Washington Monument

Courtesy of History.com On December 6, 1884 : The Washington Monument was completed. Workers place a nine-inch aluminum pyramid atop a tower of white marble, completing the construction of an impressive monument to the city's namesake and the nation's first president, George Washington. As early as 1783, the infant U.S. Congress decided that a statue of George Washington, the great Revolutionary War general, should be placed near the site of the new Congressional building, wherever it might be. After then-President Washington asked him to lay out a new federal capital on the Potomac River in 1791, architect Pierre L'Enfant left a place for the statue at the western end of the sweeping National Mall (near the monument's present location).It wasn't until 1832, however--33 years after Washington's death--that anyone really did anything about the monument. That year, a private Washington National Monument Society was formed. After holding a design competition and choosing an elaborate Greek temple-like design by architect Robert Mills, the society began a fundraising drive to raise money for the statue's construction. These efforts--including appeals to the nation's schoolchildren--raised some $230,000, far short of the $1 million needed. Construction began anyway, on July 4, 1848, as representatives of the society laid the cornerstone of the monument: a 24,500-pound block of pure white marble.Six years later, with funds running low, construction was halted. Around the time the Civil War began in 1861, author Mark Twain described the unfinished monument as looking like a "hollow, oversized chimney." No further progress was made until 1876--the centennial of American independence--when President Ulysses S. Grant authorized construction to be completed.Made of some 36,000 blocks of marble and granite stacked 555 feet in the air, the monument was the tallest structure in the world at the time of its completion in December 1884. In the six months following the dedication ceremony, over 10,000 people climbed the nearly 900 steps to the top of the Washington Monument. Today, an elevator makes the trip far easier, and more than 800,000 people visit the monument each year. A city law passed in 1910 restricted the height of new buildings to ensure that the monument will remain the tallest structure in Washington, D.C.--a fitting tribute to the man known as the "Father of His Country."

While in the monument a Park Ranger was asked about the law of building height. She stated that that was in fact a myth. The DC law actually states that no building can be taller than twice the width of the street that borders it.

When I first arrived in DC the Washington Monument was the first recognizable site I saw from a distance. And, like I thought, it was pretty much amazing to see. I was so surprised that I could so distinctly see the place where the monument construction had been halted and then later restarted.

Looking up towards the top from the 500 foot level, once inside the monument.

Us at the top! The view is phenomenal!

The White House! Can you imagine having a backyard like that?

~~~~

There are pictures of the view above each window that points out buildings of importance, etc. The next sets of pictures show the labeled photo and the one I took.

~~~~

In the above pictures you can see the WWII Memorial in the picture I took, but it hadn't been completed when the labeled photo was taken.

~~~~

Lincoln Memorial above
~~~~
WWII Memorial below

In the picture below you can see the Cherry Blossoms on the Tidal Basin and where there is a construction project going on. This is where there will be a memorial to Martin Luther King, Jr. To see more information see the Build the Dream website. I'll have to return to see it when it is complete.

~~~~

~~~~

Thomas Jefferson Memorial

Holocaust Museum is in the center of the photo below.

Josh asked me if I'd seen all the blankets on the lawn getting ready for the concert we thought they were going to have. I hadn't, but it looked cool one I saw it. Looks a bit like a patchwork quilt.

~~~~~~

~~~~

Model of the cap on the monument that is made from aluminum, meant to be a lightning rod.

Between the years of 1998-2001 there was a construction project going on to check the monument, add an elevator, create a information area just below the view point floor. The picture below is for my dad. That is all scaffolding surrounding the monument. :)

There are all kinds of "plaques" on the interior of the monument dedicated by each state to Washington. You can see some of them when you come down in the elevator, which doesn't stop, just slows so the pictures are a bit blurry.

Floor tiling.

Carving in the monument.

Once we got down we headed over to see the concert. It wasn't a concert. The "blankets" were actually yoga mats and there were massive amounts of people doing yoga. Pretty darn cool to see.

Josh and I both loved going up in the Monument and because I got tickets online early we didn't even have to get in line, or on line as they say in the east, at 5 am like lots of people did. Woohoo for pre-planning!

Wizards vs Bulls

After spending the day outside we headed for an inside arena. The Chicago Bulls were in town to play the Washington Wizards. We sat pretty much in the nosebleeds, but it was still a fun time.

