Washington DC

I’ve visited Washington DC a few times before but each time was just for a couple of days. In that time I can see some of the monuments then only run into a couple of Smithsonian Museums to see a few of things. So, I’ve had spending more time in the museums in Washington DC on my bucket list. I just spent a week, which still isn’t enough time but enough to see ~18 museums and a bunch of monuments and weird places. This blog could be very long but I’ll just keep it to some highlights.

The Allegheny Trail prepared me for the walking. But there was also a lot of people, noise, and traffic. At least September is a great time to visit. The spring is way too busy with 8^th graders visiting and older people coming to see the cherry blossoms. Summer is busy and too hot while winter is too cold. September and October is just right.

I saw groups of National Guard carrying weapons while walking through the streets and the Mall area. None seemed to do anything but walk around. I didn’t see them interacting with anyone during my week.

I talked to quite a few different people while waiting in line or in the museums. One was a guy from Netherlands that had just finished a 5-month backpacking trip on the Pacific Crest Trail. A lady and I had quite a discussion in front of Rembrandt’s painting “The Circumcision”. She both knew Jewish customs and had been a midwife so she had some interesting background. However, neither of us could figure out why Rembrandt would paint such a subject.

Lots of great architecture. I think my favorite was the reading room at the Library of Congress.

Favorite place to hang out and relax was the Enid A. Haupt Garden near the Smithsonian Castle.

Most relaxing spot inside a museum was the “Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room” at the National Museum of Asian Art. 

Lots of places were closed for renovation including that Castle, sections of the museums that were being changed to new exhibits, and the carousel on the Mall.

An amusing point for me was near bathrooms. At Planet Word, the bathrooms were full of phrases while the Natural History museum had a small exhibit about scat.

Me hanging out with the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum.

Best view without needing tickets (like at the Washington Monument) was at the Old Post Office Tower. Turns out there was a fire at a local electric utility plant while I was there.

One of my weird things were 2 towers used for ventilation of the capitol. I’m not sure if they are still in use, but they are cool looking!

Scariest piece of art. “Mother and Child Enthroned with Angels”, Veronese, dated 1321.

Favorite display at the American History Museum was these signs from the MASH TV show.

I can check this trip off the bucket list now!

Allegheny Trail

I thought I was ready for a more challenging trail after backpacking on the Florida Trail but this one was tough.

I considered a section of the Appalachian Trail (AT) but that trail can be too popular. I like being alone to hike. On the AT you will probably see thru-hikers, section-hikers, and day hikers while hiking and at shelters. The section of the Allegheny Trail I hiked was extremely uncrowded. I saw absolutely no hikers during my 7 days on the trail.

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The AT can have trash and have deep ruts or be widened from the traffic. The Allegheny Trail are pristine (too pristine, as it happens). There were multiple sections with weeds or small bushes covering the trail. I just had to push through the plants hoping I was going in the right direction. This picture is the actual trail.

The trail doesn’t have the maintenance support of the AT so that many fallen trees have not been cleared. Many times I had to crawl over, under, or around dead trees to continue the trail.

The last section of the trail seemed to also be used as a horse trail. This was the most difficult section for me. Very rough and lots of deep mud to try to avoid in some way.

Besides the trail condition, I was surprised by the difficulty of the climbs. I thought I had trained by walking several times a week for 2 miles on the treadmill at a 10 degree incline with a 20 pound backpack. However, the real trail can be 45 degrees at times. My total was ~100 miles distance and 19,000+ feet ascent (around the same for Kilimanjaro). They say the only way to train for a hike is to actually do the hike. I believe it.

Another surprising difficulty with the trail was the lack of cell phone service. The first section only had cell phone service on some hill tops. The last half had no service anywhere. Turns out there is a 13,000 square mile area without service so that the Green Bank Radio Telescopes can work. I had to be creative to get messages to my husband. I found one guy (who turned out the have been a former AT thru-hiker), who sent a text for me when he drove outside the zone. In one town, I was able to send an email. Essentially I was only sending a message every other day to let John know I was OK.

OK, all the good things. The views of the mountains was amazing and inspiring.

The weather was a bit hot during the day (80’s) but otherwise wonderful. The views along the trail under the trees was restful.

I loved all the mushrooms and flowers.

The most exciting part was seeing a bear. I saw the bear stretched out on a branch. He heard me and stood up. I called “Hey, bear.”, so I wouldn’t surprise him. He quickly slid down the tree and ran away. Very cool!

And, at the end of the week, I really felt I had accomplished something. It was an amazing challenge.

East Side Okefenokee Swamp

We’ve camped in our RV several times at the state park (1, 2, 3). It’s a good place to camp but not many hiking trails. It’s also a 1.25 hour drive from our home. Closer to our home is an entrance on the east side of the swamp but we’ve never visited this part of the park.

There isn’t any camping within the park, but there’s more to do. There’s a museum at the visitors center. On a short trail nearby, we found people fishing. The funny part was that when one of the guys caught a fish, he had to pull it up quickly before a waiting alligator could grab it!

A turkey crossed the road on our drive. One hike is along a canal used for logging in the early 1900’s. At one stop, you hike back to a farm and home from a family who lived here 1880’s to 1970’s. There’s corn cribs, syrup shed, chickens, hog pen, and all sorts of things near the home. Some of it reminded me of the farm I grew up in. However, our tub wasn’t on the back porch with a view of the outside.

The longest and more exciting hike is 1.5 mile round trip on a boardwalk. Along the boardwalk we saw a couple of snakes. This one was a Florida banded water snake.

There were also a couple of alligators staring at us. I was hoping they didn’t stay here to eat tourists passing by!

The end of the trail is a tower with a view of a lake, the swamp, and the upper levels of the trees.

This is probably the last local trip we will take for the summer. It’s been hitting 90 degrees and the humidity is high. Looking forward to the fall and winter!

Fernandina Beach

Fernandina Beach Florida is only 45 minutes from our house, but other than Fort Clinch, we’ve never really spent any time there. So...John and I took a mini-vacation and stayed in a hotel for a couple nights. We spent the days seeing historical places, weird places, hiking trails, and beaches. We took several walks on the beach.

For historical places, we visited a museum in a building that used to be a jail.

We walked around downtown seeing old homes. Many were converted to B&B’s.

The Palace Saloon is considered the oldest bar in Florida.

There was a hiking trail near our hotel. I hiked it both mornings while John and I hiked a portion while geocaching.

Lots of rabbits along the path.

Of course I dragged John to a couple of old cemeteries. Bosque Bello was established in 1798 by the Spanish.

This picture is taken at Fernandina Plaza Historic State Park which has all sorts of history. The home in back is where Pippi Longstocking lived in a movie. In front is a girl running from a drone set to follow her. What a great way to tire out the kids!

As far as weird, there’s a story about the grave of Wiccademous. This was a young girl convicted of witchcraft in the 1600s. Different haunting stories abound including that the ghost will follow you home but there is no supporting documentation of a witch in town so it’s probably a completely made-up story to scare kids. I went back on the path where there was supposed to be a stone marker under an “ancient” oak tree. This was the oldest I could find but I didn’t see a marker. So far the ghost of Wiccademous hasn’t shown up at my house.

My favorite part was walking at Boneyard Beach. Weathered trees lay along the beach.

Nearby was Black Rock Beach.

We finished with a visit to Kingsley Plantation. Various buildings still exist including the main house, a kitchen, and a row of cabins for the enslaved people. Sad stories here.