The National Mall - Washington D.C.

June 13, 2009

About 10 minutes into our drive to the Washington D.C. from Annapolis, I realized that in our hurry to leave the hotel, I slipped on my flip flops and left my walking shoes in the room. It was going to be a long day. We started by the Jefferson memorial, then headed over to the Washington Monument. Next was the WWII Memorial with the wall of 4,000 gold stars, each representing 100 lives lost during the war. It left me speechless. Then across the Reflecting Pool (which is very shallow and filled with duck poop...gross) to the Lincoln Memorial. Next was the Vietnam Memorial, which was amazing, but for me lost some of it's impact due to the number of people there at the time. Waiting in a long line and being herded through doesn't really give you the appreciation for incredible number of names on the wall. I definitely want to go back at a less busy time. Then we took a long loop around past several buildings I don't remember the names of to the White House. Unfortunately we couldn't get very close to it at all because of the security regulations. Pretty cool to see the snipers on the roof though. After separating from Ann's parents, we headed on to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. After the museum her parents picked us up and we stopped by the Capitol Building. It was about this point I thought my feet were actually going to fall off. But thankfully after short rest the burning went away and I was able to walk again. So the lesson in this story is that if you're going to be dumb enough to wear flip flops while walking all day around the National Mall, make sure you're wearing Teva flip flops or you might not survive.

Jefferson Memorial

Washington Monument

Washington Monument from across the Reflecting Pool

World War II Memorial

Each column in the memorial represents a state or territory of the US. Bronze ropes tie the columns together and bronze oak and wheat wreathes represent the nation’s industrial and agricultural strengths
Bronze reliefs on the entrance walls into the Memorial

Pacific and Atlantic pavilions representing American victory on both fronts

4,000 Gold Stars each representing the lives of 100 soldiers killed during the war

Quotation Engravings

Lincoln Memorial from across the Reflecting Pool

Lincoln MemorialThe Gettysburg Address engraved in the memorial wall
Me and my cousin (16 times removed that is)
Vietnam Memorial
Ann & the Wall
Bronze statues at the entrance to the wall

The White House

Our first glimpse was of the back

Then we saw the front

But this was the closest we could get

The Capitol Building

Other Cool Buildings and Things:

The Eisenhower Building (State, War, and Navy Building)Incredible intricate detailThe Treasury Department Building

The Hotel Washington
Yea!!

Grant

Me & Ann by the Reflecting Pool. Happy travelers despite the humidity and our aching feet.