Ducking in from the heat in the US Botanic Garden

US Botanic Garden/Kimberly Sullivan

The US Botanic Garden has a long history. It was established by US Congress in 1820 – and had been the dream of America’s first President, George Washington. Washington wished to establish a botanic garden that would serve in an educational function – teaching visitors about plants. The Botanic Garden celebrated its bicentennial during our…

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Early morning jogs in a deserted Washington, D.C.

When I was in Washington, DC this past summer, I would try to beat the summer heat taking an early morning jog. In normal times in DC, I would have been one of many, but in COVID-era DC, it often felt like a ghost town. This wasn’t a quiet suburb or out-of-the-way areas, my daily…

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Traveling the Potomac – via water taxi

Last week I wrote about a visit we took this past summer to Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, just a short trip away from Washington, DC. I’ve always been reached Alexandria either by car or the metro. On this visit, we took public transport, arriving by metro. But after a nice wander around the town and…

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Views over Washington, DC from the Old Post Office Tower

In a city where buildings are not supposed to be built higher than the Capitol dome, there aren’t a lot of panoramic views over Washington. The Washington Monument is the best vantage point, but the Old Post Office Tower comes a close second. The Old Post Office was built between 1892-1899 in the Romanesque Revival…

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Take me out to the ball game…in Washington, D.C.

What’s an American mom raising soccer-crazed boys in Italy to do? I grew up loving baseball, always thrilled when my dad took me to see the Red Sox play when I was a kid growing up in Boston. I religiously filled in my scorecard, followed the cheers, thrilled when a home run sailed high over the…

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