Day 13a - 7/27/99

Arlington, VA

Arlington, VA

Total Miles: 4173 Miles Today: 0

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     Boy, did we have a busy Day!  We took some 90 or so pictures, so some of them we will save for tomorrow.  It's amazing to think that we started out the day at noon and got home at 7 and still had time to do everything that we did!
     The day started out slowly enough, with two "It's too early, reset the #$%#ing alarm"s.  About 11 we rolled out of bed and did all those wonderful waking up hygiene things.  We decided it would be easiest to go into D.C. by metro (since we are right across the Potomac) - We were originally going to walk to the station but ultimately decided to drive. (We didn't want to add a 20 minuet walk to each end of our day, a decision we did not regret later on.)  So we got to the station, found a parking place only to realize we were out of quarters, after doing laundry last night.  So we searched around for someone to give us change.  Ok.  We had change.  We stock up the meter and get 1/2 way to the station when we realize we've left the small memory card in the camera.  Thank goodness we didn't walk.  Rex races off to get the memory card while Dodi lies in the parking space we have just put $2.50 in quarters in.  Luck was with us and Dodi was not run over by a homicidal parker.
Journal_Day_13_Inside_Subway.jpg (7605 bytes)      If there is a subway in heaven (hey, isn't that a song?) it is probably based on the one they have in Washington D.C..  It is:
A) Clean
B) Bright
C) Quiet
D) Uncrowded
E) Padded/Comfortable
     After having been in New York, D.C.'s subway system is like nirvana.  People around us couldn't understand why we were grinning like maniacs and snapping lots of pictures.  YeHeHeHe!
Journal_Day_13_White_House.jpg (9585 bytes)      We arrived in D.C. after an 11 minuet ride.  We came up three blocks from the White House.  It was a short walk to the AAA office, where we got a tour book, and stopped to eat at a little cafe.  One thing that we didn't realize about "The Mall" (where all the stuff is) is that it is large.   From the Capitol Building to the Lincoln Memorial is 2 miles.  It's about 1/4 mile wide and wider at some points.  That meant that every where we went was quite a hike.

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     We took a picture of the White house, as well as Sherman (from several angles (see above)).  Then we ventured on to the Washington Monument.   We were surprised to discover that some sort of restoration project had the Monument covered with scaffolding.  It was bizarre, as you can see, because the Monument still retained it's shape.  Even with the scaffolding the Monument still has power.  It is very tall.  It's hard to appreciate how big some of these monuments are when you only see them on movies and TV.  To the right is a panoramic shot of the Washington Monument from in front of the Lincoln Memorial.  The monument is about 3/4 of a mile away at that point.

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Journal_Day_13_Lincoln_Memorial_Statue.jpg (10842 bytes)      This, of course, is the Lincoln Memorial.  Again, we were surprised by the shear scale of the thing.  Very big, Very cool.  Along the walls was the text to Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and his 2nd Inaugural Speech.  I captured that in High Res and you can read the text - I'll post it later.
     After that we saw the Vietnam Memorial.  It was (strangely enough) smaller that Rex had thought it would be.  It was very touching and it was interesting how everyone who was going through and looking at it was quieted by it.

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(Click above for larger image)

     Above we see a view of the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial as seen from the other side of the Tidal Basin, where FDR's new Memorial is.

Due to the size of this day's update, it has been split into two pages.   Hit the next day button or the Day 13B link at left to get to the rest of the day.
 

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