Going On The Road with Monte & Rose

September 10-15, 2019

Louise Cosca Regional Park

Clinton, MD

The campground at Louise Cosca Regional Park is a little hidden gem that we stumbled across in 2014 and then stayed at a second time in 2017. The sites are on a first come first served basis. All three times we stayed at the campground we were lucky to get what we consider the best site in the loop.

We chose this campground because of its close proximity to Washington D.C. and the low fee. At $26 per night it would be a bargain but as an added bonus they give a 50% senior discount.

There are two negatives about the campground-the bathrooms are very dated and when we departed we discovered the dump station was full so we had to travel with full waste tanks.

During our past excursions into Washington D.C. we parked at a lot along the Basin that offered free parking and rode our bikes around the city. We were very disappointed this time around when we arrived at the parking lot and discovered it was no longer free parking. There are meters with a 3 hour maximum. I was told this is to encourage visitors to use the Metro system.

A few weeks prior to our visit to the area I had emailed my Congressman’s office to request tickets to the FBI, Congress and the White House. Unfortunately, I was informed that tours to the White House and FBI have to be made at least six months in advance.

We did manage to secure timed tickets for a tour at the Capitol and for the House and Senate Galleries.

Tickets are free but required.

The Capitol tour tickets were emailed to us but we had to pick up the galleries tickets at the Congressman’s office in person.

On the day of our visit to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park we saved the $25 parking fee they charge by parking at Rock Creek Park and riding our bikes along the short trail to the Zoo.

There is no admission fee to the Zoo.

We especially enjoyed visiting the Panda Exhibit. While at a dinner in Beijing in 1972, First Lady Patricia Nixon mentioned her fondness for giant pandas to Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai.

Wanting better relations with the U.S., China sent a male and female panda to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo.

That same evening we visited the Lincoln Memorial, The Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Korean War Memorial.

Even though we have visited these memorials several times in the past I am still filled with the same tremendous patriotic feeling as I did the very first time.

One day we drove over to the parking lot at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove, located off the Washington Memorial Parkway and rode our bikes along part of the Mount Vernon Trail.