Long run in DC/Arlington

Scenes from my long run while visiting Kathy and Bob - it's always fun to explore new places and take a camera along.

I took the metro to DC and started at Union Station:

DC's Liberty Bell is right outside:

It's cherry blossom time!  And a beautiful morning for blossom viewing (OK, it was a little chilly for just standing around looking at them, but great weather for running):

The Capitol looks much better now without scaffolding:

Every good run through DC should probably include the Mall:

This box was sitting by itself in the middle of the Mall with an interesting old car inside.  I found out later that a few days prior the box had contained the car from Ferris Bueller; that would have been neat to see too:

Iconic DC:

The pool on the way to see Lincoln:

Good morning sir!

I wasn't very selfie-inspired that day, but I do like the view from the Lincoln Memorial:

New running territory for me - heading across the bridge toward Arlington:

The excellent bike path going north along the Potomac:

The Potomac Heritage Trail continues along the river:

It's a real hiking trail, narrow and fun (with a few rocks and roots), with the added adventure of briefly running near the highway:

Back to the quiet of river level, with a nice view of the Key Bridge:

An excellent little bridge over the drainage:

Awesome rocks and a wilderness feel, even being relatively close to the road:

I headed up the large drainage called Donaldson Run:

I ran several of the park trails and discovered a solar covered shelter, nice!

Running over to the overlook:

As promised in the above sign, there wasn't much to see, but at least I had just come from the river and didn't really feel cheated by this view:

Hey cool!  Seems like a good reason for a selfie:

Fun trail design, on my way back out to the street:

A few more miles of streets and I was at my next target - a bagel for second breakfast!  My favorite bagel chain outside NYC.  I only wish I could have carried some out with me.

I didn't see much street art, but this mural rather made up for some of that:

I was looking for Taft, hmm, I don't think that's exactly what I meant:

Tulips starting to bloom - on my way to the side entrance into Arlington National Cemetery:

Time to walk for a bit and respect this place.

Ah, here's William Howard Taft.  We had been to the cemetery previously but at the time I wasn't actively looking for dead presidents (just running across them randomly).  So it took a bit more focus to find this, now I can say I did:

John and Jacqueline Kennedy:

Beautiful magnolia trees:

Down the hill, figure out how to exit the cemetery on foot, across back to DC, and a brief visit with Martin Luther King:

Joining a large number of people walking around the Basin taking pictures of lovely cherry blossoms:

So very pretty:

Exploring cities, one of my favorite ways to log running miles.