When you think of Washington DC, most think of the Monuments

The Monuments are amazing...to say the least. These flags are surrounding the Washington Monument.The Washington Monument was started in 1858. It was built 152 feet but then they had to stop because funds ran out! It was nearly 25 years later before they continued building. Now it is 555 feet tall! If you look at this photo directly above, you can see where the marble changes color.
This is looking toward the Lincoln Memorial from the World War II Memorial.
The Lincoln Memorial. This statue of Lincoln is 19 feet tall!

The World War II Memorial has one pillar for the Atlantic and one for the Pacific. All the states are the smaller posts with the wreaths. There is a pool with fountains in between.Standing in the WWII Memorial, you can see the Washington Monument.
I was standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial looking back across the Reflecting Pool. The National Mall, which is at least 2 miles long, runs from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol. You can see the Capitol past the Washington Monument. If you look below the Washington Monument, you can see part of the WWII Memorial.This is the Korean War Veterans Memorial. This shows 19 gray soldiers crossing a field of junipers. Next to this is a black granite wall with a mural etched into it. This one above, is the Jefferson Memorial. This is on the Tidal Basin which is ringed with cherry blossoms. It's gorgeous!The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial was the one that surprised me the most. I had never heard anything about it and I was in awe. It's divided into 4 sections, one for each of his 4 terms as President. There are 4 granite alcoves, each with waterfalls and quotes, and some with statues. We spent more time here than at any of the others! It is on the west side of the Tidal Basin.
Eleanor....Eleanor and her BFF (just kidding... for my older readers, BFF stands for Best Friend Forever!)Breadlines....Fireside chats...I took so many pictures of the FDR Memorial...like I said, I was taken by surprise with this.

Vietnam... This bronze statue of three soldiers is actually part of the Vietnam Memorial. The Vietnam Wall is the most powerful part. The 'wall' is a black granite wedge that has the etched names of the 58,029 Americans who died or were missing in action during this war. The wall gets progressively higher as you walk along it...getting to a little over 10 feet at its highest point. You can see MetroMan looking at the wall...

The Marine Corps War Memorial ... a.k.a. as Iwo Jima Memorial

This is about a half mile walk from Arlington National Cemetary. Of course, MetroMan and I made the walk...we were already tired, but we persevered. This statue is amazing! You can see I have a number of photos here...and this is not near all the ones I took! This is 78 feet tall!

The Capitol isn't a monument, but I took so many photos of it with the cherry blossoms. I think it is beautiful and decided to include it here. You'll probably see it again.I told you you'd see the Capitol again! Our last night in DC, Ron and I were walking back to the hotel from the Capitol City Brewery. The sun was setting, and I took quite a few of the capitol with the changing sky behind it.
The White House isn't really a monument either, but here it is anyway.I'll end this post with MetroMan and his buddy, George Mason. George is a bit older than MetroMan (George was born in 1725 and MetroMan was born in 1953)... I actually didn't remember him. But when I looked it up, I read that along with James Madison, ole' George is called the "Father of the Bill of Rights." He's also considered to be one of the Founding Fathers of the United States!

Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers

Arlington National CemeteryIf I had to pick one highlight of my trip, this would be it, without a doubt. This is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers...
There is always...ALWAYS...a Marine guarding the tomb. They continually walk in front of the tomb... 21 steps, stop, turn, face the tomb, face it for 21 second, turn, walk 21 more steps. Every hour or maybe it's the half hour, there is the Changing of the Guard. This was something I really wanted to see... and this proved to be the highlight of the trip for me. It was highly emotional for me... I'm not sure exactly why. Is it because Joshua is a marine? Is it because of the fact that our freedom 'is not free' as is said. All I know, is I was overwhelmed. I took several little videos, but this one is the actual changing of the guard. This was only the last 5 minutes and 18 seconds of it:

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

This is an amphitheater that is adjacent to the area where the tomb is. It's beautiful.The graves of President Kennedy and Jacquelyn Kennedy Onassis... and the eternal flame.Silence? Yes. Respect? Definitely.

PostScript: Be sure and read Joshua's comment for a correction to what I wrote. Plus, Yes, it is Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers...I always thought it was singular - Soldier - but this actually holds the remains of unidentified servicemen from World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. There used to be someone from the Vietnam War. The remains were removed in 1998 after they were identified.

Eating in DC

Washington DC has some great restaurants. I had been told that by some of my buddies who had been there.

On Easter Sunday as we were making the long trek back to the Metro station from the National Cathedral, we were tired, cold, and hungry. All of a sudden, some tantalizing smell came wafting around our head. We saw some little restaurant, can't remember what it was but we figured -at first- that that's where the smell originated. As I was looking across the street, I spotted this beautiful site, and realized THAT was the source. The Cactus Cantini. It took us about... oh about .01 of a second to decide we needed to stop. Well, margaritas? Oh my, they were superb. The food was equally as good. We scored on that one.

