Tag Archives: film

Maryland, Virginia

Assateague Island National Seashore

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Overview

Assateague Island National Seashore was authorized in 1963, twenty years after neighboring Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge was established to protect migratory birds, like the greater snow goose.  In combination with Assateague State Park they protect a 37-mile stretch of undeveloped shoreline that crosses the border of Maryland and Virginia (and is very close to Delaware).  The National Park Service (NPS) manages the National Seashore and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages the National Wildlife Refuge, but there is also an NPS visitor center at the refuge.

Highlights

Museum, film, Assateague Lighthouse, wildlife, kayaking, swimming, beachcombing

Must-Do Activity

Assateague Island’s most renowned residents are its wild ponies, purported to have swum ashore from a wrecked Spanish galleon.  Every year since the 1700s, the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company has herded the ponies that live on Assateague Island for an auction to raise funds for firefighting.  This annual event was chronicled in the classic children’s book Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry (which made our Top 10 NPS Novels list).  The ponies can often spotted by hikers on the Woodland Trail, a three-mile loop hike.  Nearby there is also a free NASA visitor center at Wallops Flight Facility where they launch rockets.

Best Trail

We mentioned the Woodland Trail above, but this park is all about walking the beach, especially the 10 miles of wild beach only accessible by foot within Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge.

Instagram-worthy Photo

The first Assateague Lighthouse was built in 1833, while the structure seen today was completed in 1867.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/asis/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

$25 per vehicle or America the Beautiful pass

Road Conditions

The access roads are paved, but with a permit you can drive 13 miles of beach on the Maryland side and five miles on the Virginia side.  It takes about 1.2 hours to drive the highways between the north and south bridges to Assateague Island.

Camping

On the Maryland side, the NPS operates two campgrounds with cold showers, but the one in Assateague State Park offers hot showers.  Two oceanside backpacking camps and four bayside kayak-in camps are also available by permit.

Related Sites

Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park (Maryland)

First State National Historical Park (Delaware)

Cape Hatteras National Seashore (North Carolina)

  • Sunrise
  • Tiff collecting shells on the beach. It was pretty cold in February, in the low 40s with some serious wind.
  • Woodland Trail
  • Bay side
  • Tiff in the visitor center
  • Bay side
  • Tiff in the visitor center
  • Turkey vulture flying by the lighthouse.
  • The lighthouse was rebuilt in 1867
  • A great blue heron in breeding plummage.

Explore More – Not just a safe haven for wild ponies, where in the National Seashore do seahorses anchor to underwater grasses?

Massachusetts

Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site

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Overview

Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. (1822-1903) is considered the founder of American landscape architecture.  His most famous designs include New York City’s Central Park and the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, but he also created the protective ramada for Casa Grande Ruins National Monument in Arizona.  This seven-acre site outside Boston, Massachusetts was authorized in 1979 to preserve his house and the Olmsted Archives for future researchers.

Highlights

Museum, film, office tour, Olmsted Archives

Must-Do Activity

In 1883, Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. moved to Brookline, Massachusetts to establish the world’s first landscape design office.  Self-guided exhibits and a short film inside his home (called Fairsted) are a good place to start before a ranger-guided tour of his office space full of historical artifacts and documents.  Occasionally, rangers lead tours of some of Olmsted’s parks in “The Emerald Necklace” of Boston.

Best Trail

There is a short path on the property and you can also walk to nearby Brookline Reservoir.

Instagram-worthy Photo

Relax on the veranda of Fairsted before or after your tour, which is especially nice when it is raining like during our visit.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/frla/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

None

Road Conditions

All roads are paved, but the parking lot is small and street parking in the surrounding neighborhood may be necessary.  It is a bit of a walk from the Brookline Hills Subway Station.

Camping

Wompatuck State Park south of Boston has the nearest large campground, but camping is also allowed in parts of Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.

Related Sites

Boston National Historical Park (Massachusetts)

Adams National Historical Park (Massachusetts)

Longfellow House – Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site (Massachusetts)

Explore More –Frederick Law Olmsted’s 1865 report was influential in the protection of which “crown jewel” of the National Park Service System?

Arizona

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument

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Overview

The ruins of this four-story pueblo in Coolidge, Arizona were originally protected as Casa Grande Reservation in 1892, the first time an archaeological site was given this designation by the federal government.  The National Park Service (NPS) took over management in 1918 when it was named a National Monument and in 1932 a protective cover was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted to prevent further erosion.  It is hard to believe when looking around the desert today, but the Hohokom farmed the Gila River Valley for over a thousand years until abandoning the area in the mid-1400s.  To accomplish this feat, they dug nearly a thousand miles of irrigation canals measuring 10 feet wide and 10 feet in depth.

