If your family is looking for a day away from the hustle and bustle of D.C., then Fort Ward Museum and Park is the place to go. The park itself is an old Union fort, designed to protect Washington, D.C., from confederate soldiers during The Civil War. There are still batteries located throughout the park outside the museum, and It’s a fascinating place to relax, jog, walk the dog, have a picnic, etc.

Not only is Fort Ward Park beautiful, quiet and clean, but it is also home to some of the most easily accessible, well-preserved civil war artifacts in the area, outside of the Smithsonian Institute. Though small, families will enjoy the well kept museum and learn a little bit of local history, with displays for local heroes like Elmer Ellsworth, considered by many to be the first conspicuous death of The eCivil War, who was shot and killed early in 1861 after tearing down a Confederate flag from the Marshall House Inn in Alexandria, shortly after Virginia seceded from the United States.

The Fort Ward Museum and Park is certain to make any day interesting and fun, and is a nice break from the crowded city.