Today was the 10 year anniversary of 911 and I was a tiny bit apprehensive about going back to D.C. but not enough to give up a day with my personal guide, Justin. Liz decided to stay home because we wore her out yesterday. We did do
a lot of walking and the heat and humidity wares me out too.
Justin and I got a little later start today and headed out just after lunch following the same routine of driving to Vienna to catch the train in to D.C. He had the whole day planned out and it was a good thing I had my walking shoes on because we hit the ground walking and didn't stop until we caught the train back home. There was just too much to see! Our plan was to visit the National Mall and the various memorials the surround the Potomac River.
We walked by the White House. ... lots of security and some demonstrators. Justin pointed out there was one lady who is there everyday, 365 days a year, demonstrating again nuclear power. She must be really dedicated and independently wealthy to spend every day there.
Some of the various demonstrators in front of the white house. The police seem to leave them alone as long as they were peaceful. I did hear one policemen ask a bicyclist to keep his bicycle with him and not leave it unattended.
There are several war memorials along the National Mall and Park and the first one we visited was the World War II Memorial.
The memorial is a large oblong shape and built around a water feature. One end is dedicated to the Pacific and the other dedicated to the Atlantic. There is a column for each state and wreaths on the columns. There lots of folks sitting around enjoying the fountain.
Next was the Viet Nam memorial. It is truly is sobering, especially for me as many of my classmates were involved in the Viet Nam war . The shiny, black, granite wall reminds us of how many casualties there were. If you look closely, you can see the Washington Monument in the lower right hand corner in the distance. .
The Korean War Memorial was very different. There was a black granite wall with faces and names etched in it. The etching were misty looking projecting the haze of war and and really hard to photograph. Adjacent to the wall were statues of soldiers in a field. The artist has done a excellent job of catching the expressions of war on their faces. Very emotional.
I think one of my favorite memorials was the FDR memorial. It was quite large and included lots of water features and was scattered with quotes from Roosevelt. There were lots of places to sit and reflect.
The Lincoln Memorial is gigantic and it was as big as I remembered it. Although, I think when I was 10 years old there were not nearly as many security guards and I'm sure I was allowed to explore the statue of Lincoln.
The Lincoln Memorial looks out towards the Washington Memorial over the reflecting pool, but the pool has become so fowled(no pun intended) from all the ducks and geese that it is being renovated. If you look towards the bottom of the picture in the dark area you'll see the spot where Martin Luther King made his speech "I Have a Dream".
Speaking of MLK, there is a new memorial in the park. It was supposed to be dedicated last weekend but Hurricane Irene canceled the dedication and with the 911 ceremonies this weekend the official dedication has been moved to early October.
The Jefferson Memorial stands out as does the Lincoln Memorial. Unfortunately we weren't able to go inside, because security had blocked it off. They would not tell us what was going on, but the closure was temporary...for a few minutes to a few hours.
You can see all the police cars in front of the memorial. There was lots of security and police activity while we were in this area. Some of it was due to President Obama giving a speech at the Pentagon which wasn't very far away, and in the closing of the Jefferson Memorial, probably something suspicious was lurking behind a column.
The Washington Monument was damaged during the recent earthquake so it was also closed also, and the grounds adjacent were roped off, but it is still a striking landmark.
So I've hit some of the major highlights n Washington D.C. but have barely scratch the service. Justin has done a great job of showing me around and I look forward to returning and seeing more. There is a different feeling just being near the Capitol. One gets the feeling of being energized and patriotic. More information is available and the information seems more in depth...not as water down as we get in the West.
I will be returning to Arizona in a few days to retrieve my motor home and head back to Reno for a while. On one hand I'm looking forward to the dry heat of Arizona and the turn of the season in Nevada. The humidity here is killing me. I don't know which is worse: dry heat at 105 degrees or 80 degrees with high humidity.
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