Welcome To My Home

Millions of people from around the world visit the Mid-Atlantic area every year. Most spend their time in DC, the historic areas of Virginia, and the playgrounds of Maryland. I want to enhance your enjoyment by letting you know more about what you will see and proposing some alternative places to explore. If you have some suggestions please let me know and I will try to incorporate them. The people of the Mid-Atlantic love to share their hometowns with you.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Cedar Point

Just want to have fun?  Try Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio.  It is the best amusement park in the world and I can tell you about it for hours but why not just click on the link and see for yourself.  As for now, take a test drive on the Magnum

Saturday, March 19, 2011

One of These Days – The Cherry Blossom Festival in DC


“One of these days.” Everybody says it. One of these days I’m going to take a long weekend, one of these days I’m going to just relax, one of these days I want to see the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC. Well, why not do it?
The 2010 Cherry Blossom Festival will be held between March 27th and April 11th, it’s inexpensive, it’s convenient, and the weather will be great.
As a former Northerner I always missed Cherry Blossom because I couldn’t believe that anyplace would be warm enough in March for trees and flowers to blossom. Well DC is just that place. In fact the first time Nancy and I saw the beautiful landscape we bought ice cream from a street vendor just to cool off.

The best way to get around DC is by using the World Class Metrorail system. It passes at or near the airport, a great number of hotels, eateries of all prices, and more sites than you will have time to visit. You can fly in to Washington National Airport, jump on the Metro, and be in your room in no time at a cost of $2 to $3. Depending on where you stay your only other expenses will be food and possibly another Metrorail ride. Or for a one day visit, park at a metro station for around $5 and miss all the traffic.

The Cherry Blossom Festival will take a few hours to see so plan additional excursions to the many monuments, free museums, or government buildings on the Mall or visit Georgetown, Alexandria, DuPont Circle, the many colorful neighborhoods, cathedrals, the Soldiers Home where President Lincoln lived for a great deal of his first term, the church where President Kennedy attended his last Mass, or take in a game at the Verizon Center.
As for the Festival itself it’s a two week event and something is going on almost all the time. You can take one of the many tour busses or simply get on the Metrorail to the Smithsonian stop. Take the exit to the Mall and you will be between the Capitol building and the Washington Monument. Take your first pictures and walk toward the Monument.

The pink and white trees you see around the Washington Monument are some of the 3,800 Yoshino trees donated by the Japanese government in 1965. They were planted by our First Lady, Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Takeuchi, wife of the Japanese Ambassador. The Yoshino is the dominant variety in DC and the flowers are white or pale pink and almond scented.
Take a quick look to your right and you will see our White House, home of the President of the United States.
Continue walking ahead toward the World War II Monument and take a minute to enjoy the view. Dedicated on May 29, 2004 it commemorates the sixteen million Americans who fought and 400,000 who died during the war.
Turn to your left and walk the half block to Independence Ave. Follow your fellow travelers across Independence to the Tidal Basin and the majesty of the Cherry Blossom trees open before you. Get your camera ready.

Your first stop is at the Japanese Lantern. This is a 350 year old stone structure from a temple complex in Tokyo. It was placed here in 1954 and is lighted by women from the Japanese embassy on a Sunday during the festival.
After a few paces to your left you will see two bronze plaques marking the first trees planted by our First Lady, Mrs. Taft and Mrs. Chinida, wife of the Japanese Ambassador, on March 27, 1912. There were originally 3,020 trees of 11 varieties from Yokahama, Japan and they were placed around the Tidal Basin, against the Potomac River, and at the White House.

One of the most beautiful sites you will ever see is directly in front of you. The sun, lighting the trees from above creates a pink, dreamlike area from the branches to the ground. There is no other way to describe it.
The trees arch over the path that surrounds the water so be prepared to duck. As you reach the Western end of the basin you will be passing by the proposed site of the Martin Luther King Memorial and a little further on you will see the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial. This is a great side excursion not to mention an opportunity to visit a rest area. It is also the site of a fantastic photo opportunity with Cherry Blossom trees to either side and the Washington Monument in the middle.

Upon exiting the FDR you will see the Japanese Pagoda. This commemorates the Treaty of Kanagawa of 1854 which was entered into between Japan and the United States “to establish firm, lasting, and sincere friendship between” the two nations.

A little further on is the Inlet Bridge. Looking across the road you can see Yoshino, Akebono, Sargent, and Kwanzan tree varieties.

Cross the bridge and to your right, across Ohio Drive, is the George Mason Memorial. This monument to the father of our Bill of Rights was opened on April 9, 2002 and very well worth your time to visit.

Walk back to the Tidal Basin trail and the Jefferson Memorial begins to appear. To your left, as paths merge is the Usuzumi stand. This species is the oldest living flowering cherry tree in the world and said to have been planted by the 26th Emperor Keitai 1,500 years ago. The trees you see are from cuttings of a 1,400 year old tree in Itasho neo, Japan and were planted here in 1999. The Uxuzumi tree was declared a National Treasure of Japan in 1922.

During the Festival the Jefferson Memorial serves as the stage for events from music, to dance, to examples of Japanese life. Plan on visiting our third president at the center of the monument and stay around to enjoy at least one of the many shows.
Directly across from the Jefferson Memorial is the Paddle Boat House where you can rent a boat for 30 minutes to an hour and leisurely peddle your way around the Tidal Basin.

This is just a sampling of what you will see but the experience will last a lifetime.

Monday, February 14, 2011

An Apology

I haven’t posted anything in this blog for a while but will resume soon. We have had some health problems in the family since November which has greatly curtailed our ability to travel. Looking on the brighter side though, the time off has been converted to planning time and the fruits of that planning (more travel sites) will become visible soon,