The Point of No Return: Jones Point Park

We heard about Jones Point Park last week from KidFriendly DC and their link up to the (new to us) local blog Preparing for Peanut, which has a great review of the park.  Heeding PFP's warning about the lack of shade, we headed out nice and early.  The park's website (which clearly needs to be updated) said it was located under the Woodrow Wilson bridge and to turn left after the bridge onto an unnamed street and park behind an apartment building.  The Commonwealth of Virginia and mommy have a mutual dislike of each other and half way there, mom realized she had no idea which bridge was the Woodrow Wilson.  We eventually figured it out and actually had no problem locating the unnamed street or unnamed apartment building.  We parked and hopped on to the Mount Vernon trail to follow it along to the park -- this was just fine on the way because we were exploring.  It was not so fine on the way back when we were hot, sweaty and hungry.  There appeared to be a local street that leads to a parking lot right off of the playground and we'll have to check that out the next time.

The park is right along the river and is truly amazing -- tons of space to run around, paved area under the bridge for fledgling bike riders, bathrooms, a sweet playground with a "pirate ship," and all kinds of historically important things, including the Jones Point Lighthouse which stands above the old D.C. boundary cornerstone set by George Washington to originally establish the southernmost corner of the District.  Now you know I love me some GW, so I was psyched.  We spent most of our morning playing on the pirate ship, making dinner there and serving it up on deck.  And for the first time ever, I wanted to go on the swings.  And I LOVED it.  I particularly loved Cami pushing me and mom seemed pretty interested in that arrangement as well.  We took a walk through some "butterfly fields," then a "shaded wood," to the lighthouse (can you tell we watch a lot of Dora?).  We were sweaty and mom was tired of being on high alert (despite our constant adventuring, it makes mom nervous to let us run unfettered in new, vast open spaces next to open bodies of water because, well, we don't listen).

It's a little bit of a schlep for us and technically in Virginia (although, ahemm, it contains the original cornerstone of DC), but we'll be back!

mom wouldn't pipe down about how this little climbing structure reminded her of 

some computer game she used to play in the 1990s.  oh, mom.

lovie monsters! 

D.C.'s cornerstone

viva la D.C.!