Thursday, October 25, 2007

The Memorials of Washington, D.C.
















On Tuesday we got up way before breakfast and boarded a bus for the big city. This first picture is shot through a skylight panel in the front of our bus after we had been on the road for a while. Once in the city we boarded another bus, an "Open Top Sight-Seeing" bus for a tour. After the tour, we set off on an extended walk down the mall and around the Tidal Basin to see the Memorials. You will be able to judge our reactions to the various Memorials by the text and pictures we choose to include here – it was a very moving day.

The first stop was the Jefferson Memorial where I lined up a shot showing the opening of the Declaration of Independence alongside the statue. The Memorial definitely does not do justice to the importance of Jefferson in our history and for our American principles.

Next up (because it comes next in line in a circuit of the Tidal Basin) was the Roosevelt Memorial, which I felt was the most impressive in terms of overall design and presentation of the various Presidential Memorials. It consists of a series of little "rooms" each of which has a central wall with a statement or other image. Several of the statements of FDR some 70 years ago are eerily prescient in their relation to today. One of the "walls" which I have included even though it is very difficult to read comes from his speech enunciating "The Four Freedoms" of our American political system.

The Roosevelt Memorial is also unique in that it includes a statue of Eleanor Roosevelt and a quote from her in her role as UN Representative.

The last photo from FDR's memorial is of a statement particularly relevant to today.

The Lincoln Memorial sits at one end of the Reflecting Pond. I wasn't able to walk all the way over to it (my foot was acting up too much) and we had to settle for a somewhat distant view.

The Korean War Memorial and the Vietnam War Memorial were indispensable stops along our walk, as they were for many other people – of all the sights we saw, these were the most visited . . . and I guess we can understand why.

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