With family in from out of town, we had the usual conundrum of what to do with them? Not only did we want something original and relatively close by, but also an activity that would be good to do in 93° weather.
Shira suggested the US National Arboretum, and because I'm up for eclectic sites, I totally agreed. But, as I was telling her Mom that we wanted to visit the National Arboretum -- even I became a little skeptical. With all the sites to see in DC, we were going to gape at a bunch of trees? Not the zoo. Not a famous art museum. But trees.
I'm so glad we stuck to our guns, the Arboretum was awesome.
We took in the Bonsai exhibit and herb garden and then took a 35 minute tram ride throughout the park. It was not only gorgeous to see, but no matter where we looked, we discovered amazing gems.
The Bonsai exhibit features a tree from the 1600's that was just 2 miles from ground zero when the US dropped the bomb on Hiroshima (or was it Nagasaki?). Think about what a remarkable specimen that tree is.
Heck, I just had fun walking through the herb garden finding the plants that we eat all the time - wasabi, lufa (yes, apparently the famous sponges start as a particular plant) and more.
The tram turned out to be a cool (in terms of heat) way to cover lots of ground and get a great overview of the grounds.
I really can't recommend the Arboretum enough. Kids, adults, everyone should have a blast.
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