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DC Trip 2024➤
Our congressman came through with tickets to visit the White House in October of 2024. So my husband and I took a long weekend to visit Washington, DC. He hadn’t been to many of the sites, so we spent a few days visiting the various National Park Service units. We toured several memorials, monuments and other sites, including the George Washington Memorial Parkway.
GW Parkway➤
After leaving Theodore Roosevelt Island, we continued our morning with a short walk along the George Washington Memorial Parkway. This stretch of paved path winds south beside the Potomac River and offers a quiet break from the busy roads nearby. We passed under the Arlington Memorial Bridge and soon reached the Navy–Merchant Marine Memorial. The memorial features seven bronze seagulls soaring above a cresting wave, symbolizing the courage and sacrifice of the men and women who served at sea. Even though we were only covering a small section of the parkway, it gave us a good sense of how much green space this corridor protects.
The George Washington Memorial Parkway is its own National Park Service unit. Congress created it to preserve the natural shoreline of the Potomac and to provide a scenic route linking historic sites associated with George Washington. The parkway is more than a road—it includes forests, wetlands, trails, memorials, and river access points that stretch for miles through Virginia and Washington, D.C.
The full parkway runs all the way from Great Falls Park to George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate. Most visitors only see short segments, but every part reflects the same mission: to safeguard natural landscapes while connecting people to the region’s early history. Our brief walk offered only a glimpse, yet it showed how thoughtfully the parkway blends transportation, recreation, and preservation.
2024 DC Trip Posts➤
- WWI Memorial
- The White House
- White House Tour Pt 1
- White House Tour Pt 2
- Lockkeeper’s House
- Martin Luther King Memorial
- FDR Memorial
- Jefferson Memorial
- Korean War Memorial
- Lincoln Memorial
- Constitution Gardens
- Washington Monument
- Mary McLeod Bethune Council House
- Rock Creek Park
- Supreme Court
- Capitol Rotunda
- Capitol Statuary Hall
- Library of Congress
- Theodore Roosevelt Island
- George Washington Parkway
- LBJ Memorial Grove
- Ford Theater
- Belmont-Paul
- Frederick Douglas
Location: George Washington Memorial Parkway, Washington, DC
Designation: National Memorial Parkway
Date designated/established: May 29, 1930
Date of my visit: October 25, 2024
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