intrepid pup — Page 6

Cheers to Dog-Inspired Beers!

May 20, 2012 by admin

Intrepid Pup pint glass and bottle caps from dog-inspired brews

Why, yes that is an Intrepid Pup pint glass! And it’s surrounded by bottle caps representing some dog-inspired brews and breweries. How many do you recognize?

Did you realize that the average American lives within 10 miles of a brewery? So says the Brewers Association, and they’re in a position to know. This national association represents more than 70% of the American brewing industry, with its members making more than 99% of all beer brewed in the United States.

All fascinating facts, to be sure, but how does this relate to the Intrepid Pup? Well, it’s American Craft Beer Week®, an annual celebration since 2006 that showcases more than 1,900 small and independent craft brewers with thousands of community-based events across all 50 states.

While true beer purists this week have focused on things like hop content, organic sourcing, and original gravity calculators, the Intrepid Pup has taken a totally different tack: dog-inspired beers and breweries.

Beer is an elixir that’s the product of art, chemistry, and a lot of time and patience. Many a brewer over the centuries has stood watch over a mash tun with a faithful canine companion, so perhaps it’s no wonder that a few have taken that relationship a step further and made those dogs the very faces of their breweries. Let’s take a look at some modern examples in 11 different states:

Spanish Peaks Brewing Company’s Black Dog Ales hail from Polson, Montana. The original “black dog” gazing out of the logo is Chugwater Charlie Hill (a.k.a. “Chug”). Though Chug is no longer alive, he was a prolific stud with many surviving descendants, and Chug’s granddaughter Taylor is owned by the current brewer. Chug’s paw print appears on the brewery’s bottle caps.

Lagunitas Brewing Company – Petaluma, California: Petey, the spunky American Staffordshire Terrier of Little Rascals fame, is the basis for the fictional pup whose visage graces every Lagunitas bottle cap. It was hoped that the loyalty of man’s best friend would resonate with customers and translate to loyalty to the brand. Looks like the strategy is working pretty well!

Portsmouth, New Hampshire’s Smuttynose Brewing Company uses a harbor seal in its marketing but calls a Weimaraner/Brittany Spaniel mix named Olive (1991-2007) the “iconic mascot and spirit guide of our brewery.” Olive was the inspiration both for Old Brown Dog Ale in the brewery’s first year of operation in 1994 and also for the Really Old Brown Dog Ale released 13 years later.

Big Dog’s Brewing Company out of Las Vegas, Nevada, features a head shot profile of a black Labrador Retriever and a beer line-up that includes Red Hydrant Ale, Watch Dog Wit, Alpha Dog Double Red, and Wonderdog Double IPA.

Halfway around the world, after climbing K2—the world’s second highest peak—in 1983, George Stranahan happened upon a painting of a dog with bat wings. The surreal image stuck with him, influencing the moniker of the Flying Dog Brewpub he founded in 1990 in Aspen, Colorado. By 1994 it had become the full-blown Flying Dog Brewery in Denver and is now based out of Frederick, Maryland. Since 1996 the edgy, ink-spattered dogs drawn by British artist Ralph Steadman (b. 1936) have been hallmarks of the brewery’s bottle caps and labels. The beers include Garde Dog, Dogtoberfest, K-9 Winter Ale, Kujo Imperial Coffee Stout, and four beers in a special “Canis Major” line.

Roswell Barker, an English bulldog, is the mascot for Portland, Oregon’s Hair of the Dog: “Loyal…Pure…Faithful…Wet Nose.”

Turns out there’s a real dog behind Laughing Dog Brewing of Ponderay, Idaho, and it’s the family yellow Labrador Retriever named Ben. There’s even a “laughing dog” apprentice in Ben’s son Ruger. The brewery’s self-proclaimed “fetchingly good beers” include Alpha Dog IPA, DogZilla Black IPA, Cold Nose Winter Ale, Devil Dog Imperial IPA, and Dogfather Imperial Stout.

