Americans know how to do Memorials

Guidebook in hand, Janelle and I went touring around the city. Janelle has a friend from her University that’s also in DC for the summer interning, so we met him, Andrew and his roommate Martin from Massachusetts. They are both interning on the Hill for different Senators. We met at a Metro stop late morning and the four of us trekked around all day. We started at the White House, snapped a few pictures, walked through the Ellipse toward the Washington Monument. From there we walked west towards the WWII Memorial, which I thought was really great. It fits the bill for a memorial in DC: beautiful architecture, large columns, big stairways, and great words etched in stone. Since it’s Memorial long weekend, there were a lot of Veteran bikers in town, wearing leather vests covered with Army patches and what not. I talked briefly to a couple from Montreal. He was a Canadian Vet. The Memorial was very sombre, and overtaking and it made me think of what it would be like to live through WWII. Indescribable.

I then walked, with my three new friends, down the National Mall. We stopped first the Korean War Veteran's Memorial on our way to the Lincoln Memorial. This is a MUST SEE monument. I've done a far bit of travelling; I've seen the coliseum, the pyramids and enjoyed a lot of great Italian architecture, but this memorial was breathtaking. It's built in a Greek temple style, and it really does feel like it. For those of you who have stood in the Pantheon in Rome, you'll know what I'm talking about. It's very similar to that. The Memorial feels like it holds power. Lincoln's second inaugural speech is etched on one side of the building and the other is the Gettysburg Address. As I read them, it's almost as I felt the reverberation of the powerful words that he once spoke. He was a great leader, perhaps the greatest American president of all time, and I could almost feel the burden of the country during the Civil War weighing on him. It was also really amazing to stand right where Martin Luther King Jr. stood as he delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963. Not to be cheesy, but I could feel the history.
SORRY about the weird font thing. I've tried re-formatting it, but these few paragraphs are being beyond stubborn.

Vietnam Veteran's War Memorial

The Vietnam Veteran's War Memorial is also incredible and humbling. My guide book describes it as “a black granite V cuts into the Mall, just as the war it memorializes cut into the national psyche.” I was there on a Saturday afternoon, and there was a bit crowd around it, but everyone slowly walks past it being very respectful of was the Memorial represents. So many people sacrificed their lives for others. I know people say that a lot, but just think, all those names represent people who died for others. It’s overwhelming. I reached out my hand like all people do to feel the names etched in the granite, and it sent shiver down my spine. My dad told me this before I went and saw it, but for those of you who don’t know, it was designed by an undergrad who was 21 at the time and her idea was to create wound in the ground to represent the gravity of the loss of soldiers. And I definitely felt it.

Nancy Regan inaugural gown in 1981.

My first Smithsonian Museum was the National Museum of American History. I have 3 highlights from there: 1) The flag from that inspired The Star-Spangled Banner. This flag flew over Fort McHenry in Baltimore during the War of 1812. It is really big, and displayed in an awe-inspiring way. I said “wow” when I first saw it. 2) Abe Lincoln’s top hat. There is a special exhibition there until the end of the month about Lincoln, and it was pretty incredible. I didn’t know this, but his wife Mary was a foot shorter than him. 3) The last highlight would be the 1^st Lady Collection, and all the inaugural ball gowns on display. Michelle Obama’s dress, jewellery and shoes are on display. Although similar to Michelle’s dress I preferred Nancy Regan’s gown ($22 500 worth of beauty). It is absolutely stunning. And of course Jackie O.’s gown is gorgeous. From the mannequins all the First Ladies seemed quite fit, with the exception of Barbara Bush, and her blue velvet disaster. Mind you, it was the 80s.

I’m a big fan of art galleries, and the National Gallery of Art is a must-see in Washington. It holds over 110, 000 objects, so I’m definitely going back there to take it all in. My favourite there was the Presidential Portrait Gallery. Andrew Jackson’s and Ronald Regan’s were very beautiful. And the actual architecture of the museum is amazing. I was comparing it to the National Art Gallery in Ottawa, and I think I like them equally. One just feels Canadian, and the other feels American.

The Hope Diamond is on display at the American Museum of Natural History. I was pretty tired by then, but I still could appreciate the beauty of a 31 carat blue diamond. I’ll probably go back there later. The greatest part of this day, was that all this didn’t cost a cent. The only money I spent all day was for lunch and the Metro.

My roommate Janelle has some friends who’ve lived here for about a year so we went over to their house in the evening for margaritas. They were pretty hilarious, and they gave us a locals DC orientation, and told us all about things that “were so DC.” They live in a really great neighbourhood, and I wish I could have taken pictures of the houses, but it was too dark. They called it the Brooklyn of DC. They gave me some really good tips, like read The Hill to stay in the loop about what’s going on, on the Hill, and to get a gmail account (which I already do), because everyone who’s anyone google chats.

My internship starts next week, and it’s out in Arlington, so I wanted to take a test run on the Metro to see how far it took to get out there. On Sunday, two of my roommates came with me, Prium and Janelle, and we also met up with Janelle’s friend Andrew. Arlington National Cemetery was on the agenda, and we walked about the 600 acres for about 3 hours. It was amazing. There were a lot of families and friends visiting graves and dropping off flowers. So it felt very real. I saw the changing of the guard at the grave of the Unknown Soldier. Janelle looked it up later, but the army men guarding it volunteer for the position, and they have to march back and forth in front of it, in full dress uniform in the heat. I could not believe it. I was melting the whole day and I was only wearing a T-shirt and shorts. Here’s a link, if you’re into that kind of thing. Arlington Cemetery Website

The Kennedy’s gravesite sits at the top of the hill, and the view from there is spectacular. I could see the Potomac River, the Pentagon, Capitol Hill and the Washington Monument all while looking down on acres of gravesites and jets were constantly flying into the DCA airport. It’s pretty spectacular. There are quite a few other famous people there, a few chief justices, but we didn’t see them all.

This picture doesn't do it justice!

The other really cool thing we did today was lunch at Ray’s Hell Burger. It’s in Arlington, pretty close to where I work. I was pretty disgusted when they asked me how I’d like my burger done, but then I remember this is America. The selection of burgers is pretty incredible, so if you’re ever in DC, go here! Obama and Biden stopped in here once, or so my guide book tells me. The burger I had at lunch has kept me full for hours. I thought of my brothers, who'd just eat this place up.