We took a trip to Glen Echo Park over the weekend with Monica and Marielle to celebrate the gorgeous weather. I've wanted to go out there since I saw it featured on an episode of this show. (Is it wrong that I only learn about places to go in the area where I've lived for 10 years on television shows that I watch? No? Mmmmgooodthanks.)

Glen Echo is a fun little place that used to be an amusement park in the early 1900's:

Begun in 1891 as an idealistic attempt to create a National Chautauqua Assembly "to promote liberal and practical education”, the park became instead the area’s premier amusement park from 1898-1968.

Today, the park has come full circle, offering year-round educational activities, while two amusement-era destinations (the Spanish Ballroom and Dentzel Carousel) remain major attractions.

It has some terrific art deco buildings that make you almost feel like you've stepped back in time fifty years or so as you walk around. I would love to have seen that place in its heyday. The thing they didn't let you in on in the brochure was that apparently at least one member of your party must be extremely pregnant to enter. Everywhere you looked, there were giant bellies peeking out from under now too small maternity shirts. It was like some sort of Chernobyl-like nuclear accident had happened there recently and this was the sad aftereffects of nuclear fallout.

We got there too late to attend most of the activities and kids performances so we'll have to plan for a trip earlier in the morning next time, but found a great resource for glass blowing classes (The KoH gave me a glass blowing class for Valentines' Day a couple of years ago and I've been itching to add to my Three Warped Glasses and a Paperweight Repertoire ever since) and a host of other artisan activities and communities.

They also had a playground with a spider-web like attraction that nabbed a couple of children:

And if you ever want to keep The Dormouse busy, just point out wildlife and tell her to "go get it":

"Catching bunnies is hard!"