Barney, an uncharacteristically water-loving Great Pyrenees, is the “sea dog” of Maine’s Sea Dog Brewing Company. Barney has since passed on but is immortalized with his paw print on the bottle caps and his cheerful countenance—wearing a Sou’wester Fisherman’s hat—appearing on all the labels.

A cartoonish, sleepy dalmatian is the logo for Sleepy Dog Brewery of Tempe, Arizona. The dog theme extends to the names of its brews, which include Wet Snout Milk Stout, Tail Chaser American IPA, Red Rover Irish Red Ale, and Dog Pound Pale Ale.

Thirsty Dog Brewing Company in Akron, Ohio, depicts a lovable, floppy-eared scamp holding a beer mug in its mouth. He’s even on the bottle caps!

Wild Blue, the specialty fruit lager infused with blueberries first released by mega-brewery Anheuser-Busch in 2005, can hardly qualify as a true “craft beer,” but we’re including it here for two reasons: 1. A comical, stylized bright blue bulldog fronts the brand. 2. The St. Louis-based brewing giant gets kudos for its Bud Light “Here, Weego!” spot that aired during Super Bowl XLIV. Featuring a mixed breed rescue dog (real name: Nugget), the commercial was tied to a Facebook™ fan campaign resulting in the brewery making a $250,000 donation to Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation in California.

Another shout-out goes to Baying Hound Aleworks of Rockville, Maryland. Smaller than most microbreweries, this brewery fashions itself as a small-scale “nano-brewery,” but its founding namesake was a great big bloodhound named Marmalade. The Aleworks started as a home brewer’s operation, and apparently Marmalade could always be counted upon to lick up the malt barley.

And here’s where our final parallel to the Tavish, the Intrepid Pup comes in. He, too, has been known to hanker after certain malty brews. But with hops’ potential for toxicity in dogs and carbonation/alcohol just being a bad combo for them in general, what’s a malt barley-loving pup to do? Believe it or not, the answer is Bowser Beer™. The company, 3 Busy Dogs Inc. (recently relocated to Seattle, Washington), “brews” batches of a broth-based novelty beverage especially for dogs. The recipe retains that malt barley (it’s good for its vitamin B and joint-friendly glucosamine) but is neither fizzy nor alcoholic. And yep, in a stroke of marketing genius, you can even customize a “six-pack” of Bowser Beer with your dog’s picture on the label!

While the company’s “3 busy dogs” have changed over the years, the original mascot was Maggie, an English mastiff. The current team of official taste testers are Dax the Rottweiler, Quigley a Golden Irish, and a terrier mix named Muggsy.

So pour a Bowser Beer for your dog and raise a glass of your own* to these dog-inspired beers and breweries. Cheers from the Intrepid Pup!

* Requisite fine print: please drink responsibly.

Filed Under: Cultural Heritage, Special Events, Wag-A-Meter=1 Tagged With: American Craft Beer Week, beer, brewery, dog brands, intrepid pup, Tavish, vizsla

“In Valor There Is Hope”

May 18, 2012 by admin

At the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, Tavish meets the steady gaze of one of four adult lions, sculpted in bronze by Raymond Kaskey (b. 1943). Beneath is chiseled Proverbs 28:1, “The wicked flee when no man pursueth but the righteous are as bold as a lion.” In the background is the former U.S. Pension Office which is now home to the National Building Museum.

An 80-foot-long reflecting pool. Low, gently curving marble walls. Four statuary groupings of stoic lions protectively watching over cubs. And names: thousands upon thousands of names. This is the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. Appropriately sited in Washington, DC’s Judiciary Square—a symbolic center of the U.S. criminal justice system—the Memorial has been a place for remembrance and introspection since 1991. Unlike some memorials which remain static after their initial dedications, this one is annually updated for the simple yet tragic reason that law enforcement officers continue to be killed in the line of duty. This year a total of 362 names joined the approximately 19,000 others already appearing on the marble panels. These entries represent the 163 officers killed in 2011, plus 199 officers who died in previous years and were recently discovered in historical records.

