The first thing that you will notice is that this park is beautiful. But beyond that, there's so…read moremuch to do and learn! We learned all about how tobacco is produced on the plantation. We learned about how the garden was used for medicinal purposes and food. We got to feed the chickens! We learned about cooking in colonial times. We learned about how cannons work and saw a can fired off a ship! We learned about how a print shop worked and even got to help print something! We also saw a cabin built by and for enslaved people, and learned how life changed for them after emancipation. It was such a fun day and I want to go back!

What an amazing experience! Beautiful land with knowledgeable historians throughout the property…read more I had a great afternoon exploring the Historic City. I was able to walk around the property on the paved pathways and not only see and read about the history of the buildings, but also hear from live historians and some of the locations. I arrived later in the afternoon and received my ticket at a discounted price ($3.50) compared to the $10 admission fee charged during the day for adults. I loved learning the history of this area while visiting from out of town. I highly recommend stopping if you can, but do give yourself minimum 2 hours (or more!!) to get through everything. I did miss out on viewing the plantation and a few of the smaller building

I love this place and all it has to offer. I loved digging in the sand pit and looking for shark…read moreteeth!

Cute little museum! The best part are the otters, you can see them swimming around and they are…read morepretty active. They also have some other aquatic life like turtles and fish that are cool. You can spend a hour or two in here if you wanted to

Absolutely love this one! I was in the area and had an hour before I needed to hit the road... I…read morewas late hitting the road! There is so much to see you cannot possibly see it all in an hour. There are a ton of aircraft displays, engines, and even a few videos. A good mixture of indoor and outdoor displays. Wear comfortable shoes so you can walk around a lot. I am a history buff, and was stationed at NAS PAX in the 1980's so I was very interested in all the historical information the museum presented. I WILL be back!

My wife and I took a Saturday drive and ended up at the museum mid-afternoon. Approaching the…read moremuseum, we saw all the aircraft parked outside on their ramp. A bonus for EV drivers is their onsite fast charger. Driving here from NoVA, we could use the charge. Admission to the museum is $10 per person. There are a couple of displays inside along with a gift shop. We quickly headed outside though to check out the aircraft. My wife's favorite was the A4 Scooter with its skinny head-on profile and Blue Angels heritage. My favorite was the Osprey. I had no idea the rotors were that large on it. We took a lap inside the gift shop before heading back on the highway with a full charge. We spent about 90 minutes checking out all the aircraft there and enjoyed our visit.

I came to visit this memorial museum because I have a friend that is a Marine that actually…read moresurvived the bombing in Beirut & was featured in the exhibit. This exhibit will take a day or two to get through if you want to really understand & get educated on how important our Marines are & continue to be as they protect WE the People & the Unite States of America.Very informative concerning wars that were fought & a Marines day to day life. The museum & the tour was VERY impressive. I'd go again, it was a pleasure seeing it & all the history.I would highly recommend anyone who is thinking of joining the Marines to take a trip to see this museum & some of the other monuments/memorials.

This is easily the best museum I have ever visited…read more The exhibits are epic in scope and absolutely stunning. The architecture is just as impressive--it's a fantastic homage to the iconic US Marine Corps War Memorial. Wandering the grounds is an experience in itself; they are immense and exceptionally well-maintained, reflecting the quality found inside. During my recent visit, a museum employee who overheard my dad and me discussing the landscaping nearby (not the museum's, which is pristine!) politely stopped to ask for feedback, eager to address any potential issues. That commitment to excellence blew us away. The museum also hosts events beautifully. My brother, who just transitioned from Gunnery Sergeant to 2nd Lieutenant after graduating from OCS, had his celebratory banquet catered by the museum on the second floor. The food was delicious and varied--we had fried chicken, pulled pork, mac and cheese, salad, crackers, fruit, and dessert, among other food choices, plus a small cash bar. The area was nicely laid out, and the banquet tables looked sharp. For everyday amenities, there are two spots to eat, including the iconic Tun Tavern, plus a fantastic, well-stocked gift shop (though be prepared for the prices!). This museum is an absolute must-see.

