Visited May 29 - June 11, 2022
By Marty
We spent two full weeks exploring Washington DC and the surrounding area (from Fredericksburg, VA to Baltimore, MD.) This post covers the time we spent in DC proper, mostly on the National Mall. In a separate post I will cover our forays outside of DC.
This was was not our first time staying at Cherry Hill Park in College Park, MD. We spent a night here as we transited from Red Bay, AL to New England in Sept, 2020 (as part of our 2,100 mile detour from Buffalo, NY to Tiffin in Red Bay to Massachusetts.)
Cherry Hill Park has been family owned for over 100 years! It is a large and family friendly park. This tractor makes the rounds multiple times each evening with a new load of passengers each time. The driver was quite the character, hamming it up for the camping crowd as he drove along.
Cherry Hill Park is only about 30 minutes from the National Mall in DC by car, but it made more sense to avoid traffic and parking issues by taking the Metro into DC, which we did on three of the five times we ventured into DC.
View of the Capitol Building from Pennsylvania Ave
View of The White House from The Ellipse. You can't get very close and there is no way to get a photo without the fence, unless I were to launch a drone. Had I attempted a drone launch I suspect I'd be penning this post from jail, as the security was quite intense around The White House.
It occurs to me that the fence (i.e., the "bars") could be a metaphor for what our former President would be "behind" in a just world, given his bald attempts to subvert the greatest democracy this world has ever seen; one that Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and many other great Americans so selflessly and tirelessly devoted their lives to creating and preserving.
Oops... did I just say that out loud?
Built in 1899 the Old Post Office on Pennsylvania Avenue is the second tallest building in Washington DC. The tower is open for tours daily, offering sweeping views. We did not make it into the tower this time but did so on a DC visit in 2004 with our sons.
You may also know the building as the former Trump International Hotel, redeveloped into a luxury hotel by the Trump organization, opening in 2016, and garnering a great deal of press and controversy during Trump's presidency. The hotel is now the Waldorf Astoria Washington DC, that entity having acquired the lease from the Trump group in 2022.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture opened in 2016 as the 19th and newest museum of the Smithsonian Institution.
"...that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and pursuit of Happiness."
Thomas Jefferson owned over 600 enslaved people during his lifetime, the most of any U.S. president. Each of the bricks in the stack behind Jefferson is inscribed with the name of an enslaved person owned by Jefferson.
From inside the National African American Museum
For our second trip into DC we drove to Bethesda, MD and pedaled about ten miles on the Capital Crescent Trail into DC.
The Capitol Crescent Trail crosses over the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park.
From the NPS website:
"The C&O Canal stretches from Georgetown, DC to Cumberland, Maryland. Completed in 1850 the canal began as a dream of passage to Western wealth. Operating for nearly 100 years the canal was a lifeline for communities along the Potomac River as coal, lumber, and agricultural products floated down the waterway to market."
The towpath visible in this photo runs for 184.5 miles and is popular with hikers and bikers. At it's Cumberland, MD northern terminus the C&O connects to the Great Allegheny Passage (the GAP), a 150 mile rail trail that continues northwest to downtown Pittsburgh. If you were ever thinking about biking from Washington DC to Pittsburgh, a 315 mile jaunt, now you have a safe and scenic way to do it!
We cruised to and then around the Mall all day. DC has a pretty good bike system. This dedicated bike lane runs right down the middle of the street. Out of our way cars!
Because we were in DC in early June the Mall was overrun by school tour groups. Most of the groups had t-shirts made to identify their group. As we visited various museums these young Americans would come through in wave after wave.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial. My brother and two brothers-in-law served in that war. We are grateful that none of their names are on that wall, and we thank them for their service!
The Korean War Veterans Memorial
The Library of Congress was founded in 1800, making it the oldest federal cultural institution in the nation. In 1814 British troops burned the Capitol building, where the Library was housed, destroying the Library's core collection of 3,000 volumes.
In 1815 Congress approved the purchase of Thomas Jefferson's personal library of 6,487 books for $23,950. It wasn't until the second half of that century that Congress was persuaded to approve construction of a dedicated building to house "a single, comprehensive collection of American publications for use by both Congress and the American people."
The new Italian Renaissance style structure opened in 1897, the largest library in the world at the time, as a monument to American achievement and ambition. In essence, America was saying to the world: "there's a new kid in town".
The architecture, inside and out, is pretty impressive, if not stunning!
The Main Reading Room
Of 180 Gutenberg Bibles that were printed less than fifty survive today and only 21 are complete.
Most copies were printed on paper but this copy is printed on vellum, a fine parchment made from animal skins. The Library's copy is one of only several perfect vellum copies to survive.
Abel Buell's New and Correct Map of the United States, 1784
This is the first map of the newly independent United States compiled, printed, and published in America by an American. It is also the first map to be copyrighted in the United States. Only seven copies are known to exist; this copy is considered to be the best preserved of all editions.
I found it interesting that a handful of the states stretched from the Atlantic to the Mississippi at this time, including Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and, weirdly, Connecticut?
The Washington Monument, at 554' was the tallest man made structure in the world when completed in 1884 (it is still the world's tallest stone structure and the world's tallest obelisk.) It was surpassed in height by the Eiffel Tower in 1889. Sacre Bleu!
This is the only photo in this post dedicated solely to The Washington Monument. Given it's prominence from all parts of the National Mall, you will find the monument sharing the frame with other subjects numerous times. How many times? You tell me! The correct answer is at the end of this post.
World War II Memorial
And a shout out to my Dad, William J. Ward Jr. from Chicago, who served in that war.
We toured the U.S. Capitol. Our timing was fortunate because they had just resumed general public tours.
We extended our stay in Washington by two days in order to participate in the March for our Lives demonstration, inspired by the recent Uvalde and Buffalo mass shootings.
David Hogg was one of the featured speakers. David was a student in Parkland, Florida at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018 when 14 students and three faculty members were murdered in a mass shooting. David and other classmates founded the March for our Lives movement and organization. David is a compelling and passionate advocate for gun violence prevention measures.
Another excellent memento. Thank you Janell and Marty. Your Tiffin friends, Steve and Joy Payton
ReplyDeleteI was going to guess 7. Que sara
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