Though we had the grounds to ourselves when we visited on a weekend afternoon a couple months back, this is hardly a forgotten memorial. Two commemorative wreaths, a tiny American flag here, and a single fresh long-stem rose there gave evidence that others had come by recently to pay their respects. This scene is very different come May, when the Memorial figures prominently in the official events of National Police Week (always the calendar week surrounding May 15), first proclaimed by President John F. Kennedy in 1962. Commemorative activities annually draw anywhere from 25,000 to 40,000 attendees. There’s a candelight vigil at the Memorial—at that point completely lined with personal mementos, handwritten notes, and other tributes to fallen officers—and an official wreath-laying ceremony on the heels of the National Peace Officers Memorial Service on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol.

But there were no crowds or candles or bagpipes that afternoon, and we were left alone to wander. A brochure supplied onsite provides a self-guided walking tour of some of the Memorial’s points of interest, and you can even use your cell phone to access a free, guided narration. The Memorial encompasses local, state, and federal peace officers, so you’ll see names ranging among the ranks of municipal police, park service rangers, correctional officers, and members of the U.S. Secret Service. Along the way you’ll learn that…

the first known U.S. officer killed in the line of duty was Sheriff Cornelius Hogeboom of Hudson, New York, in 1786.
more than 245 female officers’ names appear on the memorial.
the deadliest day in U.S. law enforcement history was September 11, 2001, when 72 officers died responding to the terrorist attacks.
the average age of officers on the Memorial is just 39.

It’s a poignant reminder that in no small measure we owe our public safety to the “thin blue line” of protection by the nation’s law enforcement officers.

Dogging the Details

38°53′49.39″N, 77°1′2.32″W
National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, Washington, DC

If traveling by Metro, the Memorial’s three-acre plaza actually covers the underground Judiciary Square station stop on the Red Line. If arriving by car, metered parking spaces are usually available on weekends on the streets surrounding Judiciary Square.

Tavish at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial

This section of the memorial bears a quotation from the early Roman senator and historian Tacitus: “In valor there is hope.”

The memorial grounds are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, making them very accessible to visit and scoring a “1” on the Intrepid Pup Wag-a-meter. Springtime is especially pretty with all the flowering trees and some 14,000 daffodils. Should you wish to locate and make an etching of a name, you can search the finding aid directories and obtain pencils and paper from any of the four information stations at the Memorial.

Construction has begun on the south side of the Memorial for a National Law Enforcement Museum slated to open in 2015. To extend the Memorial experience in the meantime, there is a small Memorial Visitors Center and Store located just a few blocks to the southwest, at 400 7th Street, NW. There you’ll find assorted law enforcement themed merchandise, a timeline of U.S. law enforcement history, plus interactive kiosks with more information about those honored at the Memorial.

Filed Under: Cultural Heritage, Statue, Wag-A-Meter=1 Tagged With: dog, intrepid pup, Judiciary Square, law enforcement, lion, memorial, National Building Museum, National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, National Police Week, police, statue, Tacitus, Tavish, Washington DC

Adventures in Reading: “Hallelujah!”

May 8, 2012 by admin

Beth Ellen* is nine years old and thinks Tavish is “reallllly silly…and I like silly.” She’s a regular in reading to Tavish at the local library. Yes, when the Intrepid Pup isn’t off exploring parks, trails, and museums, he’s often going to senior living centers, schools, and libraries through a pet visitation program run by the DC-based non-profit organization P.A.L. (For a more comprehensive article on Tavish’s work as an AKC-certified Therapy Dog, click here.)

