Today was a very full day!
After sleeping in a bit, our trio of travelers met in the hotel lobby to begin the day's adventures. We stopped for a quick breakfast in the Subway we chanced upon along the street, as we were walking toward the subway. We took the metro to Farragut North, which gave us a good starting point to walk past the White House on our way to the Lincoln Memorial. On our hike toward the White House we passed by the entrance to the Chamber of Commerce, and encountered the bronze monuments of Lafayette Square, getting some good composition shots of the Jefferson statue with the White House and Washington Monument in the background. We were able to get right up to the fence at the front of the White House, and took a few photos of its face before continuing our journey around the Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building and toward "The Ellipse." We were captivated by the ornate architecture in this area of DC... Gina alone must have taken at least ten shots of the Executive Building before she was satisfied! Along our way down 17th Street we spotted the FDIC Building, a pair of bronze lions guarding the entrance to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and eye-catching red and white floral beds framing the American Red Cross building. Unfortunately the First Division Memorial located just across from the Gallery of Art was closed to the public, but I was able to snap a photo of the gleaming gold statue atop its spire from street level, in good contrast to the blue sky above. Crossing over into The Ellipse, we spied a golden flaming sword, and headed that way to check it out, discovering the Second Division Memorial of World War I. Quite a lot of sights for such a short trip so far!
Our goal still the Lincoln Memorial, we made our way down Constitution Avenue toward the Constitution Gardens, where we discovered a wooden bridge crossing over to a neat little island monument dedicated to the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. An array of granite blocks, bearing the signatures of each men engraved in gold, stood in a half circle facing the large pond in the center of the garden. We got a few photos of the signatures we most recognized, including good old Button Gwinnett, before moving on. Skipping past the Federal Reserve Bank and around the Vietnam Memorial, we finally spotted the immense pillars of our morning goal, the Lincoln Memorial! I definitely will make it a point to return to visit the Vietnam Memorial, however.
The Lincoln Memorial is... well, huge, in the awe-inspiring magnitude that steals away your breath. Just walking up the steps toward the great man sitting in his chair in the shadowed depths of the monument, gives you a shiver. The artists who sculpted Lincoln's face did such an excellent job of conveying both gravity and gentleness. After saying our hellos to that giant among men and exploring the interior a bit, Brad and Gina and I made our way around to the rear of the monument to sit on the cool marble ledges and dangle our feet. As we did so, we watched a motorcycle rally pass by in front of the immense golden pegasus statues across the road, and I took the opportunity to stretch out and let the heat-absorbing mass of stone soak some of the aches out of my body. We had hiked quite a bit already, and the day was just beginning. Soon enough we were on our way again, into the little visitor center beneath the memorial, and down to the edge of the vast reflecting pool that stretches between the Lincoln and Washington edifices, where a veteran's benefits concert was ramping up. Our first non-photographic souvenir of the trip came from the free handouts of Humana Veterans Benefits biker head-wraps...
Our next intriguing tourist stop as we walked down this side of the Mall, was the World War II Memorial... twin fountains flanked by stone gazebos dedicated to the Atlantic and Pacific arenas, respectively. The cool breeze coming from the fountains as we crossed along the outside of the memorial was very refreshing, and finding the Missouri entry along the outer wall, we stopped to get our picture taken next to it. I also spied a somewhat hidden engraving of "Kilroy Was Here." After absorbing the atmosphere of the monument for a while, and waiting around for the milling crowds to give me a clear shot of the wall of stars along the interior, we made our way toward what was quickly becoming the most awesome sight in our field of view... to say that the Washington Monument towers above all else, is understating it a bit! From the World War II memorial, it was a straight shot across the lawn toward the great stonework spike, which became more and more massively awesome the nearer we got. At last, we were at its base, and under the full effect of its dizzying height... I lay on my back in order to get a good angle for my camera, and meanwhile Gina got a good angle of my ridiculous position with her own camera.
Our morning tour of the monuments at the western end of the National Mall carried us directly back to the Smithsonian area, and we decided today to take in the National Museum of American History. First, though, we refueled with a quick bite to eat from the refreshment stand, although most of Gina's sandwich went to feeding the sparrows and pigeons that dotted the walkway. Just before entering the museum, Brad spied a Ben and Jerry's ice cream cart, and came back with a Cherry Garcia cone to enjoy while we made our tour. There is entirely too much interesting detail to delve into when writing about the experiences in any one of these Smithsonian museums, but I would have to say of all the exhibits in the American History Museum, my favorite was the top-floor collection of military history artifacts covering every era of war the United States has been involved in, and the naval history exhibit on the floor below. Sad to say, we did not find Lincoln's Repeater rifle among the artifacts, but we did come across a diorama of a fallout shelter looking much like something out of a Vault-Tec brochure! It even had the tinned canister of mac and cheese. Later, we spotted an incongruously placed Fallout Shelter placard, that made me wonder...
Exiting the museum around 5PM, we could feel our bodies telling us the day's exertions were becoming too much, but we still made time to check out the Smithsonian Castle we had spotted yesterday. It turned out to be a good decision, particularly the Commons Room, which highlighted a neat selection of artifacts while being quite an awesome architectural sight in its own right. After making our way through the interior of this historical building, we meandered through the small gardens out back (which I discovered was actually a rooftop garden for the underground museum below), eventually encountering a grand old circus merry-go-round beyond the rose garden. Muscles and camera batteries both spent, at this point all we could think about was dinner. We hopped the metro back to DuPont Circle, to eat at a sandwich shop Brad had spotted near our hotel, called Potbelly Sandwich Works. The place was full of character, and the food full of flavor. Next we stopped in a little ice cream parlor next door, situated just below street level, called Larry's, which also featured cupcakes. I had two scoops of the Key West Chocolate, which was quite good.
After dinner we stopped off at the hotel to drop off souvenirs and download the pictures we'd taken, with the thought that we would see a showing of "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" at 9PM in the Smithsonian IMAX. What better place? After racing our way back over to the Mall, finding the front entrance closed and hurrying around to the Constitution Street entrance, piling into the elevator to the first floor, and rushing up to the ticket counter... we discovered the show had been sold out! Oh well, we still bought tickets for tomorrow night, and then wearily made our way through the metro tunnels back to the hotel to call it a night. Our wait for the bus to the last stop before our hotel became interminable, and in our weary state Gina and I had a very detailed conversation about which cars were "innies" after an Audi passed by. Yes, we were that tired, it was that funny.
Tomorrow's plans include the Arlington Cemetery where we hope to watch President Obama delivering a Memorial Day speech, but most certainly I want to witness the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and perhaps a quick trip down to the Pentagon. Who knows what else we will fit in before our 7PM show-time...
Good night, and Happy Memorial Day!
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Pictures Taken: 587
Fallout 3 Locations Found: Executive Office Building, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Museum of American History
Fallout 3 Items Found: Firehose Nozzle, Button Gwinnett, Gettysburg Address, "Blamco" Mac and Cheese
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