WASHINGTON, D.C. & THE KENILWORTH AQUATIC GARDEN

WASHINGTON, D.C. & THE KENILWORTH AQUATIC GARDEN 

My husband and I are some of those people who do not plan weekends. There have been so many events in my life which made me change a plan at the last minute. It maybe disastrous weather, unexpected disease, a broken car, cat's throwing himself in the suitcase trying to convince you to stay home. I worry about worrying.... I worry about planning.

Since we live close to Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Annapolis, we try to visit places not included in most guide books. All visitors to Washington, D.C. go to the Smithsonian with its 19 museums. My favorite are African American History and Culture, The Air and Space, The National Gallery of Art (where I had my first date with my husband), U.S. Holocaust. 

Outside of the Smithsonian, everyone's favorites are The U.S. Capitol, The White House, The Lincoln Memorial, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, George Washington, and MLK Monument.

You can visit D.C. for the National Cherry Blossom Festival around the end of March (good luck pushing your way through the crowd!)

I have included a short guide of Washington, D.C. to give you a feel of the city without distracting you from the topic of my blog post.

Before we get to "my garden", take a look at the U.S. Botanical Garden, located on the Mall, right next to the Capitol. I chose this next video, because in 14 minutes you can learn, remember and tell others about it for year after year. You can spend a day there moving from one area to the next with a smile,  collecting answers to the questions you never had answers for before. 

Even if you leave with a tiny bit more knowledge about nature, you will have plenty of "Wow"-s; "Oh, I did not know this!"; "Seriously?" In your mind, you will be whispering, "How can I be so dumb?"; "I better bring my kids here!"

Now I am ready to show you a place rarely visited by tourists. It is The Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens. It is located in the Anacostia Park (Northeast Washington, D.C.) This makes it difficult to get to, unless you travel by car. Do not trust the metro system, the garden is not close to metro. During the day, the area is safe, but you have to know where you are going.... You better drive to the big parking lot inside.

The park is operated daily by a good number of park rangers. There are benches scattered around for a little picnic. Surprisingly, for an area with ponds and wetlands, there are no mosquitoes. 

Birding is not my favorite, but many people enjoy it from the River Trail and the Boardwalk. The trails are very short and comfortable to accommodate disabled people. 

The Anacostia river, the ponds and the wetlands left me reconsider my lack of planning. 

Picture courtesy of G.C.

Lotus seed head

If I had planned this visit, I could have come in June or July to see a sea of water lilies and hundreds of lotus flowers. I still saw some water lilies, peeking heads above the thick cloth of green leaves.

We got close enough to the lotus guys below. Aren't they gorgeous? In some religions (Buddhist, Hindus,) they are a symbol of purity, innocence.

At the end, we caught a glimpse of a white heron. S/he was thinking of eating something for dinner. Well, it was dinner time. After we printed the picture, in the shadow, another one appeared. Both of them were totally oblivious to our presence. Dinner is more important. They are used to people.

Herons

This was our invigorating Sunday afternoon at the Kenilworth Aquatic Garden in Washington, D.C.

WHAT LANGUAGE WAS THIS?

WHAT LANGUAGE WAS THIS?

To live in an area between Annapolis and the Chesapeake Bay, while  the Capital of the United States, Washington, D.C. is at less than an hour driving distance, is not a bad living location. During the day, I often take a walk, not a power walk, an enjoyment walk. Occasionally, a little deer will jump on the road and stare at me. Then hide in the woods fully aware that if I fall, he will be responsible for any medical bills. I follow a trail, which I consider "mine." Plenty of fully equipped bike riders and joggers with gadgets from head to toe pass by me. I am trying to ignore them, but the loud "Coming to your left!" "Coming to your right!" always confuses me. With my disease, it takes time to figure out who and where is the voice coming from.

One day, as I was walking happily, I reached the crossroad, where I usually make a right turn. The path becomes very narrow with tree branches touching your head. As I was making the turn, I saw a man in his 20's running on "my path." The way my brain cells connected was: "He is supposed to move to the left and give me some extra space. Otherwise, we will bump into each other.  He chose not to give the lady (me) the right of way. It does not take long to make me angry. I can make even my medications angry. The second he passed by me, I said in Bulgarian a word, a bad, bad word. I have no clue how this word found its way into my mouth. Surely, it is not a word a lady will use under any circumstances. I must have said this word loud. The guy stopped and sat down in a strange position. He stayed like this for a few seconds, like trying to protect himself, then turned around and said: "You must be from Bulgaria?" I smiled. He smiled. I sat down. Then we both laughed, just like that, in the middle of the tiny path, ignoring all the "nice" American words coming in our direction. 

How can one expect to meet a Bulgarian boy on a tiny trail far from a big city? And how can a lady have such a potty mouth?

Picture by Frank Bryan