my prettily drawn map, courtesy of google earth. the numbers may or may not be easy to read and the routes may not be easy to see, but you can enlarge it in a separate tab if you really want to follow along.
So i have to admit, i had a pretty entertaining day out wandering about DC yesterday. I took off from my home a little after 1pm and hit the metro, making it into DC by 2:30pm.
(The Red Route)
1) my starting point at the metro. according to my little guide, it looks like i got off on the Smithsonian side of the metro stop. i didn't. for those unfamiliar with the layout of the metro stops, there's typically two places it comes up at, usually about a block apart. I didn't come up the Smithsonian side because when i got of the train i turned toward the escalator and saw a long line just waiting to get onto the escalator.
alright, not going that way. The smithsonian stop is pretty popular because of all the tourists hitting up the museums in the area. I for one didn't need to go into the national mall just yet, so i took a detour, which actually had a pretty fantastic view when i came up and walked out for a bit.
The Smithsonian Castle almost looks like some kind of disney castle to me, and i'm sure many little kids feel the same way until they go inside and realize that there's only educational stuff and no "fun" exhibits there. then they just want to move on.
I personally like it because nobody else really bothers with it. it's kind of peaceful and has beautiful architecture and landscaping in the gardens surrounding it. One of my other favorite Smithsonian stops is the Botanical gardens, possibly for the same reason, because nobody else really wants to look at all of the plants so they don't bother going there. It's quite peaceful and enjoyable. Don't get me wrong, it's not like you end up being the only person at these places, but at least you're not tripping over people and waiting in lines to see stuff.The National Mall is actually maintained by The National Park Service. My sister is a seasonal park ranger at Manassas and we were talking about other opportunities to be a ranger in the area and she mentioned that working at the Mall is tantamount to being sentence to purgatory for a park ranger. Nobody wants to do it, it's insanely busy, hot and they're open til midnight during the summer. I could see how it might be rather unpleasant at times.
2) So my first real stop-off on the National Mall was at the Washington Monument. Other than the metro stop where there were silly people starting out their line-waiting experience of the smithsonian at the metro, i was feeling like there really weren't that many people out and about just yet. anyway, the monument:
In DC there's a guideline for the height of buildings. any new constructions can't be taller than the washington monument. Why anyone would want to dispute that is beyond me, but i guess some people in DC don't like that rule. As a friend of mine put it, you can always tell where you are in DC if you just check the skyline for the Washington Monument. It's huge, alright people? if you haven't seen it, it's tall. Anyway you may see from the photo to the right, it looks pretty deserted. I was kind of feeling hot out in the direct sun though, so i decided to go around to the shady side of the monument.
Oh, so that's where everyone was hiding. Everyone else had the same brilliant plan. oh well. at least it gives you a nice shot straight down to the Capital. Note to those unaware, everything in DC looks closer than it really is. the capital is probably at least 3/4 of a mile away from the washington monument. That's an estimate, but trust me, it's a long walk.So just before point #3 on my map, i caught a glimpse of my ultimate goal for the day. I had set out to make it to the Jefferson Memorial.
Didn't really think about it before, but it's probably about a mile, round-trip. I just skirted the Tidal Basin the entire time, which actually wasn't too bad compared to some other bodies of water on the Mall *shudder*3)So this is the surprise point for me. I hadn't really made any expectations for this adventure. I just really wanted to get out of the house and go around for a long walk on my own. After dodging some traffic
(on cross-walks with no lights, where you hope by the grace of the drivers that they'll stop for you and not just plow over you to get to their next fare... if you haven't gathered, i wouldn't trust taxi-drivers in a city. just sayin') I cross the bridge over a small section of the basin, passing three people in total (tourists don't like to walk super-long distances. that's why Yellowstone park is so popular, you get to drive everywhere, and there's a gift-shop to rest at every stop you do make).Low tree limbs? I looked ahead a little bit. indeed there are some gnarly looking trees, and not a heck of a lot of tourists (Seriously, there's barely anyone between point A and point B every time, and those points themselves are mobbed). Rather than try to describe the little grove i found, I'm just going to share the pics:
I was quite taken with the trees in this park. They all had their own particular personality (like the one to the left looks like it has some weird face on it). There was the interesting cement structure (leftmost) that had a Japanese style to it and i found myself wondering what the park was and then i found the little marker that said it was the location of where the first Japanese cherry trees were planted in DC in 1912.
It was a peaceful place as well. Maybe it was partially due to the fact that i was out wandering on my own (and as far as i could tell, i was the only person involved in such a venture), but i liked the places that everyone else didn't take the time to appreciate. Everyone was focused on the big places and things rather than taking in the little experiences on the way.
I'm sure the cherry grove is busy when all of the blossoms are budding in the spring, i imagine that's when it gets attention, but any other time it's just another wooded area around the memorials as far as everyone else is concerned. I bet it's going to be beautiful when all of the leaves turn for the fall as well. After taking it in for a little bit, i continued on my way.
