WALKING WASHINGTON

Oh how I wish we had one of those smart watches today to see how many miles we clocked up around this nation's capital.  It would be a far few!!

We first headed to the Washington Monument, and as I was pointing towards the sun, you will have to accept my word that this is Rob standing way, way in front.

In heading parallel to the reflection pool, we encountered the Korean Veterans' Memorial, opened in 1995.  Such a long time after the war, it seems.  Imagine a round, shallow pond, draining water out wards over an edge less than a metre tall, but creating a soothing sound.  Cut into this round a slice of pie, with details of numbers inscribed, both US and UN. Approaching this are the field of soldiers, on patrol.  But what I appreciated most was ringing the fountain in a horse shoe was a double row of trees, their foliage trimmed level to create a canopy above our heads.

We passed the World War Two memorial, then finally made it down to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.  

Here I am!  

This is a wonderfully powerful memorial.  So many steps to reach the shaded interior.  Abe sits in the middle in all his magnificence.  In a lobby on the left his famous Gettysburg Address is carved on the far wall.  He was not the first speaker that day and the person before him droned on for ages.  Then Lincoln gave this short speech, which so encapsulated the moment and the time, his words have gone down in history.

The lobby on the right has his second Inauguration Speech on the wall.

Below was our real surprise for the day: The Vietnam Veterans' Memorial.  The names in casualty order, without rank, begin on the right of the apex and the rows stretch out this arm.  The names continue from the far left end of the other arm and continue in, to finish at the left apex.  This binds the start and the finish in one place.  We saw one group taking an etching on their family member's name.  We had both heard a lot about this memorial and were surprised by its simplicity, which is all the more powerful for it.  The names are lit at night.

Now here is a connection I find interesting.  The National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City displayed an exhibition all about the Women's Vietnam Veteran's Memorial.  Women vets coming to Washington found no mention of their service and agitated for their own memorial.  What was decided was a statue of three women coming to the rescue of a soldier.  It sits in a small square, with seating, surrounding by eight trees representing the eight women who lost their lives in Vietnam.  It was sculpted by Glenna Goodacre, whom I learned about in OKC.

Next, we clamoured aboard the AIR CONDITIONED Circulator Bus.  It only costs $1 every time, but the driver said the payment machine was broken, so we rode the entire circuit, and a bit further FREE.  We got off at the American Indian Museum.  Not a single tee pee there.  Bit disappointing.  So we headed off and entered the Air and Space Museum.  Here I am imagining how pleased Michael (son in law) will be that we went to see all "the plane stuff!"  Posing in front of the Commander Capsule from the first manned walk on the moon was pretty special too.

Very impressive how they have suspended aircraft above our heads, which can also be viewed from the balcony of the floor above.

There is a whole gallery dedicated to Orville and Wilbur Wright.  It stresses that, whilst history tends to remember them as one unit - The Wright Brothers - they were individuals who brought all that entails to their endeavours.  In this model called The Flyer, the pilot is stretched flat across the wing,  just clinging on.  The display records their scientific approach and how they basically invented the wind tunnel.

Emerging from this cool environment, we had a long walk back to our hotel in the heat.  But tomorrow we will use our newly purchased Metro cards (our very first stop to buy them this morning) to travel to Union Station and walk to nearby Capital Hill for our tour.  Another day; another lot of walking!