I-64 took us on the Hampton Bridge Tunnel. From I-64, we got onto I295 for a few miles and then we got onto US 301. US 301 took us to MD 5 and then I-495 around the east side of Washington to College Park MD.
The tree canopies are nice in Virginia, but they don't cover the road like they do in Florida and Georgia!
We crossed into Maryland by crossing the Potomac River on the Governor Harry W. Nice Memorial / Senator Thomas “Mac” Middleton Bridge.
Cherry Hill Park is our home for the next 5 days!
We had a scheduled Night Tour of the Monuments tonight, so we just got set up, relaxed a bit and then headed to the bus stop to grab our ride for the night!
On our way to pick up the tour guide, Carl, the bus driver gave us tons of history as he drove. I loved all the stories of the row houses! The prices are amazingly high! The 2-story yellow one sold this year for over 3 million dollars!
The Capital Building was our first stop and that is where we picked up our tour guide, Larry. Fun fact.... Larry was the tour guide we had in May of 2021 when we visited DC as part of the Yankee RV Tours Patriot Tour caravan! Small world!
Our next stop was the White House, since Trump is out of town, we were not invited in! But, we were able to get some great shots of the north entrance! The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the US. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in DC, it has served as the residence of every US president since John Adams in 1800 when the nation's capital was moved from Philadelphia.
We passed the Washington Monument. It was built to honor George Washington, the United States' first president, the 555-foot marble obelisk towers over DC. The Washington Monument, designed by Robert Mills and eventually completed by Thomas Casey and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, honors and memorializes George Washington at the center of the nation's capital. The structure was completed in two phases of construction, one private (1848-1854) and one public (1876-1884). Hense, the color change in the building materials.
Rudulph Evans' bronze statue of Jefferson stands centered in the chamber on a black Minnesota granite pedestal, which is inscribed with the dates of Jefferson's birth and death (1743-1826). The statue depicts Jefferson in mid-life, holding the Declaration of Independence in his left hand.
On the way to MLK memorial, I got a nice shot of the Washington Monument over the Tidal Basin. The NPS is in the midst of a 113 million project to deal with the flooding problem, for at least for part of the Tidal Basin. This effort, funded through the Great American Outdoors Act, aims to fix that and keep things stable for the next century. Construction started in 2024 and is expected to wrap up in 2027. Workers are reinforcing 6,800 feet of seawall with new foundations to prevent future sinking. The walls are also being raised—up to 4.75 feet around the Tidal Basin and 5.5 feet along West Potomac Park—to handle rising sea levels and wave surges.
Out of the Mountain of Despair, a Stone of Hope. Is the only quote from the "I have a Dream" Speech that is at the memorial. Located in downtown DC, the memorial honors Martin Luther King, Jr.'s legacy and the struggle for freedom, equality, and justice. A prominent leader in the modern civil rights movement, Dr. King was a tireless advocate for racial equality, working class, and the oppressed around the world.
"Freedom Is Not Free" is the quote at the Korean War Veterans Memorial, "Our nation honors her sons and daughters who answered the call to defend a country they never knew and a people they never met." For three years the fighting raged. In 1953, an uneasy peace returned by means of a negotiated settlement that established a new boundary near the original one at the 38th parallel. One-and-a-half million American men and women, a true cross-section of the nation’s populace, struggled side by side during the conflict.
The triangular Field of Service at this memorial is where a group of 19 stainless-steel statues, crated by World War II veteran Frank Gaylord, depicts a squad on patrol and evokes the experience of American ground troops in Korea. Strips of granite and scrubby juniper bushes suggest the rugged Korean terrain, while windblown ponchos recall the harsh weather. This symbolic patrol brings together members of the US Air Force, Army, Marines and Navy.
From here we walked to the Lincoln Memorial. The Lincoln Memorial proudly crowns the National Mall’s post-Civil War western terminus, sharing prominence with the Washington Monument at the other end.
From his seat, the marble Lincoln confidently gazes eastward, across ground that stretches like the stripes of the American flag toward an always rising sun. Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865, just as the Civil War was ending. By March of 1867, Congress commissioned that the a memorial was to be built to honor the slain 16th president.
There is much symbolism in this Monument, no wonder it is the most visited one in DC. The 36 columns represent the 36 states that were part of the Union at the time of Lincoln's death. Some interpretations suggest that Lincoln's hands symbolize his dual nature – one hand clenched to represent his resolve during the war, and the other open to represent his desire for reconciliation and peace. The use of marble from different states in the memorial's construction is symbolic of the unification of the nation.
From here, we walked to the Vietnam Wall memorial. This memorial is honoring the men and women who served in the controversial Vietnam War. It chronologically lists the names of Americans who gave their lives in service to their country.
Vietnam veteran Jan Scruggs felt his fellow soldiers needed a tangible symbol of recognition from America of their service and sacrifice. By 1979 a memorial fund was formed, and in 1980 land in Constitution Gardens was authorized for the memorial placement. A design competition was announced, and 21-year-old Yale architecture student Maya Lin earned the unanimous selection.
The central element of Lin's memorial is the shiny black granite wall in a wide V shape, with one "arm" directed toward the Lincoln Memorial and the other toward the Washington Monument. The faces of visitors are reflected in the walls bearing the etched names of the 58,318 men and women who died in combat or are listed as missing in action (MIA).
Those declared dead are marked by a diamond; those MIA are marked by a cross. If the person currently marked as MIA returns alive, a circle is placed around the cross. If his remains are identified, a diamond is superimposed over the cross.
We ended the night at the WWII memorial. It was kind of a let down to a great night tour. This memorial is so beautiful and I feel we were short changed on its significance and its beauty!
As one glances over the Rainbow Pool from the balcony of the victory pavilions, your field of vision is captured by a large field of gold stars on the west side. Each gold star represents 100 Americans who died in the war. Just over 4,000 of these stars clearly reflect the loss of 405,399 Americans in this titanic struggle. The field of stars is underscored by a granite marker embedded with the words “Here We Mark the Price of Freedom.” If one stands before the field of gold stars, the Rainbow Pool fountains and the waterfalls cascading on either side of the stars tend to obscure all extraneous sound.
Two engravings, marked “Kilroy Was Here” are tucked into corners of both the Atlantic and Pacific sides of the memorial. This “signature” of the memorial confers a further “tip of the hat” to the generation that served in World War II. This catch phrase, popular with troops overseas which clearly denoted that “the Yanks were here.
On our way out of DC we went through Chinatown.
Interesting eatery, with Chinese marquee!
It was a great night of seeing the historic monuments and sights in DC!
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