Family Trips Presents, A Day at the Seneca Landing Special Park

 By Nate Feldman

Over eight years ago, in March, 2017, I spent an afternoon with Sara and Sofia, my daughters, in Washington, DC and at the Seneca Landing Special Park in Poolesville, Maryland.  I recently found a collection of photos and videos I took that day and made a You Tube video out of it with newly composed music.

This is what I remember about that day.  I remember that it was a Sunday in early March.  As shown by the video, the trees were still bare and everyone was wearing coats, so it was chilly outside.

We didn't go to the park first.  We first went to have lunch at Guapo's, a Mexican restaurant chain in the DC area.  We went to the branch in Tenleytown, close to American University where I graduated from. 

After lunch, we headed out west on River Road, which heads west along the Potomac River.  The Seneca Landing Special Park is located at about mile marker 23 on the C&O towpath, a huge trail that connects downtown Washington, DC to Cumberland, Maryland in the far western part of the state.  I had been familiar with this park since my university days when I used to drive out there for afternoon joyrides.  Although it isn't all that far from the DC metro area, it is quite pristine and bucolic out there.  

The Seneca Landing Special Park has the Seneca Creek Aqueduct, which meets at where Seneca Creek goes into the Potomac River.  The C&O Towpath crosses the Aqueduct, and you can either head towards Washington by turning left or away by turning right.  After the Aqueduct is a picnic area along the banks of the river.  Listening to the videos again, I can hear Sara asking me twice if the water in the Potomac is deep or not.   

After spending time in the picnic area, we went to the Seneca Stone Cutting Mill on the other side of the trail.  This was the old site of the Seneca Quarry, which has unique reddish pink rocks that were used in the construction of many iconic structures in the Washington, DC area, most notably the Smithsonian building.  All that remains now are its walls and an inside area that resembles a courtyard.  In the video, you can see Sofia climbing up a wooden post that was slanted and leaning against something (most likely the wall).  On this day, Sara called this structure the cavern, and as we are leaving at the end of the video, you can hear her shout out, "We need to say goodbye to the cavern!" 

We later hiked along the C&O Towpath.  At the time, the towpath was made of dirt, not the typical gravel that makes up most trails.  The views of the river are splendid along it.  You can see Sofia and Sara found a hollow log and decided to climb into it.  

Before we headed home, we headed back to the picnic area as the sun began to descend over the river.  There is a beautiful shot of Sofia sitting in a tree, basking in the waning sunlight.  

I have very fond memories of both this day and this time period when the girl were younger and used to go on a lot of adventures with me.  A lot has changed in the past couple of years since they entered adolescence and a messy custody case with their mother (which was decided in my favor but at the cost of the relationship we used to have).  Looking back, I wish I had enjoyed moments like these more while they were happening.  It's a great lesson for us all to heed.