Monument Time!

Friday morning we had class and then watched a movie about things to do/see in DC. Quite a few members of the group have spent considerable amounts of time here, so they all had comments to make about all of these places when they were there last. I still hadn't experienced much on the way of tourism in the city yet, so a group of seven of us went out Friday afternoon to change that.

We decided to walk the Mall with a goal of reaching the Lincoln Memorial, and we made several stops along the way. First, we went to the National Archives and saw The Articles, The Declaration of Independence, The Bill of Rights, and several other important documents. The Constitution display was being worked on, so we'll have to go back and see that after next week. This may sound crazy, but my heart was literally racing as I was looking at these important documents. It just didn't seem real! And then we were in the gift shop where replicas are sold, and I felt like I was almost living the National Treasure story.

The group decided they needed coffee, so we detoured to Starbucks before hitting up The Washington Monument. We're going to the top next Friday, so we just walked by this time. Then Kristine looked at me and said "Amy Jo, don't turn around, but TURN AROUND and look!" What was it, my first glimpse of THE WHITE HOUSE!!! I was the only one who hadn't had this experience yet, but it was crazy insane. Although the monuments all hold so much meaning, and although I'm in and around the Capitol Building every day, this is the White House. I live here! I walked to see all of these things!

Moving on...we saw the World War II Memorial. You couldn't help but feel solemn in such an honorable place. Kristine called her grandfather who had fought in the war, and although I never got a chance to speak with my grandfather about the war (as he died when I was only 3 years old), I felt a special connection to him in that place. The quotes amidst the memorial were so powerful and so fitting, I nearly cried.

We continued our walk along the reflecting pool and up to Lincoln. It was the best time to be doing this, because the sun was setting and it was GORGEOUS! The other girls hung out on steps where MLK Jr. gave his *I Have a Dream* speech, but I practically ran up the stairs to see Lincoln up close. Seeing pictures of this monument just doesn't do it justice. It's so massive, and he seems so powerful just sitting in his chair overlooking the Mall. I LOVED IT!

Our final stop was at the Vietnam wall. It had been a long day, and we had walked about 8 miles (or so), so I didn't take as much from that memorial as WWII. Several of my uncles and my dad fought in Vietnam, so it was even more personal for me. But I was almost overjoyed in knowing that I didn't need to search for their names on the wall. Maybe that's not such a good thing to say, as there were 58,000 names of people who fought along side my family members, but I don't know how I would have handled that.

The only downfall of such an amazing day of touring the Mall was trying to keep a group of people all together. As much as I love experiencing things with my housemates, I've learned that I like to walk much more quickly and that I get a little testy having to wait for others when there is so much to see. I'll have to work on my patience.

We were all exhausted from such a busy afternoon, but we did go to Madam's Organ in Adam's Morgan later that night. The live band was cool and the atmosphere was comfortable, but I don't think it was really our scene. I thought we were going to be kicked out when Luke decided to open a window and walk out on the ledge, but he was just cut off by the bartender instead. We had to stop him from doing it again, TWICE, and then decided it was time to go home. Staying together proved to be difficult again, as there were 9 of us, but we all made it home safe and sound. No worries everyone, the Wesleyan girls have my back, and they promised never to leave me behind!