Always hard to write a bad review of a cool attraction & I certainly can't here! The grounds are…read morewell kept, there is a nice museum & gift shop on the site - and- we had our own guided tour of the lighthouse & keepers' quarters. Staff on-site were friendly and informative. Museum had a lot of interesting information about the lighthouse and nearby area - also nice and cool on a hot day ;) If you're a lighthouse buff - this should definitely be on your to-see list!

Despite being a pretty seasoned veteran of Southern Maryland tourism, I managed to drive past this…read moreplace until now. That's because it is a pretty significant detour from anything else, even the small settlements and local attractions elsewhere in the area. Upon arriving I was offered the choice to roam the grounds for free or pay to get inside the lighthouse and museum exhibits, which I did. It's a small museum covering a couple of rooms, but does have some interesting bits. Notably, there is apparently a sunken German U-boat offshore, a relic of military experiments conducted on it after it was surrendered to the U.S. military. But you can't see the real thing unless you're an expert diver. The lighthouse is quite tiny as these things go, and you can't see a ton from it. There's a brief tour of the neighboring quarters as well. There was another building of exhibits that I didn't visit. There is a beach; it is quite tiny but there isn't a ton of public land on the lower Potomac. Notably, the houses one drives past on the way in have their own little stretches of beach which appear to catch some nice breezes. The river is quite estuarine at this point. As with a lot of little attractions down this way, I'm not mad that I stopped and took a look, but I don't think that you'll miss a ton if you see the sign on route 4 and keep driving. I'm glad the site is preserved for public use. Notably, there's also a large and free picnic area.

As a self-professed plant geek, I enjoyed my trip to the US Botanical Garden. They have curated an…read moreimpressive number of specimens, sorted by biome. While it is smaller than you might imagine, there is a nice indoor area with tropical, desert, Mediterranean, and other climates. I am a collector of Tillandsia species, and they had some nice ones in the tropical areas. Probably worth a few trips at different times of year to see the different blooms, etc. Free, like most DC museums.

I don't know how I hadn't visited the United States Botanic Garden until last weekend with how much…read moretime I've spent in DC in the last five years, but I hadn't! It's wild - because it's just off the National Mall, and I must have walked by dozens of times. I finally visited last weekend with a friend, and I had a pretty good time. It's free to visit, like a lot of the attractions on the Mall. We spent maybe a half hour to an hour exploring. This botanic garden is contained within two separate sections. The section that is north of Independence Avenue has some outdoor gardens and the conservatory. The section south of Independence Avenue has Bartholdi Fountain and another garden. They are connected, and you do have to cross Independence Avenue to visit both sections. It's not a large botanic garden; I've definitely visited larger. But as it's free, it's a great place to wander if you're in the area. The highlight for was actually the Bartholdi Fountain section. The fountain is beautiful and peaceful, and the Capitol building peaks through in the prettiest way in photos. If you visit lots of botanic gardens, this one might not wow as much as others. But it's yet another place that's worth a visit on the National Mall.

There was SO much to do here! Between the gardens themselves, the beautiful structures, the…read moreplayground area, and the indoor art experiences, we easily spent an entire day exploring. We were also incredibly lucky to visit while the fairy garden installation was happening, which was truly the cherry on top. There were so many little details to discover, and it made the experience feel extra magical. We took our time wandering the grounds, had a picnic at the designated table area, and then spent time in the craft workshop making mermaids to take home as a special memory from our visit. We also loved getting to see the animals--it was such a fun and unexpected surprise! This was one of those places where every time we thought we had seen everything, there was something else to explore. It was such a wonderful experience, and I highly, beyond highly, recommend visiting!

