Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve and Belle Haven Marina

After lunch we drove down the GW Parkway and noticed a sign for Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve. We have passed it many times before, but since it was so nice out today we decided to park the car and have a look around. Of course, neither one of us had on the proper shoes for the expedition, so we just roamed about a bit to get an idea what this place was all about. It started with a view of National Harbor across the Potomac River in Oxon Hill, Maryland. The Woodrow Wilson Bridge connects this place with that, and we could see the new Ferris Wheel that offers great views of the city, but it didn't look like much from this angle. Then came the ducks swimming and quacking along the shore. A variety of waterfowl or otherwise foul nests could be seen by the Belle Haven Marina - a very busy place on a lovely Friday afternoon. Several vehicles were unloading their water craft on the landing. A man in a canoe was just coming ashore. When we reached the stretch of trail in the Marsh, we saw a few birds, including my favorite Cardinals. We really do need to come back to this place when our neighbors come to visit in October. It sounds like the animal activity could be more vibrant at that time...eagles, red fox - but I could do without the water snakes. Dyke Marsh is the last large tidal freshwater wetlands in the DC area. We saw a lot of these types of places in Wisconsin...Horicon Marsh to name one. But there is something interesting about having a marsh like this so close to DC. You wouldn't think one would be there, and it's only a few minutes away. 

National Harbor

Ever since it opened we never really liked the place. We heard that a Ferris Wheel is being constructed on the waterfront, so we decided it was time to take another ride out to National Harbor. We started out in Alexandria and took the Woodrow Wilson Bridge over to our destination. That route has to be one of the biggest spaghetti freeway configurations in the country. Once there, the place looked as it always did...neither one of us cares for the typical new city construction, the shops and restaurants, or hotels and condominiums. The "awakening" art work that used to be on Hains Point just doesn't cut it in this new location. It gets lost in the backdrop. The Ferris Wheel is not finished yet. The Gaylord Nelson Convention Center is HUGE, and the condominium units all look the same. The metal art at the entrance/exit is just too modern for our taste! The most interesting sight was a human dressed as a chicken crossing the street advertising something or other. There is also talk of MGM Grand setting up a casino near this area. The outlet mall is just down the street. At Christmas time there was snarled traffic all over because the roadways can't support all the visitors. The view from here is Alexandria, a place we really like a lot. One redeeming feature is that you can take a water taxi from here to Alexandria and Georgetown. I guess you could say Alexandria is the old world, and National Harbor is the new. I don't think we'll be coming back for quite awhile. I'm sure they won't miss us.