Visiting the National Museum of the US Army at Ft. Belvoir, VA

So this post has been sitting in my drafts since 2022 and I just never got around to sharing it. And I've since visited the National Museum of the US Army a second time and I really wanted to share since we really enjoyed the museum!

We were in Washington D.C. for an event a couple of years ago and decided to take a visit to the National Museum of the US Army! The museum is new, only having been opened in November of 2020, and is located in Fort Belvoir, VA. It's by the military base, but not on the base.

The museum is split up by war or conflict, so it's interesting to be able to kind of travel through time into each conflict starting with colonial warfare up to modern warfare and The Global War on Terrorism.

The museum also features a Medal of Honor section as well as Soldier's Stories, which is where you will begin your visit of the museum.

Admission is free but it is recommended that you reserve tickets (for a time slot) in advance.

We really enjoyed our visit to the museum. It was very well laid out, the volunteers were very knowledgeable and friendly, and overall the museum was just really interesting! I would definitely recommend visiting if you are ever in the area!

Have you ever visited a military museum?

Norfolk Botanical Garden

This was, sadly, our last visit to the Norfolk Botanical Garden. We had hoped to get a couple more visits in before we moved but it was just too hot and humid to get out and go for a walk. We were able to see all of the crepe myrtle trees in bloom which were really pretty!

We also got to see the wildflower garden, southern magnolias, and the butterfly garden! The butterfly garden is an enclosed garden that was closed last summer, so it was nice to be able to see it this year. They had a bunch of monarch caterpillars which were interesting to see! 

I only was able to get 2 pictures of the butterflies because they just wouldn't land long enough for me to photograph them!

Did you visit any gardens this past spring or summer?

Roses and Trash at the Norfolk Botanical Garden

I bet that title got your attention, right? Well, there is actually a trash exhibit (called Washed Ashore) at the Norfolk Botanical Garden! The exhibit features 15 different sea creatures made out of actual trash that was found in the ocean and washed up on beaches.

It was interesting and disturbing to see all the different garbage that was found in the ocean. It was sort of like looking at an I Spy book or something. The closer you looked the more items you would see. Water bottles, life preservers, lighters, toys, gas cans, etc. Basically anything you can imagine was used to create the different sea creatures.

But first, we checked out the rose garden. The roses started blooming earlier this summer and it's always fun to explore the rose garden and see all the different colors and varieties there are!