Lilies in the Nation’s Capital…

It is always a little embarrassing for me, as a native Washingtonian, to learn about unique sites about which I had previously never heard.

Added to that list recently are the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens.

My sister, (aka Dunam), gave me the heads up on these so she and her son joined Tonka, Paco, Nadia, and me as we explored this hidden treasure.

It was hot, so I didn’t get a chance to soak up the full story as I was there, but it seems (and you can click on the link) that back in the ‘20s, a botanist became a devotee of water lilies and started cultivating them…all within miles of the White House.

At one point, the US Army Corps o Engineers wanted to take it over, but a group of citizens successfully lobbied Congress to have it become part of the National Park System.

It’s a vast, marshy reserve that is covered with all kinds of unique flora and fauna.

The part that my kids liked was the boardwalk that took you out to the middle of the pond/lake.

With the exception of the occasional helicopter or train, all we heard were the sounds of nature.

Pretty remarkable given where we were.

The kids, initially (as usual), were skeptical, but soon grew to find many things which they really liked about the place. Tonka even was inspired to pull out her sketch book, doing a pretty good job.

As usual, the point of the exercise was to instigate and stimulate creativity…and as they build their mock-up of the pond eco-system when we got home, I felt like we had accomplished that objective.