This is our last day in the Washington, D.C. area and we don’t have a lot of time to goof around before our flights leave in the afternoon. The plan had been to split our time between the National Arboretum and Baltimore. The arboretum is somewhat off the beaten path for those visiting our nation’s capital. Our GPS is a trail guide unit, so its clarity in giving details regarding city locations is hit-and-miss. We found the arboretum, but not before we missed our turn and had to double back off the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. Once we entered, just behind the visitor center, we encountered this koi pond whipped into a multi-colored feeding frenzy by a group of school children offering treats.
A small corner of the arboretum is dedicated as the National Bonsai Garden where we marvel at this Japanese White Pine in training since 1625. This just blows the mind, considering how many pairs of hands have nurtured this tree for nearly 400 years.
Other than for the school groups that make their way out here, this doesn’t seem to be one of the more popular D.C. stops, kind of like the Washington Cathedral we visited back in May.
Away from the noise, not that there’s a lot of that out here, we are all alone among the Corinthian columns. Not just any columns either; these once supported the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol from 1828 to 1958, when an expansion required their removal. They sat in storage for years until 1984, when they took their place here at the National Arboretum. Like a ruin in ancient Greece, these columns stand proudly on a hill as though they had been here for centuries.
Trails crisscross the arboretum through various terrains with a tremendous assortment of plant life on display. We make our way from a herb garden to a trail that wends its way through Fern Valley. The last area we have time to visit is the Asian Collection.
After studying a map of the Asian Collection we choose to follow yet another path. It doesn’t look possible that we’ll see even a fraction of the garden, but the trails are not as long as we first thought, and soon, we have covered a wide area. One trail takes us to the Anacostia River; our return has us going uphill to Hickey Hill Road, walking along some dense trees and various Asian plants that are most often marked with a plaque imprinted with the plant’s botanical name. My apologies for repeating this so often, but we should have had more time to explore this place. Again, we are visiting a location with much to offer and is of great curiosity to us, but time is not on our side. Yet another reason for a return trip to the Washington, D.C. area.
Back on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway we head directly to downtown Baltimore and stop at the visitors center. What can someone do with just a couple of hours to see Baltimore? I loved the answer we were offered, which was, “Take the water taxi across the harbor,” so that’s just what we did as it’s not every day we are on water taxis.
“Follow that with a walk through Little Italy, have a bite to eat, see some historic sites related to the Star-Spangled Banner, and then come back someday when you have more time.”
That all sounded great, and so that’s just what we did and will do.
The paninis and mufalato from Vaccaro’s Pastry Shop were fantastic.
This is the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House, where in 1813, Mary Pickersgill made the flag that in 1814 was hoisted at nearby Fort McHenry. Francis Scott Key penned the lyrics of the national anthem after seeing that the flag was still waving after a 25-hour attack by the British.
We didn’t take a tour of Fort McHenry today, which proved wrongheaded because when we returned a month later, we arrived in poor weather.
I wonder if Baltimore’s nickname is the City of Red Brick?
Like I said.
Back to the car for the short drive to the airport, dropping Jessica at her terminal with minutes to spare before her flight takes off while we have a few more hours before our departure back to Phoenix.