Washington Monument: Improved Experience w/ Periscope

Date of Visit: October 5, 2024

This particular trip to D.C. is partially focused on doing D.C. things with family that this is their first D.C. trip. Going to the top of Washington Monument was what I choose as our first thing to do. Mik remembered our visit in 2014 and not being able to see anything, so he originally was not going to go with.

Rereading about the process back in 2014 versus today's experience, we discovered that it has not changed much overall, but it has changed in a few key ways that really makes it much better experience. First off, you go through the security building the same as everyone else instead of the exit, which was how it worked previously. More importantly at the end you just go out the exit same as everyone else and not the odd locked gate experience we had on our 2014 visit.

Most important discovery was that they do in fact still have the periscope (or assistive device as Dad insists on calling it and it is probably officially called). Not sure if they would have offered it to us if we had not asked as in 2014 it wasn't and we thought they stopped offering it, but the first time we visited in 2006, they did offer it to Mik without us knowing about it. I feel like they would not have offered it, though, as it was after we were all looking out the window that I reminded Dad to see if they had one. As soon as Dad asked the ranger if they had an assistive device for someone in a wheelchair to use, the ranger knew exactly what we wanted, though, so they are at least trained to provide when asked.

Overall Mik still felt it was not worth going to the top of the Washington Monument again as even with the periscope he might as well have just seen pictures of the view. However, he does think the museum level and seeing the special stones as you go down are still a worthwhile experience at least once, especially now that the entrance and exit is same for everyone.

Destination Info:
Washington Monument
2 15th St. NW
Washington, DC

Charles Pinckney National Historic Site

Date of Visit: June 18, 2021

Our visit to Charles Pinckney NHS was the first stop as part of our weekend trip to Hilton Head to celebrate Mom’s 60th birthday. Mik probably would’ve rather chosen to visit Fort Sumter if he could’ve picked, but currently they are doing dock work and it’s more inaccessible than normal. Charles Pinckney NHS site just said that the historic house was closed, so we figured it probably wasn’t accessible anyways and it wouldn’t really affect our experience. Plus, it’s not far from where we live now that we could always go back if we wanted to see more. Turned out it is just in phased reopening with the only thing still closed being the store (would’ve been nice if I could have gotten the National Park Passport stickers as I never got the 2020 set and now also need the 2021 set).

The parking lot is a little rough with it not being paved and the grass has gotten a little wild taking up part of some spots.

By the parking lot there is a covered seating area and bathrooms. Mik was impressed that the bathrooms had buttons to open the doors and that was before we discovered they also had a family bathroom in the visitor center.

The path from here to the visitor center (i.e. the historic house) and around the house are paved.

The visitor center has a lift so that wheelchairs can access it. The lift goes up to the porch and then you can enter through the side door that has you enter through the back of the shop. While the shop is “closed,” the wheelchair can still go through it as really it was only still closed because they have not got the staffing and registers set back up.

The visitor center contains three rooms with exhibits about Charles Pinckney, the history of the farm, and a little on the region. There is also a family accessible bathroom by the room that they show a film in.

Mik wasn’t sure about doing the trail as it was hot and humid. Mom and him almost just stayed in the visitor center where the ranger had offered to put in the other films they had. Ultimately, Mik decided to go because it was a pretty short trail even though we couldn’t do it as a loop and had to do it as two short there and back trails as the nature trail between the slave community and boardwalk is through the woods with tree roots and poison ivy to watch for, etc. (Ranger was very good at being able to describe the whole trail and accessibility.)

We did the part of the trail that went past the model rice trunk and to the boardwalk first. This path looks like wood chips, which maybe it is, but it is packed down and was pretty much the same as rolling on the sidewalk/paved paths.

At the end of the boardwalk area, Mik was excited to get a snuggly photo with Mom and I didn’t have to be the one to do it for once.

We then took the part of the trail that goes along the Historic Road Trace, which would have been the way towards Charleston in Pinckney’s time (including when George Washington visited in 1791).

The path from here to the slave community goes through grass. It is wide and we could have easily taken Mik on it, but he choose to just stay back in the shade than go on a bumpy ride.

Overall we enjoyed Charles Pinckney NHS as Mik really did get to experience it all (or at least as much as he wanted and not because it wasn’t accessible).

Destination Info:

Charles Pinckney National Historic Site

1254 Long Point Rd

Mt Pleasant, SC 29464

Apollo 50: Go for the Moon

Date of Visit: July 19, 2019

Dad, Mik, and I watched the Apollo 50: Go for the Moon projection show on the Washington Monument from the National Mall. We had originally planned to leave to arrive around 9pm, but since we were all ready to go early we ended up getting there around 8:40pm. By that time it was already too late to get a spot in the area in front of the bleachers unless we stayed on the side.

