Day 50 - A Glorious Burden

We had an early start in DC as we had a lot planned for our only full day in the city. There are so many sights and museums that we had to be strict with what we saw and as rain was forecast from 2pm, the weather needed to be factored in.

We started at one end of the Mall by the Lincoln Memorial. Walking up the steps and standing in front of the statue lead to the desired effect of staring at an imposing and authoritative figure. However, whether intended or not, the seated figure has one foot in front of the other as though he is just about to get up and greet you. That was my interpretation. Another could be he was about to address a large crowd by the Reflecting Pool, ala Martin Luther King Junior. On either side of the statue are memorials to the Vietnam and Korean War. Both I found to be tasteful and powerful. In particular the statues of soldiers in the Korean War Memorial that appear to be in the middle of trapsing through dense woodland. It didn't matter from what angle I looked, one of the statues appeared to be staring me right in the eyes with some in a state of calm whilst others were dripping in fear. The Vietnam Memorial had a more traditional main statue of three brothers-in-arms. We walked along the Reflective Pool and reached the Second World War Memorial. There are two areas of war represented here and with water fountains on each side, one for the Atlantic and the other the Pacific. We decided at this point to go to the White House as the clouds were gathering above. It was a bit of a walk and once there we jostled for position in front of the railings with camera in hand amongst other eager tourists. Well worth it though.

It was then museum time. First up was the Air and Space Museum. Alice was keen to visit and after seeing a few rooms I could see why. The range of old civilian and military planes is impressive and I found the Great War Room to be of particular interest. The details of not just the (limited) role of aeroplanes but also the war as a whole was well presented. There are also a great number of objects from the Apollo 11 mission amongst other items used during the space race.

The next museum was the Museum of American History. I thought it might be bigger before we entered, however it turned out to be a good size and not too overwhelming. Exhibits ranged from the original Bert and Ernie Sesame Street puppets to one of the filing cabinets that were ripped open during the Watergate scandal. I found there to be the right amount of text to exhibits and general space in the room ratio. As we drank coffees in the cafe and watched the rain pouring outside, we were pleased that we had timed the day correctly.

Before too long the rain petered out and we headed to downtown DC. We were starting to get tired and wrapped up the day with a tasty Chinese meal.

Song of the Day:
The Postal Service - The district sleeps alone tonightRead more