Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts

The only National Park dedicated to presenting the performing arts also has gorgeous hiking trails.

Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park

Steamtown National Historic Site

An industrial heritage site dedicated to the role that steam railroad transportation - and the people who made it happen - played within America's Industrial Revolution.

View from a ride on a the "Scranton Limited" locomotive

Manassas National Battlefield Park

Stonewall Jackson

Prince William Forest Park

Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial

Nestled in Arlington National Cemetery, just a short walk from the Eternal Flame (JFK's Grave) is the Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial.

Mary Anna Custis, the wife of General Robert E. Lee, inherited the Arlington Estate the home from her father. While the Lee family did live in the home for a few years, in May 1861, the Union army captured the home and incorporated it into their defense system, defending Washington, DC. Throughout most of the Civil War, Union soldiers occupied the home and provided assistance to thousands of slaves fleeing enslavement.

View of the JFK Eternal Flame from Arlington House

View of DC from Arlington House

General Lee's Bedroom

Biggest shock of the day: George Washington and Robert E. Lee were related - distantly, via marriage.






My favorite part of the house was the giant spruce tree in the back yard between the two slave quarters.

Maggie L Walker National Historic Site

Maggie Lena Walker was the 1st African American Woman to be a Bank President in the US.

Richmond National Battlefield Park

Richmond, VA was the capital of the Confederacy during the Civil War. The National Battlefield Park consists of 13 different sites. I started out at the Tredegar Iron Works in downtown Richmond. 

At the Cold Harbor Battlefield, I hiked the 1 mi. main trail,

and stopped at Bloody Run.

And enjoyed some wildflowers at Gaines' Mill

Time for another #epicjumpingshot

Harper's Ferry National Historic Site

Because everyone needs fancy goods...

Into the mountain...

View of Harper's Ferry from the Overlook Cliff

View from Jefferson Rock, where Thomas Jefferson stood on October 25, 1783

"The passage of the Patowmac through the Blue Ridge is perhaps one of the most stupendous scenes in Nature. You stand on a very high point of land. On your right comes up the Shenandoah, having ranged along the foot of the mountain a hundred miles to seek a vent. On your left approaches the Patowmac in quest of a passage also. In the moment of their junction they rush together against the mountain, rend it asunder and pass off to the sea... This scene is worth a voyage across the Atlantic."

~Thomas Jefferson