Today the temperature made it to 75 degrees and clear and sunny. It was way too beautiful to stay inside and waste this weather, since we all know these days are numbered with the winter just around the corner. Andy and I took the metro into D.C. and walked and walked; around all the monuments and the National Mall. The Mall extends from the Capital grounds to the Lincoln Memorial. It was envisioned as a formal park in the original plan for the city of Washington. This rectangular area is a popular spot for picnicking, riding bikes, jogging and many football, soccer and kickball games! Also it is lined on both sides with by American elm trees and ten Smithsonian Institution museums.
My favorite place is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial with the polished black granite wall inscribed with the names of the dead. As always, it really moves me. There was a family standing together, staring at a name, in front of the wall. I couldn't resist taking a picture. I can only imagine the story behind the reason for the gathering. The older man on the end was in uniform. Now that, brought tears to my eyes.
We visited the Lincoln Memorial, which is aligned with the Capital and the Washington Monument. It is a stately marble structure with 36 Doric columns, one for each state in existence at the time of Lincoln's death. Dominating the interior is the seated statue of Lincoln and two of his famous speeches carved on the walls. In front of Lincoln Memorial is the reflecting pool (almost four tenths of a mile) with a view of the Washington Monument which is near the center of the Mall. This Washington Monument was first begun in 1848, but not completed until 1884 explaining why the marble is a different color about a third of the way up its 555 feet pyramid. The top of the pyramid is cast aluminum. The White House is in view from the 50 flags surrounding this monument. Ironically, every President has lived in the White House except Washington!
We visited the Lincoln Memorial, which is aligned with the Capital and the Washington Monument. It is a stately marble structure with 36 Doric columns, one for each state in existence at the time of Lincoln's death. Dominating the interior is the seated statue of Lincoln and two of his famous speeches carved on the walls. In front of Lincoln Memorial is the reflecting pool (almost four tenths of a mile) with a view of the Washington Monument which is near the center of the Mall. This Washington Monument was first begun in 1848, but not completed until 1884 explaining why the marble is a different color about a third of the way up its 555 feet pyramid. The top of the pyramid is cast aluminum. The White House is in view from the 50 flags surrounding this monument. Ironically, every President has lived in the White House except Washington!
We were able to view the circular Classic dome of the Jefferson Memorial on the other side of the Tidal Basin. The central memorial room contains a 19-foot-tall bronze statue of Jefferson with the walls also inscribed with the statesman's most significant writings. Remember the Declaration of Independence?
The two new memorials recently added in the Mall are the World War II and the Korean War Veterans Memorial. The WWII honors the 16 million men and women served in the US armed forces, more then 400,00 who died and the millions who supported the effort at home. There are two 43-foot arches at the ends of an oval-shaped plaza and 56 17-foot-tall stone pillars (representing the territories at the time of war) making up the outer border of a water fountain and pool. The Korean Memorial was erected to those 1.5 million American military personnel who served in Korea in 1950-53. There are 19 poncho-clad soldiers giving the impression of moving warily through the unknown terrain of rice paddies. Very real.
We made the long walk to see Capital Hill, a 59-acre park which has the 550 room US Capital building. It has two wings, constructed of marble, containing the Senate and House chambers, while the center part of the building includes the Rotunda. Very impressive building, like all of them in this great city. Very clean city. We never felt unsafe. Friendly and helpful locals giving us directions. Actually, we enjoyed D.C. so much, we are coming back next week to visit the Smithsonian museums....again for the entire day. I doubt we will see all 18 of them, though! But the great thing about D.C., its all free and so educational.
This is America.
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