in summer

 

☑    Something you learned?

R: Mary McLeod Bethune worked for civil rights well before there was even a Civil Rights Movement.

 

Me: Alice Paul and Alva Belmont were instrumental in getting the 19th Amendment passed, giving women the right to vote.

☑    Unexpected surprise? 

Me: Seeing the museum, library, and Ansel Adams photos in the hallways at the Department of the Interior was really cool!

 

R: I did not expect the Museum of African American History and Culture to have such an emotional impact.

☑    Best thing we ate?

R: Everything at Maketto and the fried chicken at Sweet Home Cafe 

 

Me: Pulled pork from Federalist Pig and Korean BBQ at Meokja Meokja

☑    Favorite activity?

R: Monuments by Moonlight tour of DC

Me: Getting the stamps at Turkey Run (George Washington MEM PKWY headquarters) 

☑    Best fall color?

Both: Fort Washington