These ducks were swimming in the reflecting pool. They don't have to walk, they can swim or fly. Lucky ducks.
We walked along this wooded path...the trees were beautiful and the shade a welcome treat.
We stopped on a bench for a little rest. Pretty soon I heard that distinctive clip clop, clip clop of horses coming. One of them stuck his tongue out at us. Clip clop...um hello, Mr. officer, could I please, pretty please just hop on the back of your horse with you and catch a little lift to the Lincoln Memorial? Please? Hey...where are you going??
Look at those two riding away, leaving me to walk the rest of the way. "Did that crazy lady just ask you for a ride?" "Yep, thought I'd have to pull our my billy club if she got any closer!" "Tourists, sheesh." Hey, if it weren't for us tourists you wouldn't have a job!!
We rested a bit, then walked some more. We met up with Billy and my mom...whew...we didn't know if we'd ever see them again!! :-) We stopped at the Vietnam Memorial. There was a veteran there answering questions and speaking to the crowd. The sculpture near the wall was beautiful.
The details were amazing. The men looked haunted, like I imagine they felt when they returned from the war. Seeing all of the names on the wall was very eye opening, and very sad. I'm glad that they have a memorial, I'm sad that they need one.
After visiting the wall we walked some more. We came across this guy on a bench...he looked like he was tired of walking, or riding too. Weird.
Finally we got to the Lincoln Memorial. Can you make it up those stairs guys? Sure enough, they did. My mom and I found the elevator. Ahhhh.
Abe was looking statuesque as ever.
Brian thought the memorial was pretty cool.
Next was the Korean War memorial. There was a phrase engraved on the wall there that said, "Freedom is not free." Painfully clear after seeing all of the memorials.
Time for the bus ride back. What do you mean you had the wrong schedule and we have to walk? Ack! Then...as long as we were this far and it was "sort of" on the way back and Brian really, really didn't want to miss it, we decided to walk to the Jefferson Memorial. I agreed and then saw how far it was around this lake. Oye.
Billy and my mom decided not to make the really long hike and were to meet us back at the Smithsonian Institute.
Brian said, see mom, it's not that far. Oh yea, tell that to my bunions.
On the way to the Jefferson Memorial we came upon the Franklin Roosevelt Memorial. And you know what, it was my favorite thing that we saw all day. It was worth the tired feet. There were several big water features....it sounded like we were standing at the bottom of a giant waterfalls.
Peaceful and calming and cool and...I loved it. And the inscriptions were inspiring.
I am not very into history and don't have a clue about what each president has done...but on this walk around DC I decided that I really like FDR stood for....especially where preserving nature was concerned.And he had a cute little dog.
I wish I had a video of the water to share with you. It was a beautiful thing.
And then we hit the pavement again. Did I mention that we were walking? And finally, the Jefferson Memorial. Brian liked that one best. It felt good to have made the full loop....sort of.
The warm night skies were especially pretty.
Oh look...who did we find? Not by the Smithsonian, but luckily on the road we were on. We'll be working with Billy on his map reading skillz. :-)
Speaking of Billy, look at my baby's feet....how did that happen? Another pair of size 13's to trip over in my house.
A few more miles or blocks or something and we arrived at the Metro station.
The train was a welcome sight....just ask our feet.
No comments:
Post a Comment