4)
The next stopping point for the other tourists at this point is the FDR memorial. It's kind of an odd one, setup to commemorate different phases of his presidency. Has these large walls and blocks of granite (that's a guess) with bronze sculptures. Some of them are setup almost like Norman Rockwell paintings (sans any sort of humor NR usually put into his images). People obviously take the time to pose with the giant statue of FDR and the individual figures standing in a row at a soup kitchen
(seriously, it's one of the rockwellian scenes in one section). The part i like the best is where there are some relief bronze pieces kind of wall-papered in sheets on the rock wall with pillars of their negatives standing in front of them. I just like the presence of process there. I have no idea how they were made, if they were poured into sheets and then the molds were rolled across them, have no idea. But they're kind of interesting in that there are a bunch of tiny faces emerging from the positives, contrastingly embedded into the pillars. I don't know, it's just unique. That, or i'm a nerd. either way.
5)Another neglected memorial is George Mason's. It's on the way to the Jefferson memorial, but people just kind of pass it by. Even the grounds-keepers didn't seem to give it much worry. They'd obviously made an effort to plant things in the early part of the season, but when i was there, most of the flowers, and plants for that matter, surrounding the walk had all expired and were quickly drying out and turning crisp and brown. I suppose GM doesn't mind so much, he's just kind of of chillin' out right below I3956)
So another cool thing about the tidal basin is that people can rent out paddle boats on the mall side of it (you know, so it involves the least amount of walking from the museums as possible) and you can spend time just paddling around in the area. I would love to go do that some time, but was pretty convinced that a paddle boat probable requires two people to operate, so i couldn't go do it this time. sad, i know. But i guess the basin is full of recreational opportunities. like the guy i saw fishing off of it. He wasn't the only person i saw fishing during my adventure either. just the only one doing it into the basin. I wonder if he actually caught anything... maybe a shoe or a hub-cap?
7) Finally, i reached the Jefferson memorial. There was a wedding party there getting, i assume, post-ceremony photos taken. This was the second group i'd encountered doing the same thing. I guess driving around the mall and getting your photos taken outside of the memorials is a pretty good opportunity for some nice scenery for wedding pics.Oddly, having made this my ultimate goal for the day, i didn't really take any pictures at the memorial itself. I took the one to the left just as i was about to leave it. It too wasn't super overrun with tourists, mostly because it's a little more complicated to get to.
8)I don't actually have a photo to go with this, but this is the point where i first saw an ice-cream stand and desperately wanted to indulge. I only had $1 on me though. No ice cream for me. Begrudgingly, i trudged on.
9)The American History Museum. Where Red Route comes to an end. I also didn't take any photos at this point, because it was so busy and i think i've got tons of pics from it from previous visits, so i'm going to do some links of things, just to amuse myself instead.
So the American History Museum. Last i was there, it was the summer right before they were shutting down the museum for renovation. They were moving the star spangled banner, which had undergone a bunch of repair and conservation work. The museum before that had some really impressive exhibits. The american presidency is still there, and has such items as molds cast from Lincolns hands after his inauguration, john adams (?) chess set etc. nothing obnoxious and interactive, but a bunch of displays that kind of give a little peek into the casual life of presidents from the past. there even used to be a section of the first ladies' dresses. Didn't take the time to wander through and see if it was still there because the museum was packed. One of my favorite things last time was the skeksis puppet from Jim Henson's Dark Crystal. Didn't see that one around, so it must have been put back into the vault.
The thing about the American History Museum is that it's geared toward people who are idiots, ie: you're average american tourist. While i am interested in seeing an original Henson puppet, something tells me most kids today have no idea what the Dark Crystal is, they know kermit the frog and miss piggy. A line of more than a hundred people stretches around a corner for people gunning to see one of the 20 pairs of ruby red slippers worn by judy garland in the wizard of oz. It's all cool stuff, but it's geared toward a specific demographic. I found an interesting exhibit that was almost completely devoid of people.
It was on Earl Shaffer, who was the first person (in modern history at least) to hike the entire Appalachian trail, all 2500 miles of it. You can look at the exhibit online on the museum's website, i just wish there was some sort of complete collection of the photos Shaffer took along the way. I think he hiked it in '48 and shot photos along the entire route using Kodachrome film. They show some of the slides on the description pieces, but have very few of them that you can really view. I would have loved a slide-show of those images, but i digress. The exhibit was lacking in attendance i imagine partially because of a performance/presentation being done nearby about the civil rights movement, but also because i don't know if anyone was really interested in a mid-twentieth century 'trailblazer' more than Dorothy Gale's slippers. I guess i'm a little bit of a hypocrite as far as the tourist thing goes. I've been there, i've done that, all of the museums cater to them and in order to successfully sell history as an interest point to the masses you have to play to their interests.
Either way, I was kind of over the museum at this point and decided to cut it and run, i didn't even really appreciate any of the remodeling that they had supposedly done, and i didn't feel like waiting in line to see the star spangled banner, so i'll have to go back some other time to check it out.