Thus, instead we ended up in the middle in the section behind the bleachers, although we couldn't get a spot far enough back to see over them unless we wanted to be almost at 9th street. It worked out as a good view, though, and since it was a feels like in the upper to mid 90s that evening, we certainly wouldn't have wanted to end up out in the heat any earlier/longer in the day.

The pint of ice cream I brought along helped pass the time and keep us cool.

We all really enjoyed the show, although it was hard to really take in both the side screens and the Washington Monument projections. At least from where we were, you really had to choose to look at either one of the side screens and/or the Washington Monument. The show on the monument changed somewhat slowly from the building of the Saturn V to the launch to the moon landing to the splashdown while the side screens mostly showed historic footage from things like President Kennedy's to mission control in Houston, but it was often different on both sides.

Destination Info:
Apollo 50: Go for the Moon
National Mall between 9th and 12th Streets NW
Washington, DC

Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument

Date of Visit: April 4, 2019

The entrance to the Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument is at the back of the house from Second Street. There is a clear sign pointing up the stairs for entrance and the lift would be not be too hard to notice down a path to the left of the stairs except that the next door office building's accessible entrance sign happens to be very visible right past the stairs. Thus, we were initially confused on how to get up to the entrance.

The lift has a sign with a phone number you can call for access. We didn't even try it and just had Dad go upstairs and ask for the ranger to operate it. The ranger was really friendly and helpful. The only issue currently is that once you get up you have to go around to a side entrance, which is where they are currently doing some restoration work. The workers were really good about moving the ladder and getting out of the way, so we could get in (and later out), though. This entrance also even has an automatic button for opening.

We started our visit by watching the short introductory film about the National Women's Party, who used this house as their headquarters. We then proceeded to the main exhibit space on the first floor, which is accessed via another lift.

The first floor has three rooms of exhibits on the women's right to vote and equality movements. There is also a small gift shop. None of us went up to the second level, so not sure what we missed, but even just visiting the first floor was a worthwhile visit and the knowledgeable park rangers help interpret the site's significance very well.

One of favorite things was actually the stained glass in the entry.

Destination Info:
Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument
144 Constitution Ave NE
Washington, DC 20002

2018 National Christmas Tree Lighting

Date of Visit: November 28, 2018

Every year we've lived in the D.C. area, I've tried to get tickets to the National Christmas Tree lighting. This year I forget to enter the lottery, but luckily Dad ended up getting us tickets from a friend.

We ended up with tickets for the green seated section, but instead of going into the green section to the left of the stage, we followed the path to sit in the wheelchair section to the other side. The wheelchair section was good in that it was lined up with the stage and was on the platform so you didn't have to roll in the grass, which was hard to go through. The downside is the stage almost entirely blocks the Christmas tree. In hindsight, we should've just gone to the front of the green section as was available and then we also wouldn't have had our view totally blocked when everyone stood up for the President to light the tree at the beginning.

Overall Mik didn't much care for the tree lighting event, but mainly because it was cold. By the time the tree lighting started, we had been there for several hours with it being in the 40s and both Dad and he bailed after the tree was lit. Probably 75% of the people there did the same and those that stayed were encouraged to move up, which is what I did (also, moved over to better see the tree). I found it worth it and enjoyed the music and would totally do it again if I got the chance, but probably not with Mik.

Destination Info:
National Christmas Tree
President's Park (south of White House)
Washington, D.C.

Colonial National Historical Park: Yorktown Battlefield

Date of Visit: March 15, 2018

Visiting Jamestown/Yorktown has been something we've been wanting to do ever since we moved to Virginia almost four years ago. We didn't have time to do both this time, so I choose Yorktown since that seemed to be at least Dad's preference.

We started our visit with the ~15 minute movie at the visitor center. The movie was a pretty good overview of the battle. Mik wasn't a fan of how they had wheelchair spots at the back, but we had to sit in the row in front of him, but it isn't bad.

The visitor center also has a small museum. We all thought it was pretty cool that they had some of Washington's original tents in it. The ship walkthrough exhibit is also really well done, although it was almost too narrow to get through with the wheelchair and Mik freaked out about Dad taking him in it.

Mik's favorite part of the Visitor Center was the Lafayette Cannon.

After exploring the visitor center we decided to walk into the town and have some lunch and then check out the stuff we missed on our way back to the truck parked at the visitor center. The only place there was a sidewalk was along the riverwalk, but the traffic was light and walking in the street wasn't a big problem, although it is quite a hill to go down/up from the victory monument to the riverwalk. There is parking by the riverwalk, though, so the hill can be avoided.

