4/14/2017
The trip today took hours longer than hoped because we fought the current for almost the entire time. Instead of the mostly more than 10 knots we experienced yesterday, today we found ourselves lucky to exceed 8 knots. Thus, the journey was tedious as we found the slow-moving scenery quite monotonous. As the afternoon wore on, it became clear we would not arrive at port until after the marina's closing time. Fortunately, the marina arranged for someone to greet us after hours.
Finally, nearing our destination, we saw Fort Washington and a nearby lighthouse cum channel marker. I did some reading about the fort and found it to have quite an interesting history from its beginning through its use during World War II.
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| Approaching Fort Washington |
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| Lighthouse at Fort with Red Channel Marker on side |
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| Fort Washington |
After a very long and rather boring day on the water, we found the National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland a welcome sight.
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| Ferry from National Harbor to Alexandria, VA |
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| Coming into National Harbor in Oxon Hill, MD |
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| National Harbor |
After checking in at the marina, we set off to explore the local area. We got no further than the "sand" park that caught Sierra's eye.
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| Arm protruding from the sand |
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| Head rising from the sand |
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| Sierra standing on statue's tongue |
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| Sitting on the statue's beard |
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| Walking on its teeth |
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| Statue's Exposed Knee |
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| Foot |
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| Sierra climbing on the Hand |
Although signs were posted around the park saying "Do not climb on rocks", no signs declared climbing on the statue to be off limits. Given how slippery the body parts were, I thought they could be more dangerous than the boulders.
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Rather Eerie Sculpture shown in its entirety.
Note children climbing on each exposed body part. |
National Harbor has a Ferris wheel. The ticket price appeared quite "pricey". Even so, Jeff and Devon treated us all to a ride.
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| Ferris Wheel at National Harbor |
Amazingly, for our money, we got five revolutions which made the cost much more palatable. We had a bit of a haze in the distance, so the view of D.C. was not spectacular; however, the local sights were quite interesting.
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| Pirate Ship Relentless in the Harbor |
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| On the Ferris Wheel |
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| View of Marina from Ferris Wheel |
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| Large boat at marina with a hot tub on the top deck! |
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| National Harbor |
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| Enjoying the Ferris Wheel ride |
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| View of Carousel at National Harbor |
After our excursion to get an overview of the area, we headed back to the boat to relax for the night. Due to the position of the boat / marina with regards to the Ferris Wheel, we had spectacular views all night long.
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| Sun setting at National Harbor |
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| Ferris Wheel at Sunset |
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| Ferris Wheel Reflection in Blue |
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| Reflection of Ferris Wheel on Hotel |
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| Ferris Wheel Reflection in Red |
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