Our Nations Capital At Night
A few days ago, my youngest Chelsea’s friend Natasha came down to visit from Michigan. They have been touring around Washington D.C. with my grandmother and great aunt, Milly. Milly loves to travel and knows a lot about her home town, Washington D.C. She decided it would be a good idea for the girls to see some of the sites at night so; we went downtown a little after 9pm last night.
I am glad they asked me to come along even though I was pretty tired from work. We drove down 16th street through North West. 16th street use to be embassy row and it also has a lot of churches. Specifically, the Spanish and Italian embassies are still located there. The Spanish Embassy was quite impressive. At the end of 16th street, you are able to see the White House. Before 9/11 you could walk right in front of the building, but now you are restricted to a few hundred yards.
Once we hit Constitution, we drove west to see the Kennedy Center. It is an impressive structure located right on the Potomac River. At night, the entire outside of the building is bathed in light. We continued on over the bridge into Virginia to catch a glimpse of the Iwo Jima Memorial. It was erected to remember the Marines that gave their lives in the Battle for Iwo Jima in 1945.
Once we crossed the Potomac back into the District, we found a parking spot near the mall. A short walk later, we were right on the mall at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial. The view from on top of the steps is fantastic. You can look east over the reflecting pool toward the new World War II Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the Capital. It is simple a striking view at night. We spent some time taking pictures, looking at Abe’s awkward expression, and reading the Gettysburg Address.
We then traversed west to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. The wall was designed by Maya Lin when she was only 21. Milly had a chance to meet her while working in D.C. Milly has also worked under I. M. Pei. Her knowledge of the architecture of D.C. is extensive. She explained the Wall is recessed to ground level while pointing at one end to the Lincoln Memorial and one end pointing to the Washington Monument. Cool huh?
Next stop on our walking tour was the Korean War Veterans Memorial. This is one of my favorites because of its design. The Memorial is placed on a hill. A large number of statues of soldiers are consciously walking up the hill. Each statue is seven feet tall and has a different facial expression. The ground is designed to look like a rice patty with black marble and funky plants. At night, the statues are softly lit from the bottom up. The whole scene is rather ominous. At the top of the hill, there is a flag pole with a reflecting pool. Opposite of the statues is a black marble wall with actual photos of soldiers etched into its face. During the day, you can see your reflection staring among the soldiers. It’s cool.
Our final destination of the evening was a short drive from out first parking space. We traveled along the Potomac into the Tidal Basin to see the Jefferson Memorial. This memorial is placed right on the water front. You can actually walk down its stairs into the water! Milly told us the story of the dome. When they first tried to place the dome on the top of the Jefferson, it cracked. After a two year delay, they placed it without damage because of some advice from a worker on the project. He suggested lining the exterior with ice then placing the dome. Once the ice slowly melted, the dome would settle quite nicely without cracking. Good Idea! This made me wonder. How did Brunelleschi put together the Duomo in Florence hundreds of years ago when we couldn’t get it right the 1st time this century? Oh well, the Jefferson is still gorgeous. The statue of Jefferson in the middle of the memorial is very impressive.
By this point, the girls and I were tried. It was almost midnight! I need to get home to get some sleep for work. We drove back across the mall to find 12th street to cut over to 16th. What an enjoyable evening, and to think I was crabby at the beginning. Complaining about how I wanted to stay home - stupid me. I love to travel all over the world, but I soon forget what beauty I have right in my own backyard.
