Trees!

Happy Earth Day and hello citizens of our lovely and glorious planet!  My post today is about trees!  Well, no, not really about trees, but there are lots of trees in the pictures of our recent visits to the U.S. National Arboretum and the Winkler Botanical Preserve.  And, seeing as how it's Earth Day, I thought we'd just go ahead and do some stuff out of doors.

Last week Diggory and I visited the U.S. National Arboretum for the very first time at the invitation of our good friends from church, Abby and her son Noah.  In the midst of our commute, however, I was reminded why I've lived in Alexandria for five years but had never made the trip to Northeast DC just to visit the arboretum.  We got stuck in traffic in the middle of the morning because of a parade (albeit a parade for a good reason, but still) and a trip that should only have been 35 minutes to travel 15 miles, turned into an hour and a half of stop and go, stop and go, slam on the brakes for a jay walking tourist, stop and go, then go really fast, then stop, etc., etc., etc., etc.  Oh, DC traffic, how I loathe you.  I'm not complaining, really.  I'm just sayin'.

But, alas, I am super glad we finally made it to the arboretum, which is an incredibly lovely (and huge) oasis of all things green and growing.  Our first stop was the Arbor House to use the "facilities."  I'd been in the car for an hour and a half, mind you, and drinking coffee the whole time.  The Arbor House has restrooms (with changing tables), a drinking fountain, maps, and a gift shop.  It's near the parking lots at the R Street entrance to the arboretum.  There is also an entrance off of New York Avenue, and there are parking lots scattered throughout the arboretum so you don't necessarily have to walk the whole thing.  AND, there's also a tram!  I thought it would be super fun to take Diggory and Noah on the tram ($4 for adults, children under 4 ride free) but it only runs on the weekends.  Alas.

Running up the hill to the Capitol Columns.

We stopped into the Administrative and Visitor Services building next, to ask about what the best stops for kids might be and found that the large koi pond surrounding the building is closed for renovations.  There are restrooms here too.  Pick up a map, if you don't already have one, and pick up any of the numerous brochures.  There's a cell phone tour of the whole arboretum, a walking tour of flowering trees (available through the "blooming season"), and a calendar of events and programs.  Next we walked through the herb gardens and then up the big hill to the National Capitol Columns.  The twenty-two sandstone columns were carved in the 1820s for the U.S. Capitol building but removed in 1958 during an expansion project.  There's also a small waterfall and a reflecting pool, which Diggory promptly stepped (and then fell) into, resulting in a less than graceful and slightly dramatic rescue and totally not-glamorous wardrobe change.  After that, we walked due west across the lawn, had a snack, and then followed the Eagle Nest Road back to the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum.  The bonsai were really amazing and clearly lovingly attended to and admired.  (I had a bonsai once.  Briefly.  I got it at Epcot Center on a high school band trip to Disney World.  It did not like the three day drive back to Iowa on the non-airconditioned bus.)  We also caught the tail end of the Ikebana exhibition highlighting the flower arranging art of Japan.  The next big event is the Potomac Bonsai Festival, May 3rd through 5th.  And, if you go, don't fret over the thousands of bees.  They're apparently male carpenter bees who have made their home in the wooden pergolas.  They don't have stingers...but they might bump right into your head.

Yep, he literally paused, looked at the water, and stepped straight into the pool. Awesome.

Post-wardrobe change snacks.  

Holding hands to cross the street.

Playing with rocks in the Japanese garden.

Wow.  That's basically the only caption necessary.

We probably covered less than a third of the arboretum in the two hours that we were there...so, I suppose we'll just have to come back.  Wink, wink.

That brings us up to today...when Diggory and I spent our Earth Day morning at the Winkler Botanical Preserve in Alexandria, VA.  It's super close to our house, but I'd never actually been there because I couldn't figure out (and/or didn't take the time to figure out) how to actually get there.  Where's the entrance?!  Well, needless to say, it's not advertised very well and the signage isn't great...but I think that's sort of the point.  It's a preserve.  It's not a park.  I won't go into the details, but you can read about how the preserve is currently threatened by the expansion of office and federal buildings on Seminary Road here, and there's another good review of the preserve here.  The main entrance is at 5400 Roanoke Avenue.  Turn off of Beauregard Street onto Roanoke Avenue and drive all the way to the end of the street.  Go up a short hill and drive through the metal gate.  There's a small parking lot on the left.  Park there, and voila, you're at the preserve.  There are a bunch of trails, generally arranged in a loop around a small pond and a waterfall.  If you walk straight north, toward the gigantic BRAC building looming on the horizon, you'll come to Catherine's Lodge, used for programs in partnership with Alexandria Public Schools.  We saw some geese and that was cool for Diggs, "honk, honk," but the flora was absolutely spectacular, and I was totally impressed with how well maintained the preserve's trails are and how truly peaceful it was, even considering the ever-present drone of Interstate 395.  We turned right to walk around the pond, crossed a bridge, and found the top of the waterfall...clearly man made, but still nice...and then walked back down, making a big loop.  There were trails that led into the southern part of the preserve that we'll have to check out next time.  We had to meet daddy for lunch, after all.  But, even though this was our very first visit, I know we'll have to make this a regular outing.  I was totally impressed.  I've said that already, I know, but it's true.     

Annnnnd...there's the big BRAC building.

Wow, a stick!

Stop to smell the flowers.

Running past the lodge.  Please don't run into the pond, Diggory, please!

Climbing rocks...after filling pockets with smaller rocks.

We practiced saying "green" a lot.  Because there was a lot of "green."

See, a lot of green!

We also talked about moss.

I also put Diggory in a tree.

Hiking the trails above the waterfall.

See?!  We really did go have lunch with daddy.  Food trucks on 7th Street in L'Enfant Plaza.  And, yes, there's a food truck that sells cookies and milk.  Yum!