On this particular evening Beth Ellen is reading aloud from an illustrated chapter book she’d selected, and she’s adding considerable flair to the dialogue. So when the chapter ends with one of the characters exclaiming about an achievement, Beth Ellen delivers the line with similar gusto: “Hallelujah!” she shouts. Tavish chooses this precise instant to pop up with a full-body wriggle and give Beth Ellen a lick on the cheek. She’s so enthralled by this reaction to her dramatic reading that she’s momentarily speechless. She then grins widely and says, “I soooo want to say that word again, but I don’t know what’ll happen.” She reaches for Tavish’s collar, looks him in the eye and whispers, “Tavish, Hallelujah!” And wouldn’t you know it? Tavish licks her again, tail now wagging at full speed. Beth Ellen dissolves into a fit of giggles repeating, “Hallelujah, Tavish. Hallelujah!” as he nuzzles her hair. It’s a safe bet that this moment is one Beth Ellen won’t soon forget and will always associate with the joy of reading.

This week—May 7-13, 2012—is Children’s Book Week (CBW). It promotes the notion that “children’s books and literacy are life-changers,” and if Tavish’s experiences with young readers are any indication, it’s a pretty sound premise. CBW’s origins date to 1913, when librarian Franklin K. Matthiews toured the country proposing that publishers, libraries and booksellers support a Children’s Book Week as a way to encourage higher standards in children’s literature. By 1919 his vision had become a reality: CBW was an annual celebration well on its way to becoming the country’s longest-running literacy initiative. Today Every Child A Reader: The CBC Foundation coordinates CBW events in more than 40 cities from coast to coast to instill a lifelong love of reading.

Tavish has seen and listened to a LOT of children’s books. In the past year, more than 105 different children have read to him…even in Spanish! And because Team Tavish hears the stories, too, we’ve compiled a list (by no means intended to be exhaustive) of several that appeal to the Intrepid Pup’s mindset for adventure, are charmingly written, and beautifully illustrated…in other words, storybooks we don’t mind listening to time and time again:

A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond
The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward
The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by Du Bose Heyward
Frederick by Leo Lionni
Gaspard and Lisa at the Museum by Anne Gutman and Georg Hallensleben
Hannah’s Collection by Marthe Jocelyn
Madeline’s Rescue by Ludwig Bemelmans
Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
Miss Renée’s Mice by Elizabeth Stokes Hoffman
One-Dog Canoe by Mary Casanova
One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey
Paddle to the Sea by Holling Clancy Holling
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Rosebud and Red Flannel by Ethel Pochocki
Stuart Little by E. B. White

So, in the spirit of Children’s Book Week, grab a storybook and start reading. “Hallelujah!”

*Child’s name has been changed to protect privacy

Filed Under: Pet-Assisted Therapy Tagged With: books, Children's Book Week, dog, intrepid pup, kids, literacy, reading, Tavish, vizsla

A Synagogue’s Moving Story

May 1, 2012 by admin

Now that the calendar has flipped to May, the national observance of Jewish American Heritage Month has begun. President George W. Bush first enacted it in April 2006, and it’s been an annual celebration ever since.

Apropos of the month, Tavish the Intrepid Pup recently visited Washington, DC’s first Adas Israel Synagogue, now home to the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington‘s (JHSGW) Lillian and Albert Small Jewish Museum. The next time you’re zipping along (or sitting in traffic?) on I-395 near Massachusetts Avenue in the District, cast a glance high up on the west side of the interstate to catch a glimpse of it. Better yet, go visit!

This just so happens to be the oldest synagogue building in the nation’s capital. On the day we stopped by, both JHSGW’s education specialist Lisa and long-time archivist Wendy were on hand, and it was clear from conversing with them that the story of this synagogue is relevant to Jewish and non-Jewish audiences alike.

On one level, it’s an immigrant saga that has played out in countless cities throughout the country. In this case, the year is 1873, and 38 families among a rapidly growing Jewish community yearn for a permanent home for their Adas Israel congregation, which had split from Washington Hebrew in 1869. They enlist Max Kleinman and J. William & Co. to design and build a two-story brick synagogue at the corner of Sixth & G Streets, NW.

