5/13/18: It is Sunday! I really REALLY wanted to go to worship at the Washington National Cathedral. I don’t know anything about Episcopalian worship style, but I just really wanted to feel the place during worship. It is such an iconic place of worship in our nation. To do this would require an Uber ride to get there, and I had that figured out. But I didn’t have the weather under my control. It poured down rain for a few hours this morning, right when we needed to be getting ready and going. I decided we didn’t want to get soaked, and that we’ll go see the cathedral later. Bummer.😞 So how are we going to see WA DC? We’ve had luck with hop-on-hop-off trolleys before, so we booked 2 day tickets for that. We could walk from the marina over to the Jefferson Memorial and hop on at that stop. The rain stopped, so we got ready and headed out. And…. the rain started again. It was like Seattle rain – not hard, but enough to get you wet. It didn’t last long, thank goodness! What a difference from yesterday’s mid 90’s. Today was in the low 60’s!
As we walked to the end of the Wharf, we found the biggest giantest hugest seafood market I’ve ever seen! I had no idea that DC had this! And people were lined up everywhere buying enormous amounts of crab, shrimp, etc. And it must have all been pretty fresh, because it really did not smell fishy.
Beautiful piles of super fresh seafood!
And blue crab – really are blue!
We continued our walk to the Jefferson Memorial. Since talking with young Thomas Jefferson in Williamsburg, we both have an interest in our 3rd President. This is a huge structure set on the shore of a water basin.
Inside is an enormous statue of Thomas Jefferson. On the walls are inscribed quotes from his speeches and writings. Behind him in this picture is the well known quote from the Declaration of Independence –“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men.”
The next memorial that we walked through was for Franklin Delano Roosevelt. This was a beautiful area, covering 7.5 acres. He is the only president that served more than two presidential terms, through the Great Depression and World War II, from 1933-1945. He was actually elected a fourth time, but died early in that 4th term. George Washington limited himself to two terms, and that was the standard, but not law. There was no law that limited the president to two terms yet, and during the time of war, people wanted consistent leadership. It was after FDR that the law limiting to two terms was put into place. It was wet and drizzly as we walked through. It had several water fall features, quotes from FDR inscribed on several walls, and it was really beautiful and unique.
Our tour included a trip to Arlington National Cemetary. This is an amphitheater at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It was really impressive – like something you would see in Rome. It is used to honor those who have served our country, and special occasions including Memorial Day and Veterans Day which bring over 10,000 people to the cemetary.
We watched the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This was so impressive! There were a lot of people gathered on the steps going up from and overlooking the tomb, and everyone was so quiet and respectful. The tomb is guarded 24/7/365, rain, sleet, snow, ice, heat, storm. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier contains the remains of soldiers from World War I, World War II, and the Korean War: unidentified “known but to God” . These remains are considered impossible to be identified, and so serve as a symbol for all of our country’s unknown dead wherever they fell in the war being remembered. The anonymity of the entombed soldier is the key symbolism of the monument; it could be the tomb of anyone who fell in service of the nation, and therefore serves as a monument symbolizing all of the sacrifices.
The precision of the guard changing was really cool. Note the wear patterns on the floor surface showing where they always march. Such respect.
The rows and rows of headstones, all lined up in precision from all directions were incredibly impressive. To me that precision shows such respect and honor in the care taken to place them with such intention. The cemetery is not just these types of headstones – there are a huge variety. But these are the free headstones provided to our service personnel, and there are hundreds of thousands of them. Such a place of reverence, and I felt so thankful for all that I have and enjoy because these people served to protect my freedom and liberty.
When we returned from Arlington, we continued touring monuments. This is part of the Korean War monument. My dad is an Air Force Veteran of the Korean War.
Nearby was the Vietnam War Memorial. It is a long L shaped wall, with over 58,000 names of those who were either killed in action or missing in action. Quite sobering. The stone used from India was chosen because if its reflective quality, so that when you stand and look at the names, you see your own reflection.
A Legacy of Healing and Hope. This statue pays tribute to the over 265,000 women who served during the Vietnam era, the majority who served as nurses caring for 300,000 wounded soldiers between 1964-1973.
There are so many types of memorials! This wall is full of 4,048 stars, each star representing 100 American service personnel who died in World War II. Inscribed in front of the wall is “Here we mark the price of freedom.”
And the huge World War II memorial, with 56 granite pillars, each 17’ tall arranged around a plaza with two arches on each side, depicting the Atlantic and the Pacific. The pillars each represent a state and U.S. territory as of 1945. This fountain and circular memorial is over 7 acres and is located between the Washington and Lincoln memorials. It was opened in 2004.
Looking down the mall we could see the Washington Monument. Construction on it started way back in 1854! I think it was completed in 1876. It is over 555 feet tall. There actually is an elevator inside, but it is currently closed until 2019.
Most of the monuments are at the West end of the mall. The National Mall is a grand avenue and is a public park. We saw flag football and some kind of frisbee competition being played. There were lots of ducks in the center long oblong pool, and babies. This momma was not afraid of people at all. The Capitol Building is at the East End, and Lincoln Memorial is at the West end, with 1.9 miles in between. The Jefferson Memorial and some others are actually south of Lincoln, but are not actually on the mall. President George Washington, with the help of his Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, actually selected the site for the Capitol and the new seat of America’s government. The mall concept was actually planned in 1791.
What an interesting and historic place!