DC Diaries, Day 3: Monuments, Memorials, and Museums, oh my!

Poor Meal Planning

The previous morning, Ray and I had walked the half mile to the bus stop, and then kept walking for another couple of blocks until we found someplace where we could grab breakfast (Dunkin Donuts, as it turned out). This morning, our plan was to take the bus that passed right outside our hotel and get off a block north of the White House. We figured that on our walk from the White House to the Washington Monument, we were bound to find a place to grab breakfast.


In theory, this was a workable plan. There are a number of places on 17th Street where one can grab a breakfast. We passed a Subway, a Cosi, and a few others. The problem, though, was that none of these places were open on Sunday. We made it to the Washington Monument and we still hadn't eaten breakfast.

Andrew Jackson, in front of the White House

We started the Monument Walk, but we soon developed a Plan B.  During my meal research, I had come across a sandwich joint called FoBoGro (short for Foggy Bottom Grocery) that was only a half mile north of the Vietnam Memorial. I looked the place up on my phone and saw that they would open at 10:00, a mere 10 minutes from that moment. Even on Sundays.   

Our Plan B, then, was to detour to FoBoGro, grab an early sandwich lunch, and then, since the establishment was also a grocery store, grab some snacky-treats to carry us through the afternoon. With a firm plan in mind, we headed north towards George Washington University.

However, when we arrived at FoBoGro, we learned to our dismay that while the grocery store did indeed open at 10:00, the sandwich shop did not open until 11:00. At that point, we settled into Plan C.  We loaded up on a bunch of over-priced snack foods, called it a lunch, and ate it on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. 

Monument Walk (Morning)

Our Monument Walk had actually started earlier that morning, at the White House. I returned to the White House several more times later in the week, but this Sunday Morning had the fewest crowds by far.  Besides Concepcion Picciotto, we nearly had the whole street to ourselves.

North Lawn

South Lawn

From there, we circled around the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.  Many of the Washington-based fiction I had read describe this building as "ugly."  I found the building quite striking, so I guess that doesn't say much for my architectural tastes.

Eisenhower Executive Office Building: Ugly or Striking?

We viewed the south lawn of the White House, and while it was nicely landscaped, I liked the north lawn better. From the north, you get a much clearer view of the residence.  We walked around the ellipse, saw the most WTF memorial to the Boy Scouts, and approached the Washington Monument.

Memorial to the Boy Scouts: huh?

Closed for repairs, but still impressive

Our next stop was the World War II memorial.  This is a relatively new memorial, and I think it fits in very well on the Mall.  Its wide-open plaza preserves the sight lines between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.  Being a World War II buff, I was greatly impressed by the wall of gold stars, the various quotes carved in stone, and the pillars representing the various states and territories that sent their sons and daughters to free the world from tyranny and oppression.

After a quick stop at a memorial dedicated to the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, we made a quick stop at FoBoGro (described above), and then moved on to the Vietnam Memorial.

Memorial to the Signers of the Declaration of Indpendence

I was not expecting much from the Vietnam Memorial. It has been so over-exposed in popular media that I felt that there was nothing new for me to see or feel. And then, too, I have no emotional connection to the Vietnam War, like I do with the second World War.

However, I was not prepared for the experience that awaited me. As I walked by the wall, I let my eyes rest on one random name on each panel and read the name before moving on to the next panel. After a few minutes, I raised my eyes and saw how many more panels were yet ahead of me, and I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of names on that wall. The memorial is simple and unpretentious.  It makes no political statement and expresses no opinion about the war. The stark simplicity of the memorial accentuates the tragic nature of that war.

The Lincoln Memorial was a short and crowded hop from the Wall. Ray and I sat on the steps of the memorial, ate our FoBoGro purchases, and looked at the Washington Monument standing proudly above the reflecting pool. We wandered into Lincoln's cavernous grotto, read his immortal words etched in the marble of the memorial, and reflected on the life of this great man.

A perfect fall day

Monument Walk (Afternoon)

The Korean War Memorial is a well-designed memorial. I love the statues of the soldiers on patrol. And yet, I felt no connection with it like I did at the WWII, Vietnam, and Lincoln memorials. I was also not a big fan of the mural backdrop behind the statues of the patrolling soldiers.

On our way to our next destination, we made a quick detour to the DC War Memorial. This is a small rotunda dedicated to the soldiers from D.C. who fought in our nation's wars. Across the street from the war memorial is the Martin Luther King Memorial. His likeness emerges from a block of stone, and gazes intently across the tidal pool at the Jefferson Memorial. Nice little memorial, but we spent little time here.

Martin Luther King, with his steely gaze looking at the Jefferson Memorial

Ray and I had not yet decided to walk the long distance to the Jefferson Memorial. We had decided to play it by ear, and decide the issue based on how we were feeling when we got the MLK memorial. In the end we reasoned that while we might regret making the long walk, that regret would only last a few days as our battered feet slowly healed. However, if we didn't go, we would regret it for years to come. So off we went, on a quest for the Jefferson Memorial.

