May 14th, 2021 … Summer of Fun continues!

We took roads Charlie & I prefer today! We were on US 29 for the majority of our travel day. I was able to catch a neat picture of a few of our rigs as we exited from I-64 onto US 29.

We exited US 29 onto I-66 and I-495, this picture shows why Charlie & I prefer to travel those two lanes! I miss our friend and traveling buddy Nancy, but she would have hated this portion of the drive! We arrived at Cherry Hill Park, our home for the next 4 nights! We have a chartered bus for a Nighttime Tour of Washington, DC.

As we headed in, we found a few awesome murals on the buildings. There is an annual mural event in the nation's capital. 2021 will make it their 6th year in Washington, DC, the Pow! Wow! DC mural festival always boasts an impressive collection of work by artists the world over. The painting continue through a weekend, within the NoMa District, in the area around Gallaudet University. This piece is from the 2019 event.

This piece is from the 2020 Pow! Wow! Event. Aniekan Udofia is one of the District’s most well-known visual artists. Udofia is the artist behind such well-known DC public art works as the Frederick Douglass mural in Anacostia, the Duke Ellington building mural, and the gagged George Washington mural on U St. NW. With his work gaining national attention, the 33-year old Nigerian artist has come to be known by many as a prominent face of DC art.

At the US Capitol the Senate and the House of Representatives come together to discuss, debate and deliberate national policy; develop consensus; and craft the country's laws. As the nation has grown so has the US Capitol. Today it covers well over 1.5 million square feet, has over 600 rooms, and miles of corridors. It is crowned by a magnificent white dome that overlooks the city of Washington and has become a widely recognized icon of the American people and government. The US Capitol's design was selected by President George Washington in 1793 and construction began shortly thereafter. The US Capitol is among the most architecturally impressive and symbolically important buildings in the world. It has housed the meeting chambers of the Senate and the House of Representatives for over two centuries. Begun in 1793, the US Capitol has been built, burnt, rebuilt, extended and restored; today, it stands as a monument not only to its builders but also to the American people and their government.

I forgot this was here, but located along a two-block pedestrian area of 16th Street NW in Downtown DC, this mural features the words “Black Lives Matter” in 50-foot-tall letters, in yellow and all caps, as well as the flag of the District. The portion of 16th Street on which the mural is showcased, located just outside of the White House, was officially renamed by Mayor Muriel Bowser as “Black Lives Matter Plaza NW.”

Our next stop was the Jefferson Memorial. The location and architecture of the memorial makes it stand out among DC’s amazing array of monuments and memorials. Designed by John Russell Pope in 1925, the memorial resembles the Pantheon in Rome, an adaptation of neoclassical architecture favored by Thomas Jefferson himself. Surrounded by water, the structure is located on the National Mall's Tidal Basin, a large body of water that is bordered by DC’s famous cherry blossom trees. As philosopher and statesman, Thomas Jefferson served in many capacities during his life: lawyer, politician, scientist, linguist, meteorologist, book collector, architect, farmer and diplomat. Of course, his two most famous posts were as the third US president and the author of the first draft of the Declaration of Independence.

The memorial is meant to reflect his diverse and plentiful accomplishments. The open-air, white columned structure shelters a 19-foot bronze statue of Jefferson, standing at the ready to welcome visitors. His gaze is toward the White House.

The walls of the Jefferson Memorial contain words from his various texts; one expresses his idea about the right to religious freedom, while another features the importance of changing laws to represent the changing times. One of the memorial’s most powerful sights can be found on its southwest wall. On the left side of the Jefferson statue, you will find some of the most impactful words in the history of the United States, taken directly from the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

The Tidal Reservoir Inlet Bridge on Ohio Drive is a successful blending of engineering designs and necessities while achieving the height of aesthetics. The tidal gates of the inlet control and regulate the water received from the river according to the tidal action and the pressure exerted or not exerted on the gates. As a focal point of Potomac Park, the Tidal Reservoir Inlet Bridge contributes to the monumental design of the Capital City. The bridge was also designed to include a roadway, in 1909, at a time automobile traffic was only beginning to appear. The design of the bridge shows the influence of the Neo-Classical style with ornate details such as gargoyles and classical balustrades.

Next we visited the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial and we were transported to a trying time in American history. An era ripe with economic depression and international conflict. The memorial, which honors the 32nd president of the United States, is composed of four “outdoor rooms” which represent each of President Roosevelt’s four terms as commander in chief. It has bronze sculptures of the president, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and his trusty canine and First Pet Fala.

There are scenes from the Great Depression of fireside chats and waiting in bread lines are surrounded by engravings of 21 famous quotes. The memorial provides a unique experience and unparalleled insight into the trials and tribulations of America’s longest-serving president.

We caught a unique glimpse of the Washington Monument, with its reflection in the Tidal Reservoir. Built to honor George Washington, the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army and the first president of the United States, the Washington Monument was once the tallest building in the world at just over 555 feet. The monument to America’s first president still holds the title of world’s tallest stone structure and obelisk.  The structure was originally designed by Robert Mills, with construction beginning in 1848. The combination of the Civil War, the Know Nothing Party's rise to control of the Washington National Monument Society through an illegal election and lack of funding led to a halt in construction in 1854. When construction resumed in 1879, marble was used from a different quarry, and time and weather erosion have led to the difference in color, which begins at the 150-foot mark. The monument was finally completed in 1884 by Thomas Casey and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and an elevator was added to the monument in 1889.

