Probably our last weekend for touring. We picked two places that we had heard something about but they had not been on the list. The first was the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, on the east side of DC, by the Anacostia river. We got an early start but it was already hot when we got to the place. It is many acres of ponds with various types of water plants growing. The growth is very lush, with huge fields of water lilies. We say several animals and insects and lots of flowers. The cicadas were truly deafening and their sounds would come in waves. We spent about 2 hours there. It wasn't quite a get-away - civilization noises could intrude, but when they were quiet, no planes were flying overhead, and the bugs sounded off, it did feel like one was in the middle of boonies.
After the gardens we went to another out of the way place that took us awhile to find. This was the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land. It is in a residential neighborhood. There is a large church, an attached museum/shrine and a large outdoor garden area. The church is on cathedral-scale. The attached museum area is devoted to the holy land, with replicas of the shrine that is the tomb of Christ, Calvary and several other events/places. There is also a replica of the Catacombs. Outdoors, the garden are is sunken below the level of the church and has a replica of Lourdes, and other miraculous places. Very interesting.
No comments:
Post a Comment