Mid-Atlantic Region
Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and Delaware.
Delaware
- Visited: First State National Historical Park
Maryland
- Visited: Antietam
- Visited: Assateague Island National Seashore
- Visited: Catoctin Mountain Park
- Not yet: Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park
- Visited: Clara Barton National Historic Site
- Not yet: Fort Foote Park
- Visited: Fort McHenry National Historic Site
- Not yet: Greenbelt Park
- Visited: Hampton National Historic Site
- Visited: Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park
- Not yet: Monocacy National Battlefield
- Not yet: Piscataway Park
- Not yet: Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail
- Not yet: Thomas Stone National Historic Site
New Jersey
- Visited: Gateway National Recreation Area / Sandy Hook Lighthouse
- Not yet: Great Egg Harbor National Wild and Scenic River
- Visited: Morristown National Historical Park
- Visited: Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park
- Not yet: Pinelands National Reserve
- Visited: Thomas Edison National Historical Park
- Visited: Thomas Edison NHP - Black Maria Studio
Pennsylvania
- Not yet: Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site
- Not yet: Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
- Visited: Edgar Allan Pоe National Historic Site
- Visited: Eisenhower National Historic Site
- Not yet: Flight 93 National Memorial
- Visited: Fort Necessity National Battlefield
- Visited: Friendship Hill National Historic Site
- Visited: Gettysburg National Military Park
- Visited: Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site
- Visited: Independence National Historical Park
- Not yet: Johnstown Flood National Memorial
- Visited: Steamtown National Historic Site
- Visited: Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Historical Park
- Visited: Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River
- Visited: Valley Forge National Historical Park
Virginia
- Visited: Appomattox Court House National Historical Park
- Visited: Arlington House, Robert E. Lee Memorial
- Visited: Booker T. Washington National Monument
- Not yet: Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park
- Not yet: Colonial National Historical Park
- Not yet: Fort Monroe National Monument
- Visited: Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park
- Visited: George Washington Birthplace National Monument
- Not yet: George Washington Memorial Parkway
- Visited: Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site
- Not yet: Manassas National Battlefield Park
- Not yet: Petersburg National Battlefield
- Not yet: Prince William Forest Park
- Not yet: Richmond National Battlefield Park
- Not yet: Shenandoah National Park
- Not yet: Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts
West Virginia
- Visited: Appalachian National Scenic Trail
- Not yet: Bluestone National Scenic River
- Not yet: Gauley River National Recreation Area
- Visited: Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
- Visited: New River Gorge National Park & Preserve
Recent Posts
Assateague Island National Seashore
On a road trip to meet our daughters for a family vacation, we stopped at Assateague Island National Seashore. One of the unforgettable experiences there was seeing the famous wild horses wandering freely through the landscape. In this photo, one of the horses calmly stood along the boardwalk. Encounters like this are part of what makes Assateague such […]
Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park
The drive to Maryland’s Eastern Shore during a trip to Washington, DC became far more meaningful when we made a side journey to Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center. Some historic sites teach you facts, while others leave you standing quietly, reflecting on the courage and strength of the people connected to that place. This was […]
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
A great opportunity to re-visit Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in 2026. Walking through the historic town once again and visiting John Brown’s fort and museum brought history back to life in a powerful way. Few places in America hold so many lawyers of history within such a small landscape. The town is forever tied to the events […]
First State National Historical Park
For decades of my National Park explorations, Delaware was the only state that did not have a location within the National Park Service…….until 2013, when President Barack Obama established First State National Historical Park as a new unit of the National Park Service. Delaware is known as “The First State” because it was the first […]
Gettysburg National Military Park
On our first visit to Gettysburg National Military Park, we hired a Park Ranger to guide us through the battlefield and bring the events that unfolded here to life. Standing on these fields, it became clear that Gettysburg is far more than monuments and cannons. It is a landscape where the course of American history […]
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park
On our travels to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, we took the time to visit some of the historic sites in Virginia. One of them was Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, a Civil War battlefield that holds the memory of one of the war’s most devastating encounters. This statue commemorates Andrew A. Humphreys and his […]
Fort Necessity National Battlefield
This is Jumonville Glen, part of Fort Necessity National Battlefield in Pennsylvania. On May 28, 1754, a young George Washington, then a lieutenant colonel with the Virginia Regiment, along with Native American allies, surprised a small French scouting party camped in this ravine. In the brief skirmish that followed, several French soldiers were killed, including their […]
Fort McHenry National Historic Site
Fort McHenry was a quick stop on our travels south, but it is a place that carries a powerful place in our nation’s history. It is here that one of the most recognizable symbols of our country was born: The Star-Spangled Banner. During the Battle of Baltimore in September 1814, British forces launched a relentless bombardment […]
Arlington House, Robert E. Lee Memorial
Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial sits high above the Potomac River, its columns facing directly toward Washington D.C. The home was built between 1802 and 1818 by George Washington Parke Custis, who intended it as a living memorial to his step-grandfather, George Washington. From its earliest days, this was designed to honor the legacy of […]
Eisenhower National Historic Site
In Gettysburg is the only home that Dwight D. Eisenhower ever owned. A leader during World War II and later President, he lived a life defined by service. The home, now preserved as the Eisenhower National Historic Site, reflects a different side of his life. This modest farm is quiet, practical and personal. Eisenhower purchased the […]
Catoctin Mountain Park
Traveling through the mountains of Maryland, I made my way into Catoctin Mountain Park. At first, it feels like a quiet forest, winding trails through dense trees. But this landscape, like many others, carries a history that is not immediately visible. By the early 1900s, much of this land had been logged and overused. The forest […]
New River Gorge National Park
Another solo road trip led me to West Virginia. My father was raised in this state, and it is one of those places where its natural beauty: rolling hills and rivers stays with me. My destination on this trip was the national parks, and one of them was the New River Gorge National Park and […]
