Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Congressional Cemetery

The Congressional Cemetery is amazing, and it is just around the corner from our apartment. Not only is it the final resting place to many famous people, but it also doubles as a dog park, a dog park that  has a three year waiting list to get your pet in to!  But lucky for us, they do day passes for tourist dogs for a small donation; so Miss Ethel and I hit the ground running today, and we were ready to freely run around and thoroughly enjoy this place.

Ethel loved being off a leash, playing and exploring at her own pace while I bonded with the camera and attempted to give this place a little justice through pictures. Ethel was great at staying close, but found her adventurous side as she weaved through headstones, sniffing about and in full on play mode; she even met a fellow dachshund named Mildred that she completely hit it off with.

It was such a unique experience taking in all this history, the sacred ground and then watching dogs roam and play freely; I found it to be a great use of open land. From my understanding , the cemetery fell into a neglected state, so the Capital Hill residents took it upon themselves to repair it, and the annual dog park membership goes to pay to upkeep and maintain the cemetery; talk about killing two birds with one stone and creating a situation where everyone wins.

Two of my favorite burial sites to visit was that of J.Edgar Hoover and Belva Lockwood. Belva Lockwood, was a feminist before the term had ever been coined; she was the first woman nominated to run for President of the United States in 1884, way before women ever had the right to vote and she still received 4,000 votes! Pretty extraordinary on all accounts!

This place is often overlooked by that other famous cemetery, but I say it is a must see and definitely a change of pace and has a great energy to it; though the dogs may add to that happy vibe.

 
 
 
 


4 comments:

  1. Beautiful photos Bonnie... I love your eye. :-)

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    1. Ah, thank you Sondi! You'll have to send me some tips, you're great at photography and I would love to learn as much as I can, especially from those that have a better idea of what they're doing than I.

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  2. What an amazing place. When we were in Boston, I was riveted to their own historic cemetery. Walking through and reading about the folks buried there was like taking a walk through a history book and finding footnotes done with invisible ink. I loved the details that were never available in books. It was like reading those individuals that perhaps many just kept secret or did not brag about when they were alive. What a fun and impressive thing the residents did by making it into a dog park and with the fees they can keep it in good repair. I LOVE that idea. Thanks again for sharing all of that here so we can enjoy your trip with you. Hugs!

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  3. Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic. If possible, as you gain expertise, would you mind updating your blog with extra information? It is extremely helpful for me. The dog law is changing

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