First, we went to see the Vietnam Memorial. This is the other memorial I had been dying to see since block history class so we went to see it first in the day. We laughed at ourselves when we got there because it is remarkably right in the middle of the National Mall and somehow we had never seen it before.
Next we decided to stop by the Lincoln Memorial since it was on the way.
While we were there, Brigham needed to eat. So, like I said in an earlier post, most of our sight-seeing pictures are of us feeding Brigham. So, this was taken on the side of the giant reflection pool just after eating. ha.
We stopped by the Korean memorial to get a look on our way to the Tidal Basin.
As we walked around the Tidal Basin we were able to see some landmark sites. Honestly, it was a perfect day with perfect weather with virtually no tourists besides ourselves. It made for a great, peaceful stroll around the water.
Here are the memorials surrounding the water:
Martin Luther King Jr.
They centered the entire monument around his quote "out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope" from his 'I have a dream' speech. I don't know if this pic portrays it well, but notice how the stone he is carved into is pulled forward out of the mountain stone behind it.
As we continued to walk the edge of the Tidal Basin we came across the FDR memorial. It was a fitting memorial considering everything he did as president. The memorial was more of an "experience" than a statue or anything. It is designed to highlight his 3 terms. So you start at one end and walk through stone snapshots and quotes of moments in his presidency. For example, his fireside chats he did in his first term:
Soup kitchen and bread lines during his second term:
Quotes and speeches and policies from his third term. It was a lot bigger and more involved than I'm portraying on this little blog post. Very very appropriate memorial for FDR:
Of course they also had to highlight wonderful Eleanor Roosevelt:
On our way to the Jefferson Memorial we saw this 'Japanese Memorial' I think Adam remembered it being a bit bigger the last time he saw it, but I made him take a picture with it anyway. He's a good sport.
The last thing we squeezed in for the day was the Jefferson Memorial. I've only ever driven by it and was amazed with how huge it is. Actually, I found out that FDR was a huge admirer of Jefferson and was the driving force in getting the Jefferson Memorial built. It seems pretty fitting that FDR's memorial is across the water from it then.
Busy day and so rewarding. I'm really glad we were able to fit it all in. Brigham was so cute and seemed to really enjoy walking around outside all morning and afternoon.
Here are the memorials surrounding the water:
Martin Luther King Jr.
They centered the entire monument around his quote "out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope" from his 'I have a dream' speech. I don't know if this pic portrays it well, but notice how the stone he is carved into is pulled forward out of the mountain stone behind it.
As we continued to walk the edge of the Tidal Basin we came across the FDR memorial. It was a fitting memorial considering everything he did as president. The memorial was more of an "experience" than a statue or anything. It is designed to highlight his 3 terms. So you start at one end and walk through stone snapshots and quotes of moments in his presidency. For example, his fireside chats he did in his first term:
Soup kitchen and bread lines during his second term:
Quotes and speeches and policies from his third term. It was a lot bigger and more involved than I'm portraying on this little blog post. Very very appropriate memorial for FDR:
Of course they also had to highlight wonderful Eleanor Roosevelt:
On our way to the Jefferson Memorial we saw this 'Japanese Memorial' I think Adam remembered it being a bit bigger the last time he saw it, but I made him take a picture with it anyway. He's a good sport.
The last thing we squeezed in for the day was the Jefferson Memorial. I've only ever driven by it and was amazed with how huge it is. Actually, I found out that FDR was a huge admirer of Jefferson and was the driving force in getting the Jefferson Memorial built. It seems pretty fitting that FDR's memorial is across the water from it then.
Busy day and so rewarding. I'm really glad we were able to fit it all in. Brigham was so cute and seemed to really enjoy walking around outside all morning and afternoon.
3 comments:
When I went to DC, I thought the National Mall was a huge place to shop (I know I sound so dumb. That's why I've never admitted that before! Lol) . I either didn't have a good history teacher or didn't pay attention very well (both are highly possible. Haha!). Love all the monuments!
I thought the same thing the first time Dad took us to DC. I thought it was going to be like the Mall of America. haha.
Wow. So many cool things! That's so awesome that you are taking advatange of seeing everything while you live there and the weather is still good. LOL about the mall comment!!
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