10) I was trying to figure out what my new game plan was at this point. I didn't want to get back on the metro til after 7, mostly because i didn't want to pay the regular fare to get home, so i started to make a game plan of where to go next. I figured i'd make my way to Rosslyn station, on the other side of the Potomac and stop off to visit the Teddy Roosevelt memorial along the way. Alright, game on.
I had to walk past the Washington memorial again, which was more popular by this time because it had started to cool off enough to lure people out of the air-conditioned comfort of the museums. Tours were biking past, or better yet, on Segways, because what's better than a quick ride around the city if you don't have to do anything other than just stand there? Exactly. This picture kind of feels like Abby Road gone wrong to me for some reason...Point #10 is actually just over by the WWII memorial where
everyone had their feet in the fountain. WWII memorial is at the end of the reflecting pool, which, as you may all remember, is what Jenny, in Forest Gump, goes running through. It's not that pretty, and has a rather bedraggled sheen, similar to the Berkley Pit. In the spirit of the Berkley pit as well, i for one would be surprised if someone were to step into the reflecting pool, could actually make it back out. But hey, at least the Geese really enjoy it, and it still does it's job, it reflects.I actually marked this point on the map for another reason though. I had hoped to find some kind of ATM so that i could indulge in my desire for ice cream and had hoped to find one here at the visitor center. Just so you all know, there isn't one, bring cash with you because i don't know if you'll be able to find any ATMs around the Mall. maybe inside the museums, but i didn't feel like going through security just to get some money.
11)This is the most exciting point in my trip, well, maybe not most, but close to it. I found a refreshments stand that not only had ice cream, but also took cards. I happily took advantage of it. Maybe not my crowning glory, but it was definitely awesome.
12)To continue, i had to get across the Potomac. I ended up on a parkway that skirted the river, with a bunch of people jogging past me. As it turns out, there are a lot of recreational opportunities in DC. They play softball on the Mall and there's even a Kickball program. I walked past some beach volleyball games that were taking place and was nearly run over just as many times by cars as by various bicyclists. I had to dodge some traffic to get to the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Bridge, but ended up on the southern side of it when i needed to eventually go north of it. I figured, what the hey, it'll work out.
13) This is the point where i saw a sign reading, "Sidewalk ends 1000 feet." hm. that's odd, wonder if i should turn around and try to figure out how to get to the other side of the bridge. It wasn't like i was going to make an attempt to dodge 4+ lanes of traffic flying across the bridge as well as hop the cement median separating the two different directions of traffic, so i continued on, confident in my mantra that it was all going to work out.
14) This is the point where the sidewalk actually did end. I had to stop and pull out my little guide book to try to figure out where to go next. Just as i was about to concede to returning to the other side of the bridge to try to get on the northern sidewalk, a guy came down off of the end of the sidewalk and ducked down the hill into some bushes on a path i hadn't noticed before.
So that's how they do it. I followed, half expecting to find some kind of transient camp, but instead i came out onto a grassy area next to the George Washington memorial highway. That was one hurdle, sweet. I just had to figure out how to get across that to the park walk on the other side.
Piece of cake. I just dodged 4 lanes of traffic and hopped the rock wall median between the two different directions of traffic. I was so proud of myself for getting over there that i had to snap a picture of the path. i think a couple people thought i was a nutjob, sweaty, bedraggled and taking a picture of the pathway. Whatever, i'd won, i wanted proof.
It was actually kind of a nice little walkway, i like the combination of the industrial underside of the bridge covered in the thick green foliage.
i passed the point where i would have ended up on it if i had actually take the correct side of the bridge. I shook my head at it as i passed. I still won in the end, take that bridge.15) So this is the point where you might start wondering, why on earth would anyone bother with hiking all the way over to Theodore Roosevelt Ireland to see some silly memorial to the pompous windbag, Teddy?
Because you get to see a GIANT statue of TR at his best. And it's kind of nice and peaceful there. It's a wooded island with the only structure on it is the actual memorial. A lot of people take their dogs to walk around there, or they go for jogs on the pathway that circles the island. Because, once again, it's separated from most of the other memorials and actually requires some effort to get to, it's not a particularly popular stop. In that regard, it's kind of a nice haven for people in the area to go be outdoors, but not have to go very far in order to do so. I would like to go back some time just to wander around the island. Probably will too, especially when the leaves start to change. and maybe i'll wander my way down to the mall from there, now that i know the way.16) I was super excited at this point because rather than having to dodge cars again, the city/whatever of Rosslyn actually took care of the issue for me. There's a pedestrian bridge that goes back over the George Washington Memorial Parkway into the city. I only had to walk a few block to make it to
17) the Rosslyn Metro stop. Mission accomplished.
You should actually open the picture below so you can appreciate the sign that says, "Welcome to Virginia" next to the tunnel. I was amused.
More adventures to come and more photos too...
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