Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Memorials, Museums & Monuments on the National Mall

I suspect I won't be the only garden blogger sharing photos from our Nations Capitol on this Independence Day, the timing of our recent Garden Bloggers Fling seems to almost require it...

Andrew and I spent the Monday morning after the Fling wrapped up wandering the mall and taking it all in. Then he visited a couple more museums and I visited and revisited several Smithsonian gardens and the U.S. Botanic Garden. I was standing in front of the Botanic Garden's Conservatory when I took this photo of the U.S. Capitol Building.

We'll return there at the end of the post, but let's have a look around first.

The newest museum on the mall, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, has a unique look that differentiates it from all the other white marble and granite structures.

I think it is a remarkable design.

I must admit I'm not a particularly patriotic person, especially given the current state of our government. However, upon catching a glimpse of the Washington Monument on the first day of the Fling (our bus drove by en-route to Hillwood, the estate of Marjorie Merriweather Post) I got goosebumps. It's such an iconic sight.

Did you know the color of the brick changes part way up the structure? The difference marks where construction stopped in 1856, as the flow of private donations to fund the monument dried up. Construction resumed in 1876 when Congress authorized public funds to complete the work. The different quarries utilized produced different colored stone.

This is as close as we got to the White House, had a different President been in residence during our visit we may have bothered to cross the street.

The Second Division Memorial commemorates those who died while serving in the 2nd Infantry Division of the U. S. Army. The flaming sword symbolizes the defense of Paris from the German advance.

For some reason I was completely unaware of the World War II Memorial's existence.

It is rather new, having just opened in 2004, but really how could I not have known about it?

The memorial itself is huge and once you enter it surrounds you on all sides.

From the design section on the memorial's Wiki page: "The memorial consists of 56 granite pillars, each 17 feet tall, arranged in a semicircle around a plaza with two 43-foot (triumphal arches on opposite sides... Each pillar is inscribed with the name of one of the 48 U.S. states of 1945, as well as the District of Columbia, the Alaska Territory and Territory of Hawaii, the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The northern arch is inscribed with "Atlantic"; the southern one, "Pacific." The plaza is 337 ft 10 in long and 240 feet 2 inches wide, is sunk 6 feet below grade, and contains a pool that is 246 feet 9 inches by 147 feet 8 inches."

That pool was turned off and construction crews were working while we were there. It certainly would have made for better photos to have the pool working, but the power of the place was not at all diminished by the lack of water.

My mom was born on Pearl Harbor Day.

So you don't have to strain to read: "We are determined that before the sun sets on this terrible struggle our flag will be recognized throughout the world as a symbol of freedom on the one hand and of overwhelming force on the other" - General George Marshall

Women as people, a concept still not fully embraced by some.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was as powerful as you expect it to be.

However it felt more personal — for the family members who have loved ones names on the wall — than public.

The Lincoln Memorial building is much larger than I expected.

And grand, very grand. There are 36 columns, each one represents a state in the U.S. at the time of President Lincoln’s death.

Funny I didn't notice the camera until seeing it in my photo.

Inside...

And back out...

The just beyond the reflecting pool is the WWII Memorial, backed by the Washington Monument and in the distance the Capitol Building.

By this time we were getting quite famished and the Jefferson Memorial was only observed from a distance, no offense meant to President Jefferson.

Refreshed from lunch at the Mitsitam Cafe in The National Museum of the American Indian (and the accompanying a/c,  have I mentioned the ridiculous humidity in D.C.? How do people live with that?) I set off to get a closer look at the Capitol Building. These column lights with their intricate carvings captured my attention for quite some time.

But I eventually strolled closer to the Capitol. Where I discovered not just anyone can walk up those steps (note the police fencing at the bottom of the steps), such is life in 2017. ..

Be careful with those fireworks people, and if you can withstand the temptation great, leave it to the professionals. Lord knows we can make due with fewer explosions in my, and your, neighborhood.

Weather Diary, July 3: Hi 79, Low 56/ Precip 0

All material © 2009-2017 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

28 comments:

  1. A perfect post for today. I regret never seeing D.C. in person and have goose bumps just reading this. Despite her flaws, ours is a wonderful country founded on brilliant ideals. So sad that citizens can no longer walk into the Capitol building. Happy Independence day. I won't be playing with fireworks but know from past years that lots of people in the hood will be.

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    1. You should have came to the DC Fling...just sayin...

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  2. They're already lighting off fireworks all around us, some into the late hours of the night. Nigel yells, "Get a calendar!" I remember walking into the rotunda of the Capitol Building when I was a teenager, that's the last time I was in the building. We never took the kid there. I find the Lincoln Memorial most moving. So glad you got a chance to see so much of the nation's capital. When I lived on the east coast I always assumed everyone in the country would see it at one point in their lives, but now that I'm on the other coast I realize that's not so. It's a long, expensive trip.