But here’s where an otherwise very local story intersects with the national stage. After years of planning and construction, the Adas Israel Synagogue’s completion is celebrated in 1876 with a three-hour Orthodox service. President Ulysses S. Grant is there, making him the first U.S. president to attend a synagogue service. While having a sitting president at a grand opening is a coup by any standard, Grant’s presence in particular is both significant and highly intentional on the part of the synagogue’s founders. Back in December 1862, while still serving as Union general in the Civil War, Grant issues “General Orders #11” calling for the expulsion of Jews from all territories under his command as a means of cracking down on black marketeers. President Abraham Lincoln quickly intervenes to overrule Grant’s astonishingly ill-conceived order, and Grant is scathingly criticized for anti-Semitism. The scandal festers throughout Grant’s 1868 presidential campaign and presidency (1869-1877). Through his many conciliatory actions, Grant eventually restores much of his integrity with the Jewish community nationally, and his attendance at Adas Israel in 1876 is met favorably. (Note: Historian Jonathan D. Sarna has just come out with a book on the subject entitled, When Grant Expelled the Jews and will be presenting a lecture and book signing with JHSGW later this week.)

On another level, the synagogue’s story reflects the changes in a congregation and in a neighborhood. The congregation ends up outgrowing the synagogue in less than 30 years and by 1906 sells the building. As part of an ethnically diverse neighborhood full of row houses and small businesses owned by African American, Chinese, Irish, Italian, German, Greek, Jewish and Russian families, it’s little wonder that the synagogue structure gets redefined in myriad ways throughout the 20th century. Other religious denominations use the space and, ironically, for a time there’s even a pork BBQ joint on the first floor!

Ultimately, though, the synagogue’s legacy is one of successful historic preservation. When the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (aka Metro) bought the land at Sixth & G Streets for building its headquarters, the Adas Israel Synagogue building seemed destined for a wrecking ball. The JHSGW, formed by volunteers in 1960, recognized the synagogue’s importance as a designated DC historic landmark and sprang into action to save it. In 1969, JHSGW had the synagogue moved in its entirety to its current site three blocks away at Third & G Streets, NW. The synagogue was added to the National Register of Historic Places that same year and, after extensive renovations, opened as the JHSGW’s museum in 1975.

With a number of JHSGW events specifically planned for this May’s Jewish American Heritage Month—from a challah sale (a traditional, braided egg bread…yum!) to a guided walking tour of Jewish sites at Arlington National Cemetery—there are plenty of reasons to put JHSGW on your agenda.

Dogging the Details

38°53’54.25″N, 77° 0’54.37″W
Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington (JHSGW), Adas Israel Synagogue, Washington, DC

Like most museums, JHSGW doesn’t permit pet dogs inside the synagogue building, but that shouldn’t stop you and your pup from visiting the museum’s small but nicely landscaped grounds. Getting there on foot is easiest as there’s limited public parking nearby. Additional points of interest within the vicinity include the Judiciary Square complex, the National Building Museum, and the National Law Enforcement Memorial.

However, the best way to extend the JHSGW experience with your dog is to pick up two of the museum’s informative (and free!) tri-fold brochures. One is for a self-guided walking tour throughout the synagogue’s immediate neighborhood, highlighting a dozen buildings with various connections to Jewish heritage in DC. The other pamphlet is similar but provides a walking tour of Jewish sites within Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, just 8.5 miles south. Learn a little local history and get your dog (and yourself!) out for some exercise! For the compelling history and pleasant strolls, visiting JHSGW scores a “1” on the Intrepid Pup Wag-A-Meter.

