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O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
I found it surreal strolling through the streets of New York as I recognized so many places without knowing where from. DC delivered the same feeling. I had seen nearly every monument on the Mall in one way or another before I visited them. It didn't detract from the experience though, and we had an enjoyable day, wandering the Mall from the Lincoln Memorial to Capitol Hill.
It was a foggy morning, and from our first stop at the Lincoln Memorial we couldn't see any of the other monuments. It started to clear a little and the Washington Monument (the iconic obelisk) vaguely came into view, but not for long. It gave the city an eerie feeling.
The Lincoln Memorial celebrates Abraham Lincoln, a man who led America through the civil war and abolished slavery in the United States. Its been a focus for civil rights protests ever since. Martin Luther King delivered his 'I have a dream' speech from the memorial steps in 1963; probably the memorials most famous moment in the civil rights movement.
The reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial provided us with some great photos of the trees in the foggy morning. We followed the pool, passing the World War II memorial, and on to the Washington Monument.
The Washington Monument was built to commemorate George Washington, the first President of the United States of America, often referred to as the father of his country. George was a humble man and never wanted anything built in his name. But years after his death, construction commenced on the obelisk. It took 40 years to finish as construction was interrupted by the civil war. There's a noticeable join in the marble, highlighting the two distinct construction phases.
We caught the elevator up to the observation deck, 500ft up, hoping to see some of DC from above (the Washington Monument is the tallest structure in DC, by law). Unfortunately for us, the fog was still lingering, so we saw a sea of white! The deck and elevator ride were quite interesting though. Parts of the elevator become transparent as it descends to show you different aspects of the inside of the monument.
Luckily the Washington Monument observation deck is free, as we were able to come back when the fog cleared. The views were quite spectacular; the mall is rather striking from 500ft up. A clear definition of national pride.
From the Washington Monument we went to the White House. I don't have much to say about it. We took some photos and moved on.
The rest of the day was spent wandering the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. One of my favourite things about Washington DC is that all the museums are free and they are fantastic. There was so much to see in the Air and Space Museum alone, that even after our 2 hour tour we'd probably only seen a quarter of the items on display. The only other museum we made it to was the Natural History museum and then only to briefly walk through the dinosaur exhibits and see the Hope Diamond. I'd definitely recommend a longer stay than two days if you're heading to DC.
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