National Arboretum

We decided to take a bike ride with the kids through the National Arboretum http://www.usna.usda.gov/  We had two destinations in mind.  The primary destinations was the Koi Fish Pond.  We didn’t find it… and we had talked it up a bit, so there was a little drama when we left without feeding the fish.  I have since done some more research and now know the Koi Fish Pond is at the ‘Moat Where Lilies Float‘ at the Administrative Building. So when we return next time we will get it right.  But the other destination was the Arboretum's National Capitol Columns. http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/collections/columns.html

The stately permanence of the Corinthian columns and careful siting on a natural knoll in the Ellipse Meadow makes them seem as if they have been there for a very long time. The columns began their life on the East Portico of the Capitol in 1828, but they did not stay at the Capital. It was not until the 1980s that Arboretum benefactor Ethel Garrett took up the cause of establishing a permanent home for them at the Arboretum. The grandeur of the columns would be in scale with the more than 20 acres of open meadow, a rarity in a built up city like Washington. The columns are set on a foundation of stones from the steps that were on the east side of the Capitol. Old identification marks from the quarry are still visible on some of the stones. A reflecting pool fed by a small rivulet of water that runs down a channel in the steps reflects the columns and provides sound and movement.

Needless to say the kids loved playing in the water.  It was a hot day so the water was a welcome relief.