Saturday night I met up with Kelly Huck and Ben Foster from the Austin URS office who are in DC for FEMA training. We hailed a cab to the metro and made our way into the city for a night-time tour of the memorials. We started at the Capitol, and found it interesting that the grass was all blocked off for construction of the 2009 Presidential Inauguration Site.
We came across the freshest, most delicious mexican food just a couple blocks off the mall at an award winning restaurant called Oyamel. Their margaritas were among the best I've ever had, and the made-at-our-table guacamole and unique gourmet tacos in corn tortillas were divine. Now I have been seriously missing authentic mexican food in Australia, but even the native Texans with me were shocked and impressed.
For the first time ever, I visited the World War II Memorial, from where I took this picture of the Washington Monument, the memorial to our first President, George Washington.
Kelly and Ben dance in front of the Pacific Tower at the World War II Memorial.
Each star represents 100 lives lost in battle during WWII.
This memorial was dedicated in 1922 to honor President Abraham Lincoln. Thirty-eight Grecian columns surround a statue of Lincoln seated on a ten-foot high marble base.
This impressive statue is surrounded by engraved readings of the Gettysburg address, Lincoln's Second Inaugural address, and murals by French painter Jules Guerin.
The Korean War Veterans Memorial honors those who were killed, captured, wounded or remain missing in action during the Korean War (1950 -1953). The statues are supported by a granite wall with 2,400 faces of land, sea and air support troops. A Pool of Remembrance lists the names of the lost Allied Forces.
Nineteen figures represent every ethnic background.
This dome-shaped rotunda honors the nation's third president, Thomas Jefferson.
The 19-foot bronze statue of Thomas Jefferson is located on the Tidal Basin, surrounded by a grove of cherry blossom trees.
I will walk 500 miles...and I will walk 500 more...just to be the one that sees every single monument in Washington DC...nana nana, nana nana, nana nana nana nana nana na. After we walked for ages, we hailed a cab back to Herndon and had a very short night's sleep before another early morning of training. Priorities.
