Mount Vernon Trail (VA)

Mount Vernon Trail.

Though we have yet to bike all the way to George Washington's home at Mount Vernon (there's no good excuse either), we did, in March, manage to push a little farther down the trail than before.  From Old Town, we passed through the new park at Jones Point, where an historic lighthouse lured us over to see what we could see.  That’s when we learned that this was also the spot where the first of 40 survey monuments, in the form of stone markers, was erected in 1791, which would establish the bounds of the District of Columbia.  Of the original 40, 36 still survive as the oldest remaining survey monuments in the U.S.  Somehow, I was enthralled with all this and look forward to visiting some of the other stones.

Farther south, at the Belle Haven boat marina, we enjoyed a close-up view of an osprey out on a limb, resting apparently, while its mate looked after the babes in a nest atop one of the piling a few wingflaps away.  Osprey are fairly commonplace along the Potomac, but I am not used to seeing them so close. 

We pedaled a few miles more downriver before turning back at a small waterfront neighborhood.  I'll report back once we complete the ride to Mount Vernon, just five miles beyond our turnaround for the day.

Jones Point Lighthouse.

DC's South Cornerstone is under the glass.

Newer markers aligned to the NE.

New bike path beneath the Beltway at Jones Point.

The underbelly of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.

Can you find the osprey?

Osprey watching.

Yes, the Potomac at DC rises and falls with the tide.

The bike trail passes through Dyke Marsh.