That's a long walk to the Jefferson Memorial

We made a brief stop at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial. On the previous day, we had encountered a block of marble outside the National Archives, with a small plaque saying that this was the memorial that FDR told his friends he wanted. This huge plaza next to the tidal pool was therefore against the express wishes of FDR.

One of these things is not like the others

The FDR memorial includes his dog?

We finally made it to the Jefferson Memorial, and it was worth the walk. Not only were there fewer tourists this far out of the way, but I liked the design of the memorial better than the Lincoln Memorial. The Jefferson Memorial is open on four sides and is therefore lighter, and breezier, and more open than the dark grotto of the Lincoln Memorial.

Finally made it!

The man, the myth, the legend.  Jefferson, that is, not Ray.

After a moment of quiet contemplation, Ray shared the following thought with me. I agree with the sentiment, and therefore am adopting it as my own. I admire Lincoln for doing the right thing in a difficult moment, for keeping the 87-year experiment in self-government alive. But Jefferson, and the other Founding Fathers, did something more than keep the system moving. They invented something entirely new. While Lincoln could look to his predecessors for inspiration, Jefferson and his cohorts had to think outside the box and do something that had never been done before.

More Museums

From the Jefferson Memorial, the Holocaust Memorial Museum was only a short walk. After a morning of uplifting and inspiring walks, this destination was a real downer. I don't regret the visit, but my feelings for the museum are similar to my feelings for the movie Schindler's List. Everyone should see it at least once, but it's too heavy for me to repeat.

One moment, especially, hit both Ray and I like a two-ton pile of bricks. We rounded a corner on the third floor and suddenly found ourselves in an almost empty room. There was a slightly elevated pathway through the room, and to the sides of the path, and underneath the path were thousands of shoes. It was like slamming into a wall; our pace slowed, stopped, and we stood in mute shock. We quickly hurried on, not wanting to linger too long with the phantasms haunting the room.

An eternal flame at the Holocaust Museum

The National Air and Space Museum was next on our list. This was a fun and light selection. We didn't linger too long in any one exhibit, content to just look at the aircraft and move on. The one exception for me was the exhibit on the Wright Brothers. I was quite taken with the way the displays outlined the three engineering problems the brothers faced, the theories they developed to overcome them, and the ways they used to test those theories.

The Spirit of St. Louis

The Wright Brothers' original flier

Our last stop of the day was the National Gallery of Art. Unbeknownst to us was the fact that this is a perfect museum to see at the end of a long and tiring day. In most of the galleries, this museum has a pair of comfortable couches. I found myself collapsing in to a couch, viewing the art in comfort, and then heaving myself to my feet and stumbling my way to the next set of couches.

Chillin' in the National Gallery of Art

This was also the moment when I realized that I LIKED art museums. This was something of a revelation to me.  Having never been an artsy person myself, I did not expect to have a deep appreciation for it. However, the galleries and displays were all quite wonderful, the crowds were sparse, and I found a number of paintings that arrested my gaze and held me transfixed. We got through one floor of one wing before the museum closed, but I vowed to return later in the week to wrap up unfinished business.

Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw, in the Gallery of Art

The Repentant Magdalene, by Georges de la Tours

Two Women at a Window, by Bartolome Esteben

Dinner

We returned to the hotel, hoping to catch the final quarter of the Broncos-Eagles game. Unfortunately, the only game the Washington-area channels were showing was the Redskins-Raiders game. Sigh.

After resting up, we walked down to Dupont Circle so I could return to Panas.  Ray and I ordered a two-person meal (eight empanadas, four dipping sauces, and plantain chips). By the end of the meal, Ray and I had both settled on the same flavor as our favorite: the Tamal (corn, onions, farmer's cheese, and roasted jalapenos). My second favorite was the Samba Shrimp (shrimp, coconut, cilantro, onions, and red and green peppers) and Ray's second favorite was the CubaNova (roasted pork, onions, cilantro, and lime).

The Canoa: 8 Empanadas, 4 dipping sauces, and a pile of plantain chips

We finished the day with another walk down Embassy Row. Ray was more bold than I, and approached several embassies (when there were no gates to keep out visitors) to read the plaque next to the door. He agreed with me that the Venezuelan embassy looked like a drug lord's hacienda and noted that the Turkish embassy's fortified compound was exactly what he would have expected.

By the end of the day, I had put fourteen miles on my pedometer. This was the most mileage of any of my days in DC. Ray would leave me early the next morning, and I would be on my own again. But I'm glad I got a chance to spend this time with him. We were once very close, so this weekend together was a chance to rekindle our friendship.