Exploring DC: Great Falls Park

One of the most exciting things about moving to a new city is all of the exciting new places you get to explore.

On Veteran's Day, I went with my sister and her little family to Great Falls Park in Virginia. It was an absolutely perfect day. I initially thought it was going to be on the cold side so when I left my house to walk to the Metro to get to my sisters apartment I was bundled up - 2 shirts, a sweater, and a scarf (with a jacket stuffed in my purse just in case). Needless to say by the time we got to the park I realized I didn't really need to be bundled up quite that much. It was about 70 degrees - perfect hiking weather.

The history about Great Falls Park is pretty interesting. We explored the ruins of Matildaville, a town that used to be located along the Potomac. And apparently there used to be carousels at the park that visitors loved. The last carousel was dismantled in 1972 after it was damaged in Hurricane Agnes. I can only imagine how amazing it would be to ride a carousel at this stunning park.

 

 

My sister, nephews and brother-in-law stayed on the main path, while I went off on my own to explore the areas that were a little to difficult to traverse with a 3-year-old and a 7-month-old. Some visitors set up a tightrope between 2 trees, and others were hiking with there pups. *Note to self: must bring Arya here, she would have a blast.*

My nephew, Oren, had a blast climbing over the rocks and playing with all the leaves. Now this is what fall really is about.

We saw people going down the falls in kayaks. I think that would be an amazing experience, although it may be a little bit to cold for this Florida girl. Definitely will add it to my summertime bucket list for 2015.

Overall, it was definitly an awesome park and I will be going back to do some more exploring at some point soon.

Mariah