More Washington DC (05-06-13)

Monument Day: The day we walked 5 miles to see all the monuments.  Ok, not all of them.  We didn’t walk the extra mile to see the Jefferson Memorial, but maybe we’ll get a chance before we leave.

We walked down Pennsylvania Avenue and dutifully took our pictures of the White House. 

We couldn’t get too close to the front yard- we could get closer in the backyard, for some reason.

I zoomed in really close and took a picture of the sniper on top of the White House.









We spent hours walking up and down the National Mall.  Don’t think stores- think Memorials and Monuments.  On the way there we passed through a really cool sculpture garden:

stainless steel tree

old fashioned typewriter eraser

 

The World War II Memorial is really well done.  I have an App on my phone that has a map of the Mall, and short blurbs about each of the monuments/memorials.  The amount of thought that went into the design of this one  is amazing.

  Every part of the monument has meaning, it seems. For instance, the 56 columns (stalae) represent the states, territories, and the District of Columbia, arranged according to when they joined the Union.

Each star on the Freedom wall represents 100 people who died in the war.

The Mall is a very busy place.  While we were there, an outdoor yoga class was taking place, as well as a celebration of Cinco de Mayo. I am not sure I’d be interested in a yoga class where the instructor is using a microphone with massive speakers, but then, I don’t do yoga.

   

The Lincoln Memorial is as massive as ever, really huge and somehow awe inspiring, with his immortal words carved into the nearby granite for all to read.

The view from beneath the columns of the Lincoln Memorial was pretty impressive as well.  It doesn’t show as well in the picture but behind the Washington Memorial is the Capitol Building.  The Washington Memorial is closed due to damage from an earth quake two years ago.  There is scaffolding surrounding the exterior.

  These larger-than-life stainless steel servicemen represent the Korean War veterans, trudging through the windy and cold terrain. 

My dad was in the service during the Korean War, although he was lucky enough to be stationed in Boston, his home town.












Most people are familiar with the Vietnam Wall, inscribed with the names of the 58,000+ service members who died in the Vietnam War.  Young schoolchildren wrote and left notes written to individual people on the wall, thanking them.

In addition to the “major” memorials, there are lots of lesser known ones.  We stopped by the Memorial to the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Every day, on the way in to town, we pass right by the U.S. Navy Memorial. We finally stopped today to wander through part of it, but we need to stop and take a better look.  It started to rain while we were there.