We enjoyed lunch at the Yorktown Pub. It had two steps up to the main entrance, so we just took Mik up them and into the place. We found out when we were leaving that they do have a back entrance we could've used, but it really wasn't that difficult to just go out the front.

After lunch we walked along the riverwalk to where there was a bookstore. No luck finding any books we wanted, but it was surprisingly accessible for a used bookstore and Mik could actually browse through much of it.

On the way back to the visitor center, we stopped at the Yorktown Victory Monument. We ended up not exploring the stuff on Main Street because Mik was getting cold.

Since we didn't want to get home too late, we then decided to do just the Battlefield Tour drive. Mik stayed in the truck at most of the stops because there really wasn't much accessible to see. In fact, he only got out at the last stop at Surrender Field, which has an accessible trail.

Destination Info:
Colonial National Historical Park - Yorktown Battlefield
Accessibility page on their website
1000 Colonial Parkway
Yorktown, VA 23690

Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site

Date of Visit: July 15, 2017

We started our visit to the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic with the movie in the Visitor Center. The theater is set up with areas in the back row as well as in the middle of the front row for wheelchairs. Upfront seemed too close, so we sat in back, although that then kind of seems too far as the size of the screen is somewhat small for the size of the room. It was still a very worthwhile movie to see, though.

After the movie, we headed up to the Birth Home, which was being done as an open house from 10am to 11:45am during our visit. When we got near the house we saw a sign pointing to an accessible entrance by the house next door. It turned out that was the access to the gift shop, which has a ramp up into it on the backside.

From the gift shop, they directed us over to the house from the backyard as that’s where the accessible entrance is to the house. They made it clear it was somewhat difficult that way, so it wasn’t unexpected that we had to go through the grass and there was a step up onto the paver sidewalk into the Birth Home backyard.

Once we were in the backyard, it isn’t clear what to do because the tour starts in front. Thus, we went down the path to the front, which is an easy access path and really the way to access the Birth Home. Once in front, there was a line down the sidewalk waiting for their turns. It was impossible to get to the back of the line and half the line ends up going up steps before you even get to the park rangers. Mom cut through the line to get up to the porch and ask the park rangers what to do. They didn’t exactly seem to have a protocol other than obviously the wheelchair enters through the back. Mom just suggested she’d wait in line and then they could let us in from the back when she got to the front.

Overall this concept worked except the park ranger let us in from the back and we just assumed they were letting us in because Mom was on the next tour. She was supposed to be, but the ranger letting the group in said they only had room for one more person and Mom thought she couldn’t join because she was saving space for us to join. No big deal as she just ended up one tour behind us and it’s not a long tour, but it kind of added to the house tour not really being all that worthwhile.

The Birth Home tour wasn’t bad, but they sure pack you in and it really felt rushed through without much information given. Also, it was only the first floor because the second floor was closed, which to some extent we knew could be the case because the lift to it might be out. However, it was unexpected that the second floor was off limits to all tours due to structural problems and there isn’t a notice about that on the website.

On the way back to the car from the Birth Home, we walked through the King Center outdoor area with the reflecting pool, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s tomb, and an eternal flame. There are stairs to access the area from the street, but there is also a ramp on both ends and one end actually had the stairs closed off and only the ramp access was open.

Destination Info:

Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site

450 Auburn Ave NE

Atlanta, GA 30312

Guilford Courthouse National Military Park

Date of Visit: July 13, 2017

We spent most of our visit to the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park in the Visitor Center. Mom saw the movie, but Mik again wasn’t interested. Instead, we enjoyed the exhibit area.

We found the exhibit to be a good size in that it has a lot of information about the site and events along with artifacts while still being not that large of an exhibit overall.

One of the most interesting parts of the exhibit was the wall of windows that look outside to where they have put up some silhouette soldiers kind of as if the battle was going on.

We also walked some of the trails near the visitor center. The trails seem to be mostly paved paths and we certainly would’ve done a lot more of it including the other stops on the driving tour if it hadn’t been so hot and humid.

Monument Row behind the visitor center was the main part of the trail we checked out.

Mik also liked when we went into the woods behind the parking lot while waiting for Mom to finish checking out at the store. The trail didn’t have anything specific to see as far as we went (first sign, which really wasn’t far at all), but we liked that it did have information signs to read like when we did the Henry Hill Loop Trail at Manassas.

Destination Info:
Guilford Courthouse National Military Park
2332 New Garden Road
Greensboro, NC 27410