During half-time, which I still have an inclination to call intermission, there was an adorable kid (probably 5 years-old) that did some amazing things with a basketball.

There was also an area break dance group that performed. Josh was lucky enough to get his picture with them at the end of the evening when they were outside the exit we left from.

He'd also told me about some guys that were drummers around the Verizon Center, the arena we were at. They weren't around before the game, but we turned the corner after the game and there they were.

Check out the video clip too!

He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed. ~Albert Einstein

It can be said that Albert Einstein is one of the most inspiring scientific minds of all time. The contributions he made to science are spectacular. That is a good reason for the Albert Einstein Memorial to be on the grounds of the National Academy of Sciences. I think my favorite memorial in DC is this one. After being on the Tidal Basin and at FDR's Memorial, Josh and I headed over to see Einstein. He is huge, but seems so kind in his demeanor and posture. In his hands he is holding a manuscript with some of his most famous formulas.

"It is fun to be in the same decade with you." ~FDR in a letter to Winston Churchill

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the 32nd President of the United States and elected president for four terms before he died of a stroke two years into his fourth term. He assumed the presidency during the Great Depression and is credited with keeping the country's economic crisis from becoming a political crisis. He served as President during WWII and died in office just before the war ended. (Info courtesy of Wikipedia and White House Archives)

Today, I was in his presence, or at least in the presence of a memorial dedicated to him. To see more about the meaning behind it see this link. There are four "rooms" in the memorial, each paying tribute to one of FDR's terms.

In the first room FDR is sculpted in a wheelchair as he was paralyzed by polio when he was younger. This was a controversial addition to the memorial, but ultimately it was determined that it was a fitting tribute.

The second room consists of three scenes. The first is of the "Rural Couple."

The second is of the "Breadline." These two sculptures represent the trying times America was having during the Great Depression.

The third scene is of a man listening to the radio, typifying the country listening to FDR's fireside chats and is fittingly called, "The Fireside Chat."

In this room there was also five pillars and five murals portraying the New Deal. No pictures, sorry, but you can see them on that link I mentioned earlier.


The third room portrays FDR's third term. This is a time that the country is deep in war, and this sculpture portrays his still human-ness with his dog sitting ever faithfully at his side.

FDR died before he finished his fourth term. In the room commemorating his last two years as President there is a sculpture of Eleanor Roosevelt. She was a vital player in politics and society during her time as First Lady. She travel, spoke, wrote newpaper columns and held weekly press conferences. This is the first time that a first lady has been honored in a presidental memorial.

There are waterfalls throughout the memorial. This memorial is very unlike most of the Presidental Memorials found in DC, but was a nice change pace. Did you know this?... There is an original FDR memorial...yes, I was surprised too. Read this to find out why.

"In the cherry blossom's shade there's no such thing as a stranger." ~Kobayashi Issa

After Josh got off work he came into DC to meet me and sight-see for the afternoon. We headed down to the Tidal Basin and joined the throngs of people who were all enjoying the beautiful blossoms that are the focal point of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. On the way we walked through the National Sculpture Garden, Chinatown, and by the Smithsonian Castle.

In 1912, Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo, Japan giften to the city of Washington 3,000 Cherry Blossom Trees. In March of 1912, First Lady Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, planted the first two trees from Japan on the north bank of the Tidal Basin in West Potomac Park. In 1915, the United States Government reciprocated with a gift of flowering dogwood trees to the people of Japan. A group of American school children reenacted the initial planting in 1927 and the first "festival” was held in 1935, sponsored by civic groups in the Nation’s Capital.

First Lady Lady Bird Johnson accepted 3,800 more trees in 1965. In 1981, the cycle of giving came full circle. Japanese horticulturists were given cuttings from our trees to replace some cherry trees in Japan which had been destroyed in a flood.

Today, more than a million people visit the Nations Capital to see the beautiful blossoms. This event is the reason I scheduled my trip over the dates that I did. Josh and I were among the million people that walked the TIdal Basin, under the fluttering petals of the blossoms overhead. Even with all the people, it was well worth it.

Below is the lantern that is lit during the festival.

Are we to look at cherry blossoms only in full bloom, at the moon only when it is cloudless?" ~Yoshida Kenkô