Capital Adventures: Just Being a Tourist

On Monday I was well-rested and ready to take on the truly touristy part of DC, the monuments. I had seen most of these before, but there were a few new ones and also I just felt like I should. So off I went, walking shoes on, first thing in the morning to beat the heat and the crowds. The truth is, many of the monuments and memorials are pretty much like you see in pictures and not overly exciting. Definitely worth seeing once, though. The Washington and Lincoln are bigger than you might expect. The Vietnam Wall is moving, even though I am not of a generation to be quite as affected by that as some, it is still very solemn to walk by panels and panels of names and to realize the cost of that war.

The World War Two Memorial was new since the last time I had visited, and I was looking forward to seeing it. It was much more spectacular than I had envisioned. For one thing, it's very large-and placed right between the Washington Monument and its reflecting pool--prime real estate. It stretches across the width of the Mall, which is pretty wide. There is a large fountain in the middle, and the the left and right are large areas memorializing the Atlantic and Pacific theatres of war. There are inscriptions of quotes around the outside, related to the war, as well as a wreath for every state whose men and women fought. I thought it was quite beautiful, and peaceful, and meaningful to me. Both of my grandfathers were part of that war, and thankfully both lived through it, but I am very proud of their services.

I took the long walk around the tidal basin and to the Jefferson Monument. He's one of my faves, and I enjoyed the walk. On the way there is also the FDR memorial, which is pretty neat. It has four sections for each of his four terms, and lots of fountains and sculptures of meaningful portions of his presidency. Four terms is a long time, and that man sure did get a lot done--from the depths of the Depression to the midst of WWII.

By the the time I made it back around from the Jefferson Monument, I was getting pretty hot. It feels just like home here--not incredibly hot yet, but reallllly humid and sticky. So I decided to take a lunch break and choose the nearest museum for the afternoon-the Holocaust Museum. I stepped into the museum cafe first, without realizing that it was vegetarian. I found the most protein-rich item I could, a cheese sandwich, and chilled in the AC for a bit. It was good to sit down and relax for a while. I think the Holocaust Museum will take a bit of writing, so I'll save it for the next post.

That evening, Adam and I came back to the Mall because they were allowing people to go up in the WA monument even in the evening (after it is usually closed) so I got two tickets for 8:30. It was not crowded and we even got a little bit of a sunset view. I have to say, next time I come here I am definitely doing the monuments and memorials in the evening. It was much more pleasant!

These are the four directional views from the top of the WA monument. You can pick out the White house above the ellipse here. It looks pretty small from this distance.

This shows the WWII Memorial, the reflecting pool, and the Lincoln Monument at the other end of the pool.

This shows the tidal basin and the Jefferson Monument.

That's the opposite direction from the Lincoln, down the mall with the Smithsonian Museums on either side and the Capital at the very end of the Mall.