Mt husband & I took a drive down to Solomons for lunch on Memorial Day. I persuaded him to stop at…read moreAnnmarie Gardens so I could check out the sculpture garden, which has been on my list for a while. It was a nice day. There is a welcome hut where they give out maps and collect the suggested $5 donation. We walked some of the woods to view some of the sculptures. Several were very attractive and other pieces were not as striking. There is a fairy garden type play area where a number of kids were running around. We walked through the main arts building. We saw some exhibits and the gift shop. On the whole, it was smaller than I expected, but we did not walk all of the paths. I'm glad we took a look. I would be interested in returning when they have a festival or for the holiday lights.

Nice little museum did you a good history around that area. Very outdated. The staff is mainly…read morevolunteers, but they are knowledgeable and very friendly.

"Was it everything you hoped for and expected?" our intrepid captain asked as he was ferrying us…read moreback from the island. For me, the answer was yes. Maybe that's because my expectations were realistic and not that high; this is a very small island and there is not much on it at all. But if it's a tourist trap, it's a very pretty tourist trap, worth a visit for the sheer novelty of it. The historicity of the location is somewhat interesting, but what drew me is the idea of being out on the Potomac on one of the most isolated spots you'll likely find within driving distance of the nation's capital. This place is way out there. I mean, even if you're already in Southern Maryland, it's a significant drive from most anything of consequence. It is at least a bucolic ride, and you can expect clear roads. The museum is small but reasonably well done, but really just something to do as you to wait for the ferry. Waiting for the boat, I was greeted by a pair of stingrays flapping pleasantly at the surface of the water (not pictured, sorry); you're not far from ocean here I guess. The boat is small and the ride quite rough on a windy day, which I'm guessing is a lot of days; if you get seasick or have mobility challenges I would recommend against it. The north side on which you arrive is decidedly barren and cactus-ridden (sandal-wearers beware). However, walking to the south quickly leaves one on a clear trail surrounded by thick underbrush. The only things you're likely to hear are wind, birds, and bugs (thankfully, the wind factor tends to minimize the biting/stinging ones). A few locals might be out fishing, but you're likely to have a lot of peace and quiet. A picnic area, a monument, and a lighthouse are the main landmarks. The island is eroding away, and has been reinforced by rocks on all sides; the one appreciable beach is on the south side. Trying to traverse the wilder parts of the island is dicey at best, but if you simply want to bathe in the sun and sea air, you can find a place. The ferry runs on very limited hours (10-3 on weekends in season, and that's it), but I found somewhere between 1.5-2 hours on the island sufficient for a fairly complete visit, one that can be interspersed with a day trip by some of the other scattered Southern Maryland Parks. The cost isn't a ton ($7 for museum and a ride to the island), but note that they do charge for children over five.

I really enjoyed the overall concept and creative vision of this museum. It has a lot going in its…read morefavor. It has a prime location within easy walking distance of Metro center, in the beautiful old Franklin building. The staff are friendly and helpful. There is no charge for entry although donations are very welcome. One could almost go exclusively to visit the gift shop and the museum cafe as they are both so nice and full of fun things to feast the senses on. But for now I will stick to the museum. You start on the third floor and work your way down. There are displays for all ages and levels of interest, from very technical linguistics to basic "repeat after me". There's karaoke for the brave, joke telling for the dads, a Photo Booth for the tweens and an absolutely epic library in which fairy tales come to life. There's also a section on advertising and it's lures. The café is really fabulous and delicious and gives you a true taste of the global plate that America thankfully has adopted. I thoroughly enjoyed my West African chicken and shrimp curry. I was only sad that it was too early in the day on a weekday and with kids to enjoy one of their dozens of fantabulous looking cocktails! I'll have to go back for that!

We went here with some friend while visiting the DC. area. It was very fun and interesting I wish I…read moretook more pictures. They had a room with a digital globe in it where you learned about different languages. Another room talked about telling jokes and you would sit and tell jokes to one another. There was a karaoke room where you learned about how music is constructed. There was a library which is like a Harry Potter room with a hidden door to a poetry nook. I would definitely recommend this place for $15.