Day 2: Memorials & Monuments in Washington DC

Every day in DC includes a lot of walking, but our second day probably had the most as we walked around The Mall to see the Monuments and Memorials.

The WWII Memorial includes pillars of the 56 states, US territories and District of Columbia. It's massive!

Our picnic lunch was in the amazing setting of the WWII Memorial
Vietnam Veterans Memorial

We had decided not to get up early to stand in line for tickets to the top of the Washington Monument, but when we were there someone gave us 4 tickets to go up in about 20 minutes. While we were waiting our turn, Marine I helicopter flew to the White House, waited about 5-10 minutes and then took off again with President Obama. That was the evening he threw the first pitch at the MLB All-Star game in St. Louis (so that night we skipped cooking at the campsite and had pizza, nachos and quesadillas at a sports bar to watch!). By the way, the view from the top of the Washington Monument was amazing!

The Lincoln Memorial. This year is the bicentennial of his birth (1809-1865)

inside the Jefferson Memorial - it's even larger than the Lincoln Memorial and worth the walk around the Tidal Basin

side view of the Jefferson Memorial

Korean War Veterans Memorial. This one probably impacted me the most. It includes these 19 statues, a wall similar to the Vietnam Memorial except with etchings of faces and scenes from the war, as well as a pool and remembrance for over 54,000 Americans who died and over 8,000 missing (and the UN's nearly 630,000 died and more than 470,000 missing).

Michael's favorite was the George Mason Memorial because he wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which was an inspiration to Thomas Jefferson's writing of the Declaration of Independence, and he withheld his signature on the US Constitution because it did not abolish the slave trade. Michael said more should have listened to George Mason, and we may have avoided the Civil War. It also bothers Michael that he's not a more well known Founding Father.

The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial honors his 12 year presidency with an impressive journey through his 4 terms with large sculptures, fountains, and numerous quotes on the granite walls throughout five huge outdoor rooms.

Until we saw it on a map we got at the WWII Memorial, we didn't realize there was a memorial to the Signers of the Declaration of Independence. Each signer's name is in gold with their occupation and hometown/area listed and categorized together with the other signers from their state. The boys thought it was funny that Thomas Jefferson signed "Th Jefferson" and Benjamin Franklin signed "Beny Franklin".

Our plan had been to spend time at Arlington National Cemetery after this, but we were all too tired and wanted to see Pres. Obama throw the first pitch and watch the All-Star game. (We didn't end up getting to Arlington this trip, so it will have to wait until next time. After all, it's only a 6 hour drive for us now!)