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Published: November 27th 2007
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Ducks in the Reflecting Pond
Facing west, ducks wade in the reflecting pond with the Lincoln Memorial in the background. Safe Arrival - November 23rd, 2007
WE'VE ARRIVED IN D.C. (via Baltimore, Maryland)
We arrived safely and uneventfully to Baltimore-Washington International today, and were picked up by Andy and Chris. They took us to Bolling AFB where, over the weekend, we chilled in the "man cave" listening to music, playing video games, and doing homework. Sally had five papers which need to be complete by Sunday. She has less than two to have them done. Andy explained to us that Washington DC is broken into four quadrants: NW, NE, SE, and SW. Even though Bolling AFB does not lie within the capital's limits, it still lies within the SE portion. SE is known as the most dangerous part of DC where some odd 20 murders occur just shortly outside the gates at the Annacostia Metro stop. No need to fear for us though, we are staying within a safe-haven, as the crime doesn't occur past the gates of the base.
Sunday, November 25th, 2007
Early this morning, Andy took us into the heart (or mall) of DC to check into our hotel and meet up with Sally's class for a brief tour of DC. We are staying at
The Tidal Basin
Walking along the north side of the Roosevelt Memorial along the Tidal Basin. the Quincy, a mod little hotel between the Dupont and Washington circle. The bus tour was informational, provided courtesy of Sally's course instructor Dr. Shinn. He knows more about the capital than even the bus driver. After cruising around the several districts, the tour made a stop at the Jefferson Memorial, mostly because it is one of the farthest monuments from the Mall. Afterwards we made another stop at the Roosevelt Memorial (Franklin not Theodore,) a newer memorial commemorating his four terms in office. Our last stop was the National Cathedral. This cathedral took almost a century to construct and this year celebrates its centennial since inception. Remember, DC is one of our youngest cities and the only one to be planned entirely before building. The oldest buildings found here were made in the 1800s. The National Cathedral boasts several stained glass windows along the aisles of the nave. Each one depicts an event, person, or thing of American value. Examples include "first landing on the moon," "the Lewis and Clark Expedition," and George Washington. Other quirky things about the cathedral include a carved bust of Darth Vader, a GITMO stone donated by sailors stationed at Guantanamo Bay, and gargoyles
A Window
A stained glass window at the National Cathedral. lining the roof.
After the tour, we decided to go see more DC on foot. We began our tour out of our hotel down and over to Farragut Square. From there we went south to Lafayette Park, which is on the north side of the White House. After taking a bunch of photos of statues we came across street hockey players playing on the backside of the White House. We continued on the west side to view the Eisenhower Building (or Old Executive Office Building.) We crossed to the front (or south) side of the White House and followed the Ellipse to the east side of the Mall where we perused the Washington Monument. An impressive structure and humorous due to its two colors of stone. About half way through construction two things happened: they ran out of money, and learned the stone was too heavy and the base of the structure would not support the remaining obelisk. There were no more tours available for the day so we couldn't go inside. From there we headed west to the World War II Memorial, one of DCs newest memorials. The memorial sits on the east end of the Reflecting Pond opposite
the Lincoln Memorial. On the south side of the Reflecting Pond is the Korean War memorial which depicts several slightly-larger-than-people marching in V formation donned in rain-gear, helmoets, and PRC (pronounced pric) radios. On the north side of the Reflecting Pond is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The orthogonal projecting wall with the names of the soldiers killed during the conflict. By the time we toured the monuments, Curtis' feet and Sally's shin hurt. So we hailed a taxi back to the hotel. By the way, don't do that. Metro is cheaper!!! Sally had a dinner at six and so was on a time-budget.
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Amy
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Great Blog
Hey guys! I'm glad you arrived safely in DC. Hopefully Sally got a chance to finish all her papers. Don't forget to visit inside some of the Smithsonian museums or the Holocaust museum!