Fort Washington Park

It's cherry blossom time in the Washington, DC area! While Noelle, Sierra and I opted to avoid the big crowds near the tidal basin, we got a chance to see some cherry trees blooming at Fort Washington Park, just south of our nation's capital.

We woke up in Staunton, Virginia this morning and made the drive east to the DC area. Then we headed south to Fort Washington, Maryland. We arrived at the park hungry and ate lunch in the parking lot

before beginning our exploration of the fort, formerly the Warburton Manor estate.

After lunch we passed Battery Decatur

and checked out the visitor center, inside the old Commandant's House.

We stamped our passport books and headed out to the fort.

You pass over a dry moat, through a large door

and into the parade grounds. We checked out the fort jail

and then headed down into the casemate.
After climbing back up to the parade grounds we admired the view from the gun positions.

There was a great view of the interior of the fort

and down to an old battery.

We walked around some,

exploring little nooks and crannies of the fort.

Soon we headed out of the fort itself and down a hill towards the Potomac River.

We stopped at the battery we could see from the fort.

There were two large earthen rooms that I'm guessing were ammunition magazines.

Then we headed down to lighthouse 80.

After looking at the lighthouse we climbed the hill back towards the visitor center and past the fire control tower

to the parking lot for the resumption of our trip to New Jersey. It was another great off-the-beaten-path visit to the DC area!