Filed Under: Cultural Heritage, History, Museums, National Register of Historic Places, Wag-A-Meter=1 Tagged With: Adas Israel, community, dog, historical society, intrepid pup, Jewish American Heritage Month, Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington, synagogue, Tavish, vizsla, Wag-a-meter=1, Washington DC

A Tail at Three Sites

April 30, 2012 by admin

Tavish at Best Farm, Monocacy National Battlefield

Many are the lessons that can be learned from historical sites, and a visit to Maryland’s Monocacy National Battlefield a few weeks ago was no exception. For Tavish the Intrepid Pup, the teachable moment came from a “stimulating” encounter snuffling the grass around a low-voltage electric fence by the cow pasture at the Worthington Farm site. (Note: no worries, he’s fine…just a lot more observant now when it comes to fences.) For Team Tavish, it was the realization that were it not for what happened at Monocacy back on July 9, 1864, the Civil War might have taken a different turn.

The battle at Monocacy represented the third and final Confederate invasion of the North. It often doesn’t get its due in history books because of the more epic scale of the previous two invasions at Antietam (1862) and Gettysburg (1863). But Monocacy is intriguing in its own right. With great irony, it was the Union army loss of the battle that actually saved the nation’s capital a mere 47 miles away. There are far greater chroniclers of Civil War battle strategy than the Intrepid Pup, but the basic storyline of Monocacy is this: Ulysses S. Grant was beginning to successfully deter Robert E. Lee’s Confederate forces in the east. To sustain the pressure on those forces, Lt. General Grant was diverting to Richmond fresh reinforcements in the form of seasoned troops from the various forts that protected Washington, D.C. With relatively few soldiers left behind to “mind the store” so to speak, Lee recognized an opportunity and tasked Lt. General Jubal Early (1816-1894) with making a relatively quick run north up the Blue Ridge to cross at Harper’s Ferry and then invade the capital from the northwest. Early and his men very nearly succeeded except for intervention from an unlikely source: John Garrett. Personally, Garrett was a Confederate sympathizer. Professionally, however, Garrett was the president of the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad with many of his clients and much of his business centered in Union territory. It was he who alerted Major General Lew Wallace, stationed in Baltimore, to Early’s troop movements. Wallace had precious little time to react and even fewer resources to muster, but with an inexperienced band of 2,800 short-term recruits (i.e. not battle trained), he set out to intercede Early. The good news for Wallace was that by the time he encountered Early’s Confederate forces at Monocacy on July 9, his Union ranks had swelled to 5,800. The bad news for Wallace was that he was still outnumbered three to one. Imagine going into battle with full knowledge that the odds are squarely not in your favor.

The battle played out over about 12 hours amid several farmers’ fields and along a rail bed and the banks of the Monocacy River…you can still “read” the battle in the landscape today. By almost any measure, Wallace had been defeated and had lost nearly a quarter of his men in the process. Yet Early hadn’t expected to meet such resistance at Monocacy, and the fighting cost him some 900 men and critical hours. With no choice but to encamp on the battlefield the night of July 9, Early had effectively lost a day—and the element of surprise—in an already tight timeline. Early’s men pushed onward the next morning and reached the northwest boundary of Washington by the following afternoon to mount an attack on Fort Stevens. The delay, however, had given Grant just enough time to send steamships full of soldiers to repopulate the defensive forts around Washington. So, while the fighting at Fort Stevens on July 11 was fierce and deadly, it was not enough to fully infiltrate the nation’s capital. Early withdrew, ultimately unsuccessful in his mission.

Tavish at Fort Stevens. President Abraham Lincoln went to witness the fighting here on July 11, 1864. Confederate sharpshooters aimed for him, making Lincoln the only U.S. President to come under direct enemy fire in time of war.

