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The White House
Home of our idiot of a president We left New York City that afternoon and drove back down to Washington DC. Later that evening, Van made plans for us to meet up with a high school friend who was working in the area as an urban planner. Our plans were to meet up at a Cuban restaurant called Citron in the Dupont Circle area. Dinner was great and I discovered a wonderful Cuban drink called a mojito. After dinner, we just walked around Dupont Circle which is a very trendy and hip neighborhood of Washington DC. Van and her friend made plans to meet up again tomorrow for lunch. Today was a long day of driving so we headed back to Van's sister's house for an early night.
The next day was an early start as we were going to have a full day of sightseeing. We started out the day by visiting the White House. Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House was closed to traffic and there were a good number of Iraq War protesters camping out. We walked around the perimeter of the White House in order to see it from both sides. While walking we heard some rustling in the
trees above us and saw a man hiding in the trees. No doubt he was part of the elaborate security for the White House. Afterwards, we had a long walk in the humid weather to the Lincoln Memorial. We checked it out for a bit and saw the huge statue of a sitting Abraham Lincoln inside. It was every bit as impressive as I had imagined it to be. By now it was approaching noon and Van left to meet up with her friend for lunch. There was so much to see that I didn't want to waste time having lunch with somebody I don't even know. So I decided to continue exploring and agreed to meet up with Van in a few hours at the Smithsonian. After the Lincoln Memorial, I walked over to the Korean War Veterans Memorial. Built in 1993 and completed in 1995, the memorial commemorated the over 50,000 US soldiers killed during the Korean War. 19 statues resembling a squad on patrol were very lifelike, eerie, and spooky. From here, I walked over to the Vietnam War Veteran's Memorial. For many, this is the most emotional monument to visit in Washington DC. The main part
of the memorial is known as "The Wall". It is made up of 2 large granite walls with the names of every soldier missing or killed during the Vietnam War. Walking around here was a very solemn moment as people were leaving flowers and shedding a few tears for loved ones killed during the war. I walked back towards the Lincoln Memorial and had a great view of The National Mall and of the Washington Monument at the other end. I couldn't help but imagine what it must have been like almost 40 years ago when Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech right where I was standing. I walked passed the famous Reflecting Pool and immediately thought of the scene in Forrest Gump when Jenny waded into the pool to embrace Forrest. The pool was not in good condition as the waters were very green. I walked to the Washington Monument which initially didn't seem very far but in this humidity, the walk was very draining. Not feeling the need to pay to ascend to the top of the monument, I just sat there for about 20 minutes admiring the structure and soaking in
the atmosphere. Afterwards, I made my way over to the Smithsonian Museum to meet up with Van. We visited 2 of the museums, The National Museum and Natural History and the National Museum of American History. Feeling exhausted from the heat and humidity, we went back to Van's sister's house to relax before setting out for an all night drive down to Memphis.
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