A walk around Arlington National Cemetery

We also visited the Eternal Flame at the Kennedy’s tomb and toured Arlington House, the pre-Civil War home of Robert E. Lee and his wife, Mary Custis. The views of DC are spectacular – what a place to live (and even to be buried). The Custis’ were the original owners of the land and had their home and plantation there. During the Civil War it was taken over by the US government. It was a good place for the defense of Washington and became a place to bury Union soldiers. Eventually it became Arlington National Cemetery, a place to bury and honor all those who have so valiantly defended our country.

After getting our exercise walking around Arlington, we decide to go for a long drive. There are so many beautiful parkways in the area around Washington. We never quite knew which state we were in – Maryland, Virginia, or DC. The Potomac River meanders through the area and the C& O Canal follows right along. The lush green foliage was breathtaking (particularly after leaving our dry Southern California).

We were looking for a place to get out of the car and walk down to the canal. We saw the sign for Clara Barton National Historic Site. I forgot my National Parks Passport, but decided to get a stamp on a piece of paper and paste it in later. After parking the car we walked up to an interesting long wooden building which was labeled Clara Barton’s house. It was almost 5 p.m. and they were closing, so we didn’t have much time, but what we saw and learned in that short time was fascinating. It is definitely a place to come back to.

The area was called Glen Echo Chautauqua. It was established in 1889 by the Baltzley brothers to attract home buyers. Clara Barton was to be a member of the board and they offered her a house to live in on the property. Clare saw it as an opportunity to promote the Red Cross. The house looks like a warehouse, and it was originally used for that purpose – to store supplies that came down the canal. Clara redid it to have three floors with several small rooms for her employees and guests to live in, and lots of closets for open storage of supplies.

Meanwhile the Chautauqua failed and the property reverted to the electric rail line. The trolley line ended there, so the company decided to put in an electric amusement park to give people a reason to ride to the end of the line. Now that is Glen Echo Amusement Park. History can be so interesting!