Each spring, the Washington DC area erupts in colorful flowers. Cherry blossoms are the most famous, of course, and everyone waits with bated breath for the National Park Service to announce when peak bloom is expected. But there are plenty of other flowering trees and pretty petals to get excited about. From magnolias and eastern […]
Virginia
Visiting the Booker T Washington National Monument
Booker T. Washington was born a slave on a Virginia plantation in 1856. From those humble beginnings, he became one of the most prominent African American leaders in the United States. Washington founded Tuskegee University in 1881 to help disadvantaged minorities learn marketable skills and the National Negro Business League to promote Black entrepreneurship. President […]
Beautiful Washington DC Area Parks and Gardens
Tourists flock to Washington DC for its outstanding Smithsonian Museums, elegant monuments and memorials, and imposing government buildings. But the city is also home to a surprising amount of green space. Of course, everyone knows about the Tidal Basin thanks to its annual cherry blossom display, and the National Mall with its wide open view […]
Things to Do in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia
Cruising Virginia’s Blue Ridge Parkway should be on every traveler’s wish list. The road winds through the Blue Ridge Mountains in the southwestern corner of the state, offering breathtaking vistas at nearly every turn. Autumn is an especially good time to visit, as foliage blankets the mountainside in vivid shades of yellow and orange. The […]
A Peaceful Afternoon at Arlington National Cemetery
Last week I wrote about some of the many presidential monuments and war memorials in Washington, DC. I shared statistics such as the 54,000 American soldiers killed during the three-year Korean War and the staggering 400,000 who gave their lives during World War II. It is difficult to comprehend losses of that magnitude, so many young men […]