I had heard about Old Ebbitt's Grill. I was told, "You HAVE to go to Old Ebbitt's Grill!" This was another night. It's located by the White House and it is definitely a place that should be on your list. Great bar - the looks of it, I don't know about the bartending.

Apparently, or so I heard, this was used as a sort of command center during 9-11. Like I said, that's what I heard, but I don't know it for a fact.

On Easter Sunday when we first got off the Metro to go to the cathedral, we saw a Whole Foods Market. We did a little shopping and bought some snacks - apples, trail mix, wine, soy milk, raisin bran - and that's what we had for breakfast (all except one morning) and for lunch (all except for one afternoon). We checked out as many different restaurants as we could for dinner.

I had heard about the Capitol City Brewing Company but couldn't remember where it was and I couldn't remember where I'd read it. One night, we decided to check out Union Station and the restaurants there. As Union Station first came into sight, what should our eyes behold ... but a banner proclaiming Capitol City Brewery. Guess where we ate that night?We actually ate here twice. On our last night, we decided to go back because we had enjoyed it so much!

One afternoon, we also went to Georgetown. I loved this area. Georgetown University is beautiful, but the main area of town is full of restaurants and really nice shops. John and Jackie Kennedy lived there awhile... I took photos of their home. It is JUST what I pictured in my mind it would look like. We ate at Clyde's.During the days, we'd usually stop in the afternoon and grab a cup of coffee, sit down in a cafe, and have a snack (from Whole Foods) and drink our coffee. This would also re-energize us for some more sightseeing! We are such NON-FAST-FOOD people, that I had to take a picture of this cup of coffee. Yep, we hit McDonalds in the Air and Space Museum, but only for a cup of coffee...which I have to admit, tasted exceptionally good!

Oh, I wish Lindsey could see this!

Look at these...

You might think these are Converse All-Stars, but you'd be wrong.

You might think are an old pair of my kids'... but again, you'd be wrong.

They're actually an old pair of Ked's and this pair belonged to Timmy... you know, Lassie's Timmy. Lindsey has ALWAYS loved Lassie ... now she wants, well, actually, she has always wanted a collie. We had a sheltie named Sport. He looked like a little-Lassie. Even though Lindsey loved him, he wasn't like Lassie.

The Smithsonians - Chapter 1

The Smithsonian.

Being there a week, there was absolutely no way to even begin to see it all. Two of the museums we visited were the National Air and Space and the Museum of the American Indian.

Isn't this a beautiful picture? Oh, I'm sure you are thinking it's a masterpiece out of the National Gallery of Art. You're incorrect. This is actually MetroMan and I. I think I might enlarge it and have it framed...yeah, I could hang it in our new family room!!! Um? I'll have to think on that one. See that black space in front of my face? That's my camera...taking that picture. Black means cold...so now you may be able to figure out why your nose gets cold... there's just not a lot of heat there - naturally.

The Air and Space museum was amazing. I hear it's the 'most popular' of the museums. It sure got crowded. We were there a total of about 7 or so hours, and we didn't see half of it. Take a look at some of it:Can you imagine going up in space in one of these space capsules? This is my friend, Amelia's, plane. I'm not sure where she is. I think she got lost.The Spirit of St. LouisThese are our friends, Orville and Wilbur. I asked them to stand on their front porch so I could take a picture. They said, "Sure!"I can't remember if Orville or Wilbur was riding this bike... it belongs to both of them.It's the plane...the 1903 model. This IS the 1903..the actual one. However, the material was replaced, but they have the original material in a case so you can see it. This was the entrance to the Wright Brothers exhibit. This, in my opinion, was one of the best decorated. I guess in a museum, decoration is probably NOT the most important part of an exhibit...but I like it!This is a letter Wilbur wrote to the Smithsonian! I wish my students had that beautiful cursive!

Wonder who this top hat belongs to? In the Air and Space museum? Um???? Let me think?
Well, I'll be dadgummed! Ole honest Abe! Now, you may be wondering what in the world Abraham Lincoln has to do with the Air and Space Museum? The answer is 'NOTHING.'

Actually, the Museum of American History is closed for renovations. Because of that, some displays are in a section of the Air and Space.
Ohhh, from my favorite movie... Dorothy's ruby red slippers!

The National Museum of the American Indian was also phenomenal...starting with their building!It's the closest Smithsonian to the Capitol. While we were there, an exhibit of 50 Native American dresses was on display. Here are some of the dresses...and some of the art, from the museum.BubbleShare: Share photos - Find great Clip Art Images.


Remember, this is just two of the 18 Smithsonians!