A “Monumental” Success
Ahh, see what I did there with the title? That there’s called a pun! Because last weekend we went into Washington D.C. to see the monuments! Yes, after only 2.5 years of living here, we finally saw the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial (who knew it wasn’t about a car?), and the WWII memorial.
We started off later than we wanted, and drove in figuring it was the weekend and finding a spot would be okay. We got onto Constitution Avenue, and apparently we weren’t the first ones to have that idea. Fortunately, someone’s parking genie was on the fritz and accidentally gave us a great spot. Here’s the view from where we parked.
From our parking spot, Sharon and the kids run to the monument before I can change my mind!
Run!
You run too!
After they ran around for a while, we finally got to the monument. That would be the Washington Monument, if you’ve been living under a rock. Of course they didn’t care about the monument…it was all about playing on the wall around the monument, running around the sidewalk, or making silly noises. Oh well. At least it wasn’t begging to go home or begging for snacks, which is what usually happens when we go out.
It beats begging for snacks...
Sorry Dad, your shutter speed is too slow for me!
After ignoring the Washington Monument, we headed west toward the WWII memorial.
The WWII Memorial
The WWII Memorial
After a quick stay at the WWII Memorial, and a quick snack for the kids, we headed to the reflecting pond to walk toward the Lincoln Memorial. You know, that nice, clear body of water between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument? The one that looks so refreshing, so tempting to jump in? Yeah, the water isn’t quite like that. But it has ducks!
Mmm...refreshing!
Come back!
Finally, something interesting to see - a rock!
Hey Matthew, we said not so close!
Yeah, the kids cared more about the dirty water, the rocks, and the ducks than anything else. Oh well. Again, I’ll take happy and disinterested any day. We dragged them away from the cesspool, er, reflecting pond, and finally got to see Honest Abe.
The Man Himself
But I bet you never saw a picture of the elevator!
After that, the kids were fading quickly and Sharon pointed out that it was 11:50, so we hightailed it out of there and headed back for the car so we could make it home in time for lunch and naps. On the way back we took the trail rather than walking along the pond, and the view was much nicer.
The trail was definitely cleaner!
We got back to the car in record time…in fact we must have broken the speed of light, because it was only 10:50…not 11:50. Oh well. The kids were ready, we were there, and there’s always next weekend!
OMG, Bill these photos are amazing! of course the subjects (the kids, not the monuments) are deliciously gorgeous!