Washington D.C. At Night

We arrived in the District of Columbia after dark. Stupid daylight savings. Turns out it wasn't such a bad thing. Driving around the city was a bit of a hassle. I attempted to direct Tim while trying to download apps that would tell us where to park. We eventually found a lot and didn't even care how much it cost.

Walking down the streets of D.C. At night was actually very nice. I never once felt unsafe despite being warned that it was a dangerous place. I really wanted to know exactly what D.C. was. We eventually had to Wikipedia it. Its just a sovereign area that isn't a state, where government can do its thing. I did get a D in American History after all.

Our first stop was the Capitol Building. I became giddy just staring up the marvelous monument. I never though I cared about this kinda stuff, but staring up at it just wowed me. And its even more impressive that its a functional artwork. This is where the country gets run basically. Seeing the monuments at night is arguably better than the day. There are less crowds and the night lighting gives them a very surreal feel. Standing on the steps of the Capitol Building I could see the Washington Monument off in the distance. There is a large expanse of grassway extending from the Capitol Building all the way to the Lincoln Monument. We started the walk. On the way we passed any joggers. It seemed like a nice little jog.

As we neared the Washington Monument I became more and more awed. It doesn't look like much on TV, but its giant. We approached the ring of fifty flags surrounding it and craned our necks to stare at the top. We placed out hands on the massive white stones, cold to the touch. Circling the tower we could then see the Lincoln Monument way off in the distance. Just like on the penny.

The reflecting pool starts off with a war memorial, dedicated to every state that helped fight and every branch of military. We walked the length of the reflecting pool stopping to look back at the Washington Monument reflected before us. At the top of the marble steps sat Lincoln in his chair. I always thought that the Lincoln Monument stood in front of a building, but I was wrong. That whole building is one giant shrine to our forefather. It rivals ancient grecian architecture. “IN THIS TEMPLE AS IN THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE FOR WHOM HE SAVED THE UNION THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN IS ENSHRINED FOREVER.” The epitaph above Lincoln's head impressed me. You don't see stuff like that anymore. We don't have heroes of this caliber anymore.

We were pretty hungry from all the walking so we made a quick stop at Subway. Then we stood in front of the White House which was actually not as impressive as I'd hoped. Nothing cool was going on there. We then walked another huge distance, crossed the Potomac to see the Jefferson Monument. It was as impressive as Lincoln's. Tim is very fascinated with the founding fathers. “They were geniuses.” And they were, they founded this country on some pretty good ideals. I really like Jefferson's quote as well, "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”

I don't feel like I have the words to do these monuments justice. Maybe I'm just out of practice as a writer. I'd like to just suggest to you all that if given the opportunity you se them for yourself. There's way more to do in D.C. than one or two days can give. And this was just the night before our full day there. Suffice to say we we're fairly exhausted that night.