Every year, NVPS schedules a field trip to Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens. It is a National Park Service site located in the northeastern corner of Washington DC. A homesick war veteran from Maine started the Aquatic Gardens as a hobby with a few wild water lilies in a single pond. Time and diligence turned a trickle of curious visitors to a stream of customers for a growing commercial garden of twenty-eight ponds. The park is home to a wide variety of flora and fauna including water lilies, lotus, wild flowers, blue herons, butterflies, dragonflies, etc… Address: 1550 Anacostia Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20019
Information about the gardens can be found at http://www.nps.gov/keaq/index.
The National Park Service provides directions (including metro) to the gardens at http://www.nps.gov/keaq/planyourvisit/directions.htm.
Directions:
north on Route I-295 from I-495 to the Eastern Avenue Exit. Make a U turn to the left at the light at the top of the ramp and go down two streets to Douglas Street. Make a right on Douglas. At the end of Douglas make a right on Anacostia and continue a block and a half to the park on the left.