DC, Sightseeing, and Marching (Apr 27, 2017)

OK, I’m going to preface this blog entry with a number: 22,205. According to my Fitbit, that’s how many steps I walked today–about 9 miles. So, I’m going to try to keep this entry short.

I’m here with friend Sharon. We met on a cruise last December, and she, Cathryn, and I conspired to join forces to be at the Women’s March on January 21. We had a great time, but overall the weather kept us pretty much indoors except on the actual march day. Sharon and I had wanted to see the monuments, but since that didn’t work out then, we vowed to be back.

The opportunity came in the form of the People’s Climate March that’s happening on April 29. Sharon would be returning from a cruise in Europe on the 25th, so I decided to come to D.C. on the 26th and stay until May 1. That would provide days to relax and do some sightseeing both before and after the march–weather permitting.

Yesterday was a travel day and an acclimate to D.C. day. I decided to fly into Reagan National so I’d be able to take the Metro to the hotel. When I called after arriving, though, the hotel sent a shuttle. Cool.

I had to wait a couple of hours for Sharon to get here from her hotel near BWI airport and to be able to check in, but all that done–we had arrived!

After getting the lay of the land a little bit, we headed to a nearby (1 mi) shopping/dining area and had dinner. Taxi there and then we walked back. It was great visiting and catching up, and sharing.

This morning, Sharon decided she wanted to do more catching up from her trip and spend the day with God, so after we got a bite at the hotel for breakfast, I caught the shuttle to the Metro and began a solo adventure.

My vague plans were to get to the National Mall and see where the spirit led me. I knew I wanted to make it to the Vietnam Memorial and some of the other memorials in the area.

After getting off the Metro (see the first pic, but note that the camera did a great job lightening it up…the Metro stations are very dim inside) and not knowing what direction to head in, I’m happy to report that I guessed right and indeed headed toward the Mall.

The first area I came to was really familiar, as it was the corner at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum where the three of us had spent about 5 hours standing at the Women’s March. It was interesting to see it with regular traffic instead of packed with bodies!

From that point, I pretty much knew where I was and just walked as I felt led. From here on, I’ll mostly let the pictures do the talking. I ran across the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden, which was really fun. then I headed toward the monuments end of the Mall. At one point I turned in one direction (where I’d come from) to get a picture of the Capitol building. Then I turned 180 degrees and got a pic of the Washington Monument (not pictured at this point because I got other, better pictures).

At the base of the Washington Monument (closed for elevator renovation), I got a cool picture of the capital framed by U.S. flags.

Then it was on to the Viet Nam memorial. This was a bit of a surprise for me in a couple of ways. First, I’d kind of envisioned it in the middle of a big open area. In fact, there’s a large lawn in front of it, but just beyond it is a busy street. Second, it was really interesting how around all the other monuments there’s a lot of activity and noisy people. Here, walking along the wall, it’s noticeably quiet. The structure just invites quiet contemplation.

There was another surprise, and that’s that the wall is so reflective. That made for some interesting pictures, and a great one of a couple tracing a name of someone from the wall. Reverent moment.

Close by was the next stop, the Lincoln Memorial. I remember visiting, and being impressed, as a school kid, but I was just as impressed this time. The statue of Lincoln is a beautiful work of art.

Coming out of that memorial is a great view of the reflecting pool and the Washington Monument, made better by the fact that the sun was beginning to come out.

Next up, the Korea Memorial, which is the one that depicts soldiers sort of walking through a field.

After all these memorials to war, the next stop was a nice change: the Martin Luther King memorial. This is quite impressive in person. I’m not sure the pictures (mine or others) I’ve seen do it justice. It’s kind of an experience…a feeling. Besides the statue, I took pictures of several of his sayings that are engraved on the walls. Here’s one I was not familiar with that really resonated with me, “Every nation must now develop an overiding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies.” So, so true.

I got a couple more pictures of the Washington Monument, and of the World War II memorial, on my walk back to the Metro.

A short couple of rides later, I was at the shuttle pick-up point, then finally back to the hotel. The weather’d been pretty perfect temperature-wise, but after all that walking, I was hot and sweaty, and tired, and hungry!

After a quick clean-up, Sharon and I were off to dinner in the same area where we’d eaten last night. Lots of choices there, so it’s comfortable. To rest my feet, we took a taxi there but ended up walking the mile back, just as we’d done last night.

Then there was catching up to do on emails and news, and then this blog. Now I’m done, and I’m going to upload and get to bed!

I hope you enjoy the pictures. These I took with my Olympus EM-10 mirrorless camera since it’s smaller and easier to carry all day. I’m testing it out on this trip as my “travel” camera.