Winkler Botanical Preserve, August 2009
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Robert had his tonsils taken out August 12th and it took a good 10 days for him to be feeling better. Now we need to ween him off the ice cream breakfasts and hours of Mythbusters and Sponge Bob he's been getting. Today was nicely cool in the morning after a line of thunderstorms so we decided to have a little adventure. I pulled out one of the maps we keep for out-of-town visitors (that we don't normally look at) and noticed Winkler Botanical Preserve. It's a tiny little park (well, really several acres) tucked away at the edge of Alexandria just outside the beltway. It was a very pretty spot to visit. I never would have believed we where heading to a preserve as we drove through Northern Virginia apartment buildings. But just past one building's parking lot was a small open fence and sign. |
| The gravel path took us up to the Catherine Lodge (which was closed) and next to a pond. It looks like the lodge could be rented out for appropriate events. And as we rambled around the grounds we discovered an archery range and a ropes course -- with lots of warnings to stay off of the course without supervision and permission. I wonder who runs classes through there? |
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| There were lots of August wildflowers in bloom and after the rainstorms the last several days, the moss and ferns were going strong. The creeks were low, but showed the effects of recent high water with some impressive canyons being carved out. |
| We had fun with the troll bridges and playing some Pooh sticks -- though the creeks really needed more water for good Pook sticking. All in all, the perfect antidote for too many hours cooped up in the house with a really sore throat. After this little excursion, we're looking forward to visiting other new-to-us parks in the neighborhood. |
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Vacation notes:
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