I know, I know, the shutdown is so passé. Also, I doubt many of you need to know
that the Monuments exist and are free.
However, I love the Monuments - especially at night but that is another
post. For now I will tell you of
my wonderfully sunny bike tour of the monuments.
Thanks to Capital
Bikeshare, I rented a bike and began my trip by biking to the Jefferson
Memorial.
Of course, the memorial was shutdown:
I bet President Jefferson was rather lonely; at least he had
the very nice Park Ranger to keep him company.
After leaving the Jefferson Memorial, I rode past the George
Mason memorial, which I did not know existed. It was a beautiful park, and proves that even in the
well-travelled areas of D.C. little surprises are around every corner.
Next stop was the FDR Memorial (also closed).
I did meet three nice French women who had decided to take a
quick vacation to D.C. They landed
in D.C. Oct. 1 and I believe left Oct. 3 or 4. I encouraged them to visit the many private museums in
D.C.
That was probably one of the saddest parts of my trip. As I was surrounded by memorials to American
men and women who helped to build a great nation, the many visitors were
reminded of the shortcomings of democracy instead of the greatness of
democracy.
Next stop the MLK Memorial, which I have still not
seen. Then I visited what is
probably my favorite of the memorials on the mall - The Korean War
Memorial. Every time I visit it, I
hold my breath because it feels like the statues of soldiers are real and will
start moving. You can see on their
faces the weariness from the march and the fear that at any moment you could
hear enemy fire. I encourage all
of you to visit the Korean War Memorial on a foggy fall day. It will leave an impression on
you.
But on this fair October day, the Korean War Memorial was
the site of American go-getter attitude:
You say it is closed?
Well, I’ll move the barricade.
Then, of course, I saw the Lincoln, the Washington and the
Vietnam Memorial. I can never
bring myself to take a picture of the Vietnam Memorial - it just feels too
sacred. Probably because there are
always men and women standing at the Wall who are mourning the lost of friends,
family, and loved ones. I never
want to disturb their reflection.
I’m going to miss the scaffolding on the Washington Monument
and the lights at night. It was lovely. Also, note the tourist pretending to
hold up the Monument – I love that!
It was a wonderful afternoon and a great use of a few hours of unexpected free time (thanks furlough). And with that I went home, cleaned up, and cooked some dinner
for myself before spending the rest of the afternoon watching Absolutely Fabulous:
A big thank you to all of the Federal workers who kept
working even though they were not earning a paycheck. You kept our nation safe.
I’m so happy to be back at work and serving the American public. Although, I do miss being able to binge
watch AbFab.