Highlights

Museum, film, ruins

Must-Do Activity

Its name means “Big House” in Spanish and you will see why when you take the short, flat walk (handicap accessible) around the multi-story ruin and ballcourts.  Built in the early 1300s, the pueblo was only inhabited for about a century.  The NPS runs an excellent museum at the site that shows an introductory film.  The nearby Hohokam Pima National Monument shows up on NPS maps (and is counted in the 420+ units in the NPS system), but the O’odham do not allow access to the site on their reservation.

Best Trail

None

Instagram-worthy Photo

There are pigeons instead of ravens at this NPS site.

Peak Season

Winter

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/cagr/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

None

Road Conditions

All roads paved

Camping

No camping at the NPS site, but options are available nearby in Tonto National Forest and Picacho Peak State Park (right off Interstate 10).

Related Sites

Tonto National Monument (Arizona)

Tuzigoot National Monument (Arizona)

Saguaro National Park (Arizona)

  • Inside the NPS museum
  • Pigeon

Explore More – In 1694, who was the famous Jesuit priest that became the first European to see Casa Grande?

Virginia

Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site

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Overview

If you visit Richmond National Battlefield Park in Virginia, do not miss the other National Park Service (NPS) site in that city.  Maggie L. Walker was an African American philanthropist that started the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank in 1902 and was the only female bank president in the U.S. at the time.  As a member of the Independent Order of St. Luke since age 14, she also helped establish a newspaper and department store to help the local African American community.

Highlights

Museum, film, house tour, Jackson Ward National Historic Landmark District

Must-Do Activity

The 1930s-era home of this Civil Rights advocate can only be entered on an NPS ranger guided tour.  Walker lived in the oft-expanded, 28-room house from 1904 until her death thirty years later, and almost every piece of furniture in the house is original.  The NPS visitor center at 600 N 2nd Street is very small, but they do show a short film inside the tiny museum, which provides a good introduction before the tour.

Best Trail

None

Instagram-worthy Photo

The master bathroom includes a bidet, which is not something we have seen on any of the other NPS house tours we have taken (and we have been on a lot!).

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/mawa/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

None

Road Conditions

Street parking is required as there is not a designated lot.

Camping

Pocahontas State Park and Forest offers a campground with running water just outside Richmond, Virginia.

Related Sites

Richmond National Battlefield Park (Virginia)

Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site (District of Columbia)

Fort Monroe National Monument (Virginia)

  • Scott with the library in the house
  • The elevator was added in 1928 to assist Walker who was confined to a wheelchair.
  • Tiff on the steps of the Maggie Walker house

Explore More – The Walker family owned the house until the NPS took ownership of the 1.25-acre property in what year?

District of Columbia

Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site

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Overview

In 1875, Mary McLeod Bethune was born the 15th of 17 children to former slaves in South Carolina.  Throughout her life she fought for civil rights, founding the Daytona Educational and Industrial School for Negro Girls in Florida (which later merged to become Bethune-Cookman College).  In 1943, she purchased a Victorian townhouse in Washington, D.C.’s Logan Circle area to serve as her residence for six years and headquarters for the National Council of Negro Women (until a fire in 1966).

Highlights

House tour, film, National Archives for Black Women’s History, Logan Circle Historic District

Must-Do Activity

Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site was designated by Congress in 1982.  Since 1994, the National Park Service (NPS) has managed the property displaying historic photographs and original furnishings in some of the 15 rooms.  After a self-guided tour of the house, go check out a 12-foot tall statue of Mary McLeod Bethune located in Lincoln Park on East Capitol Street.

Best Trail

You can pick up an informational booklet at this site for the Washington, DC Black History National Recreation Trail.

Instagram-worthy Photo

This is the only NPS site we have visited where the first thing you do upon arrival is ring the doorbell.

Peak Season

Spring and summer

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/mamc/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

None

Road Conditions

As with most NPS sites in Washington, D.C., it is easier to walk or take the Metro than find parking for your car.

Camping

There are no NPS campgrounds in the Washington, D.C. area, so it might be best to head for Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.

Related Sites

Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site (District of Columbia)

Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument (District of Columbia)

Martin Luther King, Jr.  National Memorial (District of Columbia)

  • Cherry blossom petals

Explore More – Before her death in 1955, Mary McLeod Bethune worked on civil rights issues for how many U.S. Presidents?