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    1. I think I would have enjoyed the inside of the Lincoln Memorial more if there would have been about 1/3 the people! I too am glad I got the chance. If not for the Fling I never would have made the effort, the $ would have been spent going somewhere that more aligned with my personal interests.

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  3. So glad you did this post. I just binge-watched Ken Burns Civil War and then last night Lincoln with Daniel Day Lewis, who I'm obsessed with now that he's retiring. We've surely seen dark days before. I did see the Lincoln memorial when I was a kid. It would be lovely to visit the capitol in a celebratory mood maybe in 2020...

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    1. Andrew reminds me of that, dark days come and go. We will get through this. I hope you both are right.

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  4. Your photos make it look pleasant and not sultry- but I believe you. A brother lives nearby and a sister 2 hours away, and they can have that weather even with the greenery.

    I was happy a WWII Memorial was built...2 of my uncles were in Pearl Harbor (the Pacific) and my father was a pilot then POW in Germany (the Atlantic), so a special meaning for me. But the facade of the African American Museum does it for me.

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    1. Actually Monday was probably the best weather day of all, still quite intense but not like walking around in a sauna.

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  5. What a perfect post for Independence Day! I feel I really missed out in not arriving ahead of the Fling's start to tour DC but your photos help to fill the gaps in my experience, if only virtually. My last visit was some 20+ years ago - I was there in late winter and there was still a little snow on the ground but the temperatures were more pleasant than they were in late June.

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    1. Watching House of Cards on the flight home I was caught by the fact Kevin Spacey was walking along the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial speaking to the camera. He mentioned it being January, yet all the deciduous trees had their leaves. Oops!

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  6. Perfect timing for this post and a reminder that it's been some 23 years since my short visit to the capital. I'll save my next trip for retirement, when I'll have the time to take my time. I suppose the post of your visit to the gardens are still coming? Happy Independence Day!

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    1. Oh gosh yes. There will be a few posts on the gardens of the Mall. So many things to see (and thus report about).

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  7. Hope you're both having an enjoyable 4th of July, and how apt to have just been to DC as well. In awe of all those iconic monuments that we'll hope to see someday soon.

    Interesting read about the pillars. I think Philippines is the only one there that is independent now?

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    1. Too bad you guys couldn't be a part of this years Fling, that would have been a great excuse to get to DC. And yes, I believe you're right about the Philippines.

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  8. Why do I keep being surprised by things like security fencing at rhe Capitol?! Hope you are enjoying the day and can sleep without fireworks into the wee hours. They have been going off in our neighborhood for the last three nights.

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    1. The a/c and earplugs are all that made sleeping bearable last night. I hope we won't get round two tonight.

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  9. Thanks for the tour! Some of the areas look a little different than the last time I was there. Your composition with the buildings and the monuments is wonderful!

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  10. What a fitting blog topic for today. I may follow your lead and post about my Mall visit if I can get photos edited before end of day. Thanks for sharing all the memorial pics. I didn't see those this visit but have been many times before. They are always moving.

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    1. A click over to your blog (link above in your name isn't working btw) shows me you did! I look forward to reading.

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  11. My biggest regret is that I did not make some time to visit some of these historically significant venues. I have a really strong desire to go back. DC as a city was so beautiful and architecturally rich..beyond the familiar monuments I did not expect this at all.Not in summer though! Spring or fall.

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    1. I would have loved to hop off the bus as we were driving through some of those older neighborhoods in DC, so many great row houses! I doubt I'll ever make it back, so I hope you do, and take your camera...

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  12. A melancholy 4th. I got to DC briefly when I was in college; an internship sent me to a DARPA conference because no one else wanted to go. I and another attendee had just time enough to visit the Lincoln Memorial at sunset--we had the place almost to ourselves and it was magical looking up at Lincoln as darkness descended and the milky moon rose up.

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    1. What a great memory! The Lincoln Memorial was so so so crowded when we were there.

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  13. Great choice on lunch in DC! That is by far my favorite Smithsonian cafeteria :) If you have time, check out the National Building Museum. Their gift shop is the best I've found in DC, plus the atrium/ballroom is gigantic and very pretty. Sidenote: I've been to DC about 7 times in the past 20 years due to tagging along on my dad's business trips each year. In the ~5 times I have gone to the top of the Washington Monument, the elevator has broken 3 times and we had to walk down the 50 flights of stairs twice. They claim it doesn't happen often. haha

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    1. I can't take credit for our lunch choice, my husband had dined there a couple of days before and found it to be above average. The National Building Museum looks wonderful! Wish I would have known about it while we were there. And thanks for the tip about the WA Monument. Now I know why we didn't bother to stand in line to go to the top!

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  14. Excellent tour of the iconic sights of Washington DC. We have not yet visited the African-American Museum or the WWII Memorial. Of the ones we have seen, it's the Lincoln Memorial that always brings on the goose bumps.

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    1. I suppose someday the simmer will die down and you'll be able to walk right in the Museum of African American History, like the others?

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