First Day in DC

Another fun weekend and here are the pictures to prove it. I decided it was time for me to venture into DC. I’d been planning to go but bad weather then sailing then kayaking got in the way. Sat—I went.

DC is huge and there is TONS to see so I am parceling it it. This weekend, I chose the Washington Monument, The WWII Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial.

Even though it’s summer, the Mall area wasn’t as crowded as one might think. It was blazing hot and muggy as hell but I can live with that.

The Washington Monument was…well...Large. Long. A giant phallic symbol, as it were. Still, very cool. Walking up to it I remembered a Universal Truth—no matter the nationality, a family of four will walk side by side down the sidewalk, taking up the entire space. So irritating!

Next was The Wall AKA The Vietnam Memorial. Row after row and column after column. It breaks your heart. Walking along The Wall, you'll see the occasional laminated picture. These are put out on the anniversary of the soldiers death. The experience of The Wall is beautiful and touching and hard to take. So instead of taking many direct pictures, I focused on reflections.

The WWII Monument also carried an unexpected impact because my grandfather was a chaplain in WWII. Stationed in France, Germany and England, he didn't talk much about it but I always loved to hear what he had to say. And he even wrote a little. and I have one of his poems. I’d publish it here but it’s in storage so that will have to wait.

Finally, I went to the Lincoln Memorial. Interesting but too crowded! I’d like to go back but when it’s quiet. It’s too hard to soak up an experience when there’s hoards of people pushing for a better look.
Next---the Smithsonian.