Washington D.C. & Cherry Hill RV Park – Part 1

We had a fantastic time touring around the DC area!  There is a vast incredible amount of things to see and do.  And most of them are free!  While in DC doing the tourist things we also spent as much time as we could with our oldest son Bryan and his fiancee Jennifer and her mom Linda.

The Drive

I will split up this post into two or more updates to capture everything. We were busy everyday, touring museums during the day and spending family time in the evenings.  Our drive from James River State Park to our campground in Washington D.C. was about 5.5 hours including a lunch stop and breaks.  It was just short of 200 miles – more than I like to do in a day while driving the truck and 5th wheel, but we had to push it to make our 7 nights of reservations in College Park, MD at Cherry Hill RV Park.

The initial drive in to the park through very congested DC traffic was another matter.  Stop and go traffic for about 2 hours.  Plus the DC drivers would like to fill into the open “cushion” space that I try to leave in front of me due to the amount of space that it takes to stop this beast.  As more cars tried to jam into this cushion space, the more I had to slow down.  Well, we did survive, but I would rather not drive it again in an RV.

Cherry Hill RV Park

Let me start by saying that this RV park is very nice.  One of the nicest that we have visited.  All the updated facilities such as 2 pools, hot tub, sauna, large laundry, restaurant, outdoor movies, etc., etc.   Unfortunately, we only used the laundry one morning!  We were just way too busy the rest of the time.  The only negative about the park is how close the campsite spacing is.  Not only next door but a narrow road with cars close by.  A little tricky backing in a 40 foot trailer without much room to maneuver.

Getting Around DC

The park’s location is great for getting around DC.  We simply drove about 10 minutes to the Metro station in College Park and then took the metro all over the city.  It is quite easy to learn the routes and how to charge up a metro pass.  Parking at the metro station was $5.20 per day and free on weekends and holidays.

The metro fares seemed to be reasonable at about $5-6 per person round trip.  We did leave after the morning rush hour at about 9:30 am and only experienced standing only room one time.

The Museums & Mt. Vernon

Wow!  What can you say about the quantity and quality of the Smithsonian museums.  We toured the National Art Gallery, National Museum of American History, Natural History Museum, Air and Space, tour of the US Capital building, the National Archives, Library of Congress and Mt. Vernon, the home of George Washington.  We saw close to everything in these vast museums.  What really made an impression on me was in the history museum how many original American artifacts were on display and preserved for generations to come.  Everything from the original Francis Scott Key’s Star Spangled Banner to the TV set from All in the Family.  They have something from every time period.  Amazing.

Bryan and Jen introduced us to some great culinary places and a couple of brewery tours as well.  We had a great time with the kids.  They both spend much time at work with their expanding careers, but were able to take some time off around the July 4th holiday and take us to the fireworks on the National Mall.  A bucket list item for sure.

Here are some photos.  More to come in part 2 & 3.

We are currently staying in Erie PA, as we slowly make our way back down to Ohio and Indiana for more family visits.  The blog posts are about 3 weeks behind.