WASHINGTON, DC
May 2014
The wonderful DC!
May 2014
The wonderful DC!
I am almost ashamed to
admit that this was my first visit to the most beautiful capital in the world.
As always, Stephan had a meeting and I tagged along. We spent an afternoon
visiting the monuments and a Sunday at Mount Vernon and Alexandria. The
rest of the week was mine, mine alone, to visit the museums each and every day,
walk and walk and walk, to my heart's content.
I'll start with the
picture of a monument that had intrigued and fascinated me all through my
life. It was a very emotional visit and a long walk to reach it :
Marine Corps War Memorial, aka the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima. [for
more click here]
On our first day Stephan and I, we walked from our hotel and visited all the
monuments. Each one is very special and important in its own way but
the World War II memorial and the Washington Monument were my favorites.
We took tons of pictures and enjoyed a beautiful spring day in our nation's
capital.
After we left the
hotel, which was a block away from the Mall, before anything else, we saw
the Capitol building at a distance. Beautiful and impressive [sans the
people occupying it]. We passed many government buildings each
dedicated to one politician or another but the one that we both found pretty
amusing was the grandeur of the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency]
building. An agency with almost no power to do anything.....
As you walk towards the mall the first thing you see is the Washington Monument. Unfortunately it had just opened up to visitors and all the tickets were sold. The only way to try was to get in line at 7:00 a.m. Hmmm... not for me.
Here is the Washington Monument
We continued down the National Mall towards the Potomac and got to the World War II Memorial. Commissioned by Bill Clinton, it is right before the Reflecting Pool. It is a recent addition to the monuments, thanks to the efforts of many, including Tom Hanks.
Below : A view of the National Mall from the Washington Monument towards the Lincoln Memorial with the Reflecting Pool and the WWII Memorial in the middle.
The Memorial is split into two sides, representing the Atlantic and Pacific theaters and it is a detailed history of that horrible era.
Walking further we reached the Vietnam War Memorial
the Vietnam Memorial [below]
Still fresh in so many people's memories one cannot walk through it without a gulp in one's throat.
We then we reached the Lincoln Memorial.
Thank you Mr. Lincoln for keeping the Union together.
The best view of the Washington Monument is from the Lincoln Memorial - in late afternoon!
Hence the name of the pool and my favorite picture of the trip.
We then visited the other monuments and here is a hodge podge.
Korean War & World War I.
By the end of WWI Stephan had to have dinner so we left the rest for our next trip.
The next day we rented a car from Union Station and drove to Mount Vernon.
Union Station
Mount Vernon
The Vegetable and Flower Garden
View from the house
Last but not least, we had a tour of the slave quarters. Our guide gave us the much sanitized story that probably was on his syllabus.
He did however, deviate from the script, and gave us a few more realistic and yet terribly disturbing anecdotes.
There is no way anyone in the 21st century can leave these rooms without tears welling up.
The Mount Vernon Inn was closed to public for a Bar mitzvah and we were forced to have lunch in a cafeteria with millions of school children.
It will not be an exaggeration to say Stephan was not a happy camper...
On our way back we made a quick stop at Alexandria. We walked around, did a little shopping and returned to DC.
Driving back to DC
The rest under Smithsonian Museums & White House & Arlington