I had already seen Lincoln and his two addresses on either side, but was nonetheless still in awe at the precise carvings of the statue and the cleanliness to him. I also felt a sensation of power as I looked out over the reflecting pool and saw the Washington Monument