Tavish at Battleground National Cemetery

Fifty nine Union soldiers lost their lives in the Battle of Fort Stevens—the only Civil War battle to be waged in the District of Columbia—and 41 were buried the evening of July 12 at a site a half mile north of the fort on the battleground itself. President Lincoln attended the interment ceremony and consecrated the land as hallowed ground. Now known as Battleground National Cemetery, this tiny plot of land on Georgia Avenue, N.W. between Van Buren Street and Whittier Place is among America’s smallest national cemeteries. Added over the years were various monuments commemorating the regiments that fought, as well as several plaques bearing such sentiments as: “The muffled drums’ sad roll has beat the soldier’s last tattoo. No more on life’s parade shall meet that brave and fallen few.” There’s also a stone superintendent’s house designed by General Montgomery Meigs (1816-1892), a veteran of the Battle of Fort Stevens and also the architect/engineer of DC’s Pension Building that today houses the National Building Museum.

And what ever happened to Major General Wallace (1827-1905)? Yes, he lost the battle but survived the war and, interestingly enough, went on to write the famous novel Ben-Hur: A Life of the Christ (1880). His book was subsequently adapted for the silver screen several times, with the most notable version being the 1959 film classic (starring Charlton Heston and his famous chariot race scene) that reaped 11 Academy Awards.

Dogging the Details

39°22′37.90″N, 77°23′43.34″W
Monocacy National Battlefield, Frederick, Maryland

38°57′52.05″N, 77°1′44.67″W
Fort Stevens, Washington, DC

38°58′14.69″N, 77° 1′37.23″W
Battleground National Cemetery, Washington, DC

Tavish among the bluebells on the Ford Loop Trail, Monocacy National Battlefield

Because of the three sites’ relatively close proximity to one another, tracing the full story of Monocacy—from the initial battle in Frederick, Maryland, to the conclusion at the tiny cemetery in Washington—is easy to experience in one very full day or over the course of two leisurely days. There’s the most ground to cover at Monocacy National Battlefield. Begin your foray at the visitors’ center on Urbana Pike. It used to be in smaller quarters at the Gambrill Mill site but moved to this nice new building about five years ago. Although dogs aren’t allowed inside the visitor center, make sure you head upstairs. There’s a succinct yet exceptionally comprehensive exhibition with an overhead timeline, lighted battle map, and several interactives that really help put what you’re about to see outside in a broader context. Be sure to pick up a brochure from the ranger, because it contains not only driving directions but also a trail map. There are 5 separate locations within the national park to get out explore with your dog. As always, dogs are to be leashed and picked up after:

While Best Farm and Monocacy Junction don’t have any trailheads per se, there’s plenty of room to explore the immediate vicinities from the parking areas. Best Farm is also associated with a remarkable 1862 event related to Antietam (Learn more at the visitors’ center or Google “Lee’s Lost Orders”!).
During the battle, the Gambrill Mill site was co-opted as a Union field hospital, and the short loop trail here includes a boardwalk section leading to the Monocacy River. Tavish enjoyed wading in the shallows.
The Thomas Farm site contains two loop trails that wind through the farm fields that withstood the heaviest fighting that day in 1864.
Worthington Farm has the longest trails, though neither of the two loops takes more than a half hour to hike. We went on a Sunday afternoon and had the place mostly to ourselves save for a couple joggers. The Ford Loop Trail is flat and hugs the flood plain of the Monocacy River. Should you happen to time it right in the springtime, as we did by happy coincidence, you’ll find the path to be spectacularly carpeted with Virginia bluebells (see photo). Much of the Brooks Hill Loop Trail borders the aforementioned cow pasture. Fresh from his fence episode, Tavish curiously appraised the gangly calves and their moms from a respectful distance. Once the trail enters woodland it quickly gains elevation, topping out on a ridge with an expansive view across emerald farmland toward Thomas Farm.

Back in the District of Columbia, visiting Fort Stevens simply involves snagging a parking spot on the street or in the neighboring church parking lot. All that remains of the once extensive Civil War Defenses of Washington are more than 20 locations throughout DC-MD-VA ranging from simple forest sites to earthworks to full-fledged forts. Fort Stevens is not staffed but does have a couple interpretive panels to orient visitors to the partial reconstruction. Continue the short distance to conclude your journey by parallel parking on Georgia Avenue in front of Battleground National Cemetery.