Ranger Dan: 42.6 National Capital Parks - Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens

Date of Visit: February 27, 2026

When we left for our Philadelphia trip, we had planned to just drive straight home on the last day. On our visit to Greenbelt Park, the ranger mentioned that Kenilworth had just got in their 250 stamp, so we decided to see if we could get it on our way home. I determined if we got on the road by 6am, then we could not only stop at Kenilworth, but also Frederick Douglass NHS.

We actually managed to get on the road before 6am and even with a leisurely breakfast at a Starbucks (only option that early), we ended up at Kenilworth around 8:30am. We had to wait until 9am for the Visitor Center to open, but the park opens at 8am, so we were able to walk out to the marsh before getting our stamps.

We knew there wouldn't be much to see with it not being the season for the lilies and lotuses, but it was interesting to see the ponds frozen and see the park in a much different season than when Dad and I visited for the Lotus and Water Lily Festival a few years ago.

When the Visitor Center opened, we were excited to find they not only had the National Capital Parks East 250 Stamp that I thought would be the 250 stamp here, but they also had one for Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens and Anacostia Park. 

Previous Visits to this National Park unit:

• 42.1 Lincoln Park
• 42.2 John Paul Jones Memorial
• 42.3 Folger Park
• 42.4 American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial
• 42.5 Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens

See full list of Ranger Dan's National Parks Visited here.

Our Koffee Trail: Liberty Brew Coffee

Date of Visit: March 1, 2026

Location: Liberty Brew Coffee, Conway, SC

Rating: ❤️ (Love)

For this week's Sunday coffee outing, we went to Liberty Brew Coffee. We all enjoyed drinks off their current seasonal menu. Mik also enjoyed a cheese danish.

Mom had an iced Pot of Gold Latte (salted caramel and coconut).

Dad and I both had The Nutty Irishman (pistachio and brown sugar cinnamon with maple cream).

Mik had a Lucky Charms Latte (vanilla, toasted marshmallow, white chocolate).

See full list of Our Koffee Trail stops here and Our Koffee Trail Google Maps list here.

Check out some of our other Myrtle Beach area posts:

• C3 Coffee Co. 👍
• Grand Strand Coffee ❤️
• Rustic Roast ❤️
• Tidal Creek Brewhouse (and Coffeehouse) ❤️

Ranger Dan: 115.1 Valley Forge National Historical Park

Date of Visit: February 26, 2026

We started our visit to Valley Forge National Historical Park with the movie (after getting our stamps and failing to get the rangers to understand our Valley Frog National Treasure reference). We also explored the museum a little, where Nora and I enjoyed using the Lincoln Logs to build a cabin to match the model one to represent the cabins the soldiers built for their winter stay at Valley Forge.

Pretending to Load Cannon

On the first stop of the driving tour around Valley Forge (Muhlenberg's Brigade), Nora and I posed pretending to do the cannon loading drill.

At our first stop, we also enjoyed seeing the hut exhibits. It was particularly cool in that there was snow on the ground to help feel like a more authentic visit to Valley Forge.

Our next stop was at the National Memorial Arch.

On our way to Washington's Headquarters, we stopped at Wayne's Statue.

Washington's Headquarters is not open this time of year, but we still stopped to walk the path to see it and the George Washington statue.

Washington's Headquarters

Our second to last stop was at the Von Steuben Statue. We also walked to Varnum's Quarters (also not open).

Varnum's Quarters

Our last stop was at Washington Memorial Chapel. Here we found a bell statue that is part of a series across Pennsylvania for the Semiquincentennial. We also realized that inside they have the Justice Bell, which is a replica of the Liberty Bell that was used as part of the Women's Suffrage movement and we had been reading about it the previous day when we visited the Liberty Bell.

Justic Bell

See full list of Ranger Dan's National Parks Visited here.

Ranger Dan: 114.1 Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site

Date of Visit: February 26, 2026

We had no idea what Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site was about, so we learned that it was an early American iron works along with its history. We enjoyed watching the movie in the visitor center and then walking around the grounds were you could go into most of the buildings and learn more about it.

Hopewell Oven

Anthracite Furnace

Collier's Hut

Furnace

Clock in Buckley & Brooke Office & Store

Cannon

Pig Iron Production

Water Wheel

See full list of Ranger Dan's National Parks Visited here.

Ranger Dan: 49.2 First State National Historical Park - New Castle Court House Museum

Date of Visit: February 25, 2026

We thought the New Castle Court House Museum closed at 4pm, so we were kind of surprised to find it closed when we got there around 3:20pm. We noticed that on their sign by the door they just list tour times and the last tour was at 3pm, so we figured they actually closed after the final tour. Dad was walking around the building and happened upon someone coming out. He asked if they worked there and they ended up letting us in to get the stamps. She also ended up giving us a quick tour to learn about the court house history.

Previous Visits to this National Park unit:

• 49.1 First State National Historical Park

See full list of Ranger Dan's National Parks Visited here.

Ranger Dan: 113.1 Independence National Historical Park

Date of Visit: February 25, 2026

Before I even knew there were America 250 stamps to collect at the National Parks this year, we had decided to visit Independence Hall during the year of the Semiquincentennial. We decided to visit in February because we figured it would be close enough that they would be celebrating already, but not too many tourists. Crowd-wise it turned out to be a perfect time to go as we really got to experience a lot of things by ourselves, but they are still preparing for the 250 with some renovations and things closed. We knew the Congress Hall was closed, but were disappointed to discover the current renovations included the post office and we couldn't mail our postcards with the special postmark we heard they already had if you mailed from there.

Independence Hall - Assembly Room

We had tickets for the first tour, but since we got there early we spent some time before our tour taking pictures and talking to the rangers during the Open House hours they do from 9am until 10:30am.

Independence Hall - Court Room

After our tour, we had lunch at Madis Coffee nearby. During lunch, I did a quick sketch of Independence Hall on the page with my stamps for Independence Hall (the 250 one was a piece of paper they gave out as the original was stolen last year). On our way to the B. Free Franklin Post Office, I took a picture of Ranger Dan with the page in front of Indpendence Hall.

Unfortunately, the B Free Post Office was not open despite no notice saying it wasn't. A passerby said it was currently under renovation. We did find the marker for Franklin's privy nearby, though...

At the Liberty Bell, we pretty much had the place to ourselves and we enjoyed being able to take our time and do photos with no other people in them. We were also able to get a ranger to take a photo of all of us. The ranger here also gave us the tip to go over to the Constitution Center for 250 souvenirs including hoodies, which is exactly what Mik had asked us to try to find him. At the Constitution Center, we also found a miniature Independence Hall, which was the other souvenir he wanted if we could find.

Liberty Bell

Crack Side w/ Independence Hall in Behind

Before heading to the Constitution Center and then back to the car, we explored the President's House Site.

See full list of Ranger Dan's National Parks Visited here.

Ranger Dan: 21.2 Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine

Date of Visit: February 24, 2026

At Fort McHenry, we enjoyed the film, which impressively ends with the screen rising to reveal Fort McHenry with the flag flying while the National Anthem plays. After the film, we did the Junior Ranger program to guide our exploring of the Visitor Center and Fort McHenry. We thought there was no 250 stamp, but Dad asked and found out you have to ask as they do not keep it out to ensure it doesn't get stolen like we had heard happened at Independence NHP.

Francis Scott Key Statue

Fort McHenry

Previous Visits to this National Park unit:

• 21.1 Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine

See full list of Ranger Dan's National Parks Visited here.