The sun was setting as we walked from the FDR memorial to the MLK memorial.

Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most prominent figures in the Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century, fighting racial inequality, advocating for voting rights, and championing desegregation movements. He was integral to shaping the country we know today, and our nation’s capital honors his legacy with the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.

Two walls of quotes are engraved with some of his most famous words. The focal point of the memorial is inspired by a line from that renowned 1963 speech: “With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.” Two large walls of granite, metaphorical mountains of despair, stand in front of a 30-foot sculpture of Dr. King entitled the Stone of Hope. The edges of these sculptures all feature scrape marks, symbolizing the struggles of Dr. King and the Civil Rights movement.

The Korean War Memorial commemorates the sacrifices of the 6 million Americans who served in the US Armed Services during the three-year period of the Korean War. 54,246 Americans died in support of their country. Of these, 8,200 were listed as missing in action, or lost or buried at sea at the Honolulu Memorial, at the time of the Korean War Courts of the Missing dedication in 1966.  In addition 103,284 were wounded during the conflict.

The mural wall creates a two-dimensional work of art adjacent to the three-dimensional statues. The wall consists of 41 panels extending 164 feet. Over 2,400 photographs of the Korean War were obtained from the National Archives. They were enhanced by computer to give a uniform lighting effect and the desired size. The mural, representing those forces supporting the foot soldier, depicts Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard personnel and their equipment. The etchings are arranged to give a wavy appearance in harmony with the layout of the statues. The reflective quality of the academy black granite creates the image of a total of 38 statues, symbolic of the 38th parallel and the 38 months of the war.

The 19 statues are approximately 7-feet tall and represent an ethnic cross section of America. The advance party has 14 Army, three Marine, one Navy and one Air Force members. The statues stand in patches of juniper bushes and are separated by polished granite strips, which give a semblance of order and symbolize the rice paddies of Korea. The troops wear ponchos covering their weapons and equipment. The ponchos seem to blow in the cold winds of Korea.

As you walk toward the Lincoln Memorial, you can watch as it gradually gets larger. When you stand directly in front, gaze at the handsome marble columns surrounded by greenery, part of a design inspired by ancient Greek temples. There are 36 columns, each one representing one state in the US at the date of President Lincoln’s death. The memorial itself is 190 feet long and 119 feet wide, and reaches a height of almost 100 feet. As you climb the stairs leading to the interior, and look up. There, etched into the wall, is a memorable quote: "In this temple, as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the Union, the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever."

Below the quote sits a 19-foot tall, 175-ton statue of President Lincoln, himself looking out over the Mall of the country that he fought so hard to preserve and unite. The statue was designed by Daniel Chester French, who worked to depict Lincoln during the Civil War, stately and dignified. Interestingly, though the memorial was approved decades earlier, construction did not begin until 1914, and the memorial opened to the public in 1922.

To the left of the statue is Lincoln’s great speech, the Gettysburg Address, one of the most famous in U.S. history. Every single word of the address is etched into the wall to inspire Americans just as it did in 1863. To the right is the entire Second Inaugural Address, given in March of 1865 — mere months before Lincoln’s death.

We headed to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial pays tribute to the brave members of the US Armed Forces who fought in the Vietnam War and were killed or missing in action. The memorial consists of two separate parts: The Three Soldiers statue and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, also known as The Wall That Heals, which is the most popular feature.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall provides one of the National Mall’s most powerful scenes. In truth, the “wall” is actually made up of two identical walls that each stretch 246 feet and 9 inches, containing more than 58,000 names. The names are listed in chronological order based on the date of casualty, and within each day, names are shown in alphabetical order. The wall’s walls point to two other prominent memorials, do you know which two?

Perhaps the memorial wall’s most defining characteristic is a visitor’s ability to see his or her reflection at the same time as the engraved names, connecting the past and the present like few other monuments can. Visitors to the wall leave small American flags, boots, dog tags, flowers and other momentos.

The National World War II Memorial honors the 16 million people who served as part of the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II, including more than 400,000 who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country. The memorial sits along the central vista of the National Mall, at the east end of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Symbols of America’s triumph in the Second World War are artfully displayed all over the World War II Memorial, which has a splendid fountain at its center. 56 granite columns symbolize unity among the 48 states, seven federal territories and the District of Columbia. The columns form a semi-circle around the memorial’s plaza, with two 43-foot tall arches on opposite sides. The northern arch represents victory in the Atlantic, while the southern arch symbolizes victory in the Pacific.

When you enter the memorial’s semi-circle from the east, look for two walls on each side of you. Each contains scenes from the war beautifully rendered in bronze relief. On the left (towards the Pacific arch), the scenes progress through the experience of war, from physical exams all the way to homecoming. The right side pays tribute to the Atlantic, as the last scene depicts American and Russian armies shaking hands as the two sides met in Germany at the conclusion of the war.

One of the World War II Memorial’s most striking features is the Freedom Wall. 4,048 gold stars pay tribute to American lives lost at war (each star represents 100 Americans), while dozens of battle names and military campaign destinations are also on display. In front of the wall, a stone fittingly reads, “Here we mark the price of freedom.”

It was a moving and memorable evening of touring our history. Stay tuned for more adventures with us, on our #TwoLaneAdventure