Hidden Gem in Washington, D.C.

There is a hidden gem in Washington, D.C. it's called Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. I had the opportunity to explore this unique place and discover it's many charms. I heard about these gardens and was told it's quite complicated to get there, but very much worth the effort. With the help of a Google search I got good directions on how to get there. The garden's website is the best place to start and gives good directions by car, metro and surprisingly by canoe.

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens was started as a private water garden by Walter Shaw after the Civil War. In the late 1800's he bought a small parcel of land here on the flats of the Anacostia River. Shaw had some wild water lilies sent to him from his home in Maine to add to a pond. They flourished and he built more ponds and added more varieties of flowers. When Shaw died in 1921, the Shaw Gardens was a commercial enterprise run by his daughter, Helen Shaw Fowler, an avid promoter of water gardens and a member of the International Water Lily Society. She expanded the local attraction where U.S. presidents, their wives, and neighbors visited in the summer.

By this time the river was so filled with silt, the Corps of Army Engineers was ordered to dredge the river. Helen fought for the Shaw Gardens, and Congress authorized payment in 1938 of $15,000 for 8 acres. The gardens, saved from being filled, were added to Anacostia Park. These gardens actually saved priceless wetlands back when the value of wetlands was unknown.

The day we visited was beautiful, sunny and breezy - a perfect day for a stroll through the gardens, ponds and marsh. We started at the visitors center then strolled around the various ponds delighting in the gorgous blooms of the lotus and water lilies. Walked out on the boardwalk through the marsh. It was low tide so we got to see lots of little fishes in the shallow streams. We spyed a crane looking for his lunch. At the end of the boardwalk we sat and had a lovely picnic.

Walking back from our picnic spot we enjoyed more beautilful blossoms and were so delighted in all the dragonflies (my favorite insect), butterflies, bees, frogs and turtles. Looking for turtles we were surprised to see a huge snapping turtle. Come to find out he was actually "wrestling" with another one to put it politely.

What a wonderful and unique place Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens is! It's hard to believe, looking at these photos, we were in the middle of a metropolitan city. This place is part of our National Park Service and I am so very grateful to all those past and present who worked so hard to preserve it for future generations. I hope I can bring my grandkids here some day.