Made a trip with Kaye to Washington, DC on August 30, big goal (and subject of the next post) was to see the National Air and Space Museum in Washington (I had been to the part at Dulles Airport a few years ago) but also made a stop at The Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, VA. That is now an art gallery...but as seen at left was a torpedo factory back in WW2. Interesting place as was the city...lots of shops, places to eat and drink with very old buildings and even some cobblestone streets. A quick ride from the hotel via the Metro....very cool below and above ground subway.
As I noted, on August 31 went to the National Air and Space Museum; spent some remarkable time there. We also got in a fine walk around DC starting with the nearby (from the museum) US Capital. Had the big MLK anniversary of the "I Have a Dream" speech a few days ago, so lots of barricades (which they were in the process of taking down) around the Capital, as well as a big stage. It was a very cool thing to actually see the Capital, and a very interesting building. In fact walking around Washington was a lot of fun even on a very hot and humid day, as there are a lot of really remarkable buildings. Glad to have the new camera as I zoomed in on some things I wanted to see, and also on some of the things that I normally could not see (like that statue on top of the Capital for instance, got a great shot of that). It was also handy for the White House and the Jefferson Memorial, as I could not get close to those due to the heat and distance. Had to pick and choose.
Did go to see the WW2 Memorial, which was really something to see. It has two sides: Atlantic and Pacific. Beautiful monument and got some good photos. Which reminds me, some photos besides these can be found on my Flickr Photo Page, took quite a few, including the air museum.
My grandfather went ashore on D-Day, and often talked of it. I think that he would have found this amazing, I certainly did. It is a huge debt that we owe the brave men and women who fought this war- and can be said that they literally saved the world from a remarkable and terrible horror.
This is The Wall, the Vietnam Memorial. Very sad with all the names of those who died during this war. Vietnam happened just before my time, was over when I went into the military in 1975-1979 but think of all the people who gave all they had during this period.
A somber place, also had a monument to women soldiers and the men as well at the wall site, will get those on the photo page as well.
Spent a lot of time here just thinking and remembering..and giving silent thanks to those who are remembered on the Wall.
Went to the Lincoln Memorial (remarkable) and also past the Washington Monument (and as noted saw the White House and Jefferson Memorial from a distance) but really was impressed by the Korean War Memorial, which is certainly one of the most different and certainly striking of the ones out there. This is it at right, but also had a very neat reflecting pool with a wall that said "Freedom is not Free". Also the wall with this monument had no name but etched photos from the period. It was really a remarkable place to visit.
Of course, so was DC, and we had a great time here!
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