National Mall

We awoke to rain Thursday....we were not expecting that....and it rained most of the morning.  Our initial plan was to ride our bikes into the National Mall area and walk around for a few hours to get the "lay of the land" and just see some of the outdoor monuments, memorials, etc.  We don't start bike rides while it is raining, so we decided to drive the car into town the first day.  

TLE did some research and found there are a few free parking areas in town, one of them the tidal basin.  We left the park around 12:30 and drove the 17 miles into D.C.  Like any major metropolitan area the traffic downtown, especially during the lunch hour, was mind numbing....sometimes it would take 10 minutes to go one block, but, remarkably, we found free 3 hour parking in the tidal basin parking lot over by the Washington Monument.

The National Mall is about 2.5 miles from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol Building on the other end, so I would imagine we covered close to 6+ miles during our 3 hour trek.

There is a lot of construction in progress in the National Mall area, and the Washington Monument has scaffolding running up about two thirds of the way to the top while earthquake damage is being repaired.  Also under repair is the fountain for the WWII memorial.

 At the WWII War Memorial - fountain & pool under repair

What TLE was reading

 The reflecting pool, and the Lincoln Memorial in the background

I have always been drawn to the Lincoln Memorial and imagined over the years standing right here and seeing this view.  Hard to stand there and not be somewhat overcome by emotion.

Gettysburg Address

I'm reading Lincoln's 2nd inaugural address

 Looking back from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial

 The Vietnam War Memorial

George Read, a relative of TLE's, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776

Wonder if they're home? 

 For Krash and Karen

 Smithsonian Castle

After taking our pictures of the White House we walked over to the area where the Smithsonian Castle is located and got a bite to eat at a "refreshment stand"....a couple of Nathan's hotdogs.  We were serenaded by a couple of Hari Krishna guys the entire time we sat there.....looked like they were there for the long haul singing the repetitive lyrics of their anthem. 

Capitol Building

The day, which started with rain turned warm and humid as we neared the Capitol Building.  To be sure, there were a lot of people wandering around....a lot of school groups everywhere, but not too crowded.  I was surprised by the lack of landscape maintenance, especially in the National mall area.  Considering how many trillions of dollars flow through this town annually you would think they could afford to mow the lawn, and reseed it periodically.  Nevertheless, the overall beauty of the National Mall is apparent.

 Monument to Ulysses Grant....beautiful sculpture

 Looking back down the Mall from the Capitol Building

We spent three hours walking up one side of the National Mall to the Lincoln Memorial, over a few blocks to the White House, then down to the other side of the National Mall to the Capitol Building.  Friday we will begin our tour of all the museums, starting with the series of Smithsonian museums.  I would imagine it will take the better part of 3 days to walk through just the Smithsonian.  

After we retrieved our car we headed into town to meet my nephew, Jonathan, and his girl friend, Shari at a local dive beer bar called "The Big Hunt" on Connecticut....they have around 30+ beers on tap....it was just our kind of funky place.  I had a 3 Stars Pandemic Porter (10% abv), and TLE had an Avery New World Porter (7% abv) along with some appetizers.  Shari has worked at the British Embassy in D.C. for 9 years.  Jonathon works for  a local county reviewing fire suppression plans for local buildings....he has a degree in fire science, or something cool like that.  We enjoyed talking with them for a couple of hours.

We arrived back "home" around 8:30 with smiles on our faces.  We had a nice first day, and accomplished exactly what we had planned for the day.  

Thanks for stopping by!