Road Trip: Daytrip to the Mall and Homeward Bound

Saturday was our fist day in Washington, DC.  The hotel shuttle took us to the College Park metro station and we rode into town, stepping into the city at the foot of the National Archives building on Pennsylvania Avenue.  We began our introductory walk by turning west at the Mall and proceeded to the Washington Monument.  Hans was excited about being in the middle of our nation's capital but I was positively tickled.  I asked Hans if we could swing by the White House today, because, why the hell not?

We discovered that the Washington Monument sits on a raised green, from where you can look all the way from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial.  To the northwest you could see the White House peeking through the trees.  I tried not to let my excitement run away with me.

We walked to the Lincoln Memorial, stopping for a few breaks in the muggy heat, and pausing to look around the new(ish) WWII Memorial.  By now there were considerable crowds crawling around the park.  At the Lincoln Memorial there were a few corners from where one could contemplate in relative solitude.  Hans got goosebumps from reading the Gettysburg Address, carved into the marble walls.

Moving on, we took in the Vietnam Memorial.  This was a very moving experience for both of us.  I remember seeing a short documentary on PBS as a kid about the artist who designed the memorial and how she went about choosing the materials to be used for its construction.  The concept of carving the name of every single American that died in the war into gleaming black granite seemed to me, even then, very special.

The mobile version has appeared in Anchorage a few times but obviously it is nothing compared to the original.  The curious thing about the Vietnam Memorial is that it is so unbelievably magnetic.  The reflective property is subtle and conspicuous all at once.  Time after time I watched people suddenly step out of the stream of passers-by and reach out, as if trying to touch a ghost, gain some kind of new understanding, or simply communicate some kind of empathy, only to be separated by a mirrored veil.

At one point some men assissted a veteran as he climbed a small step ladder in order to make a rubbing of his friend's name.  Even in the open air the park seemed to become unusually quiet as the other visitors solemnly looked on.

I became a little choked up as I followed Hans back to the path and we both sat on a bench to catch our breath.  Hans pointed out that both our fathers could have been drafted into the war.

Since we were near the Ellipse we stepped over the the familiar iron fence I see on the news often and we gazed across the leafy green lawn at the White House.  Yay!

An excellent lunch was had at the Old Ebbit Grill, even if I nearly decimated our table by sitting on the tablecloth as I got into my seat.

We wandered the streets a little more, stopping to have a look at Ford's Theatre and the house across the street where Lincoln died after been shot by John Wilkes Booth.

The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, while impressive, was a little crowded for our taste.  Not discouraged (since we are moving here next month), we sat outside in the park for a while before meeting up with some friends at the Air and Space Museum.

Soon Hans had a grin on his face as he excitedly pointed out what all the airplanes and spacecraft were and I was impressed by his knowledge of the exhibits.  Apparently he's been wanting to visit this museum since childhood.  Notables were:  The Spirit of St. Louis, the Apollo 11 command module, a test-version of the lunar lander, a V2 rocket, Howard Hughes' H1, and X1, and the Wright Flier.

After the museum we were failry tired by still enthusiastic about our first day in DC.

Sunday was a very long day in the car but we made it back to Cape just fine.  Now we have a few weeks before the movers arrive to pack up all our belongings.