Washington D.C. Momuments

As I said in other posts, I do not plan on going into detail on the logistics of D.C, Philly, or Niagara because I already had. I did say I'd probably put up some pictures.  As I parrot myself one other time, almost all the sites in the nation's capitol are free. If you can figure out cheap lodging either outside the city, camping, or other, a trip to Washington can be  very inexpensive. It is with that in mind I am putting these photos up in the hope that inspires others to go there.

Jefferson Memorial

It is rare to find any memorial without tourists lounging on the steps or admiring them. So it was an extremely unexpected surprise to turn the corner on the stairs and not see a soul. I started snapping pictures. We got to Jefferson early in the morning and it is fairly distant from the other monuments. You have to walk around the Tidal Basin. As we were leaving, the quiet serenity we experienced was shattered by three buses full of field trips were unloading.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

FDR Memorial is four rooms to signify his four terms in office. There are some of his quotes and a couple statues.

The extremely tall Elanor Roosevelt and
the extremely adorable Laurie Devine

Martin L. King

Dr. King was the one monument we had never seen. It was being built when we were in D.C. last. It is a "Stone of hope carved out of a mountain of despair". In the evening there are all kinds of tourists. As with Jefferson, we went early in the morning also. There were multiple school groups, and a few tourists. Laurie and I were the only white people at that time.

Washington Monument

Standing at 555 feet, the Washington Monument can be seen from many different angles.  You are allowed to go in it, but you need to get there early to get a timed ticket. This view is from the steps of Lincoln looking at the reflecting pool

Lincoln Memorial

I think Lincoln is the busiest of the monuments. Good luck getting a photo of those steps without people. 

Vietnam Memorial

If you don't think war is a terrible sad thing, then I challenge you to go to the Vietnam Memorial on Father's Day. People were laying roses down along with other items. It is a sad and somber experience. I didn't take too many pictures out of respect. Then I started thinking about it another way, the few photos I took honored those that suffered. The loved ones left behind sadness is real. It will not be forgotten by me. 

 If you watched Ken Burn's Vietnam, you may remember a family from Saratoga, NY that lost a son. The family nickname for him was Mogie. His real name is Denton Crocker Jr.. You can see his name on the panel below. It is the first name on the sixth line. I feel each of the names on this list have an unfinished story. It just so happens I know his.

Korean War Memorial

There are 19 statues of real soldiers in the Korean War Memorial. They reflect off of a black wall, hence doubling the number to 38. This represents the line of the 38th parallel that separates the two Korea's.

The black wall isn't smooth. It has engravings of actual
Korean War soldiers

There are hundreds if not thousands of smaller statues in D.C. One day on our second trip I dragged Laurie to many of them as we rode our bikes around the city. We found (with the help of a map and my hours of online research) statues that ranged from Simon Bolivar, Daniel Webster, Albert Einstein, and  Christopher Columbus. This trip we didn't have time for that and just hung out the big monuments and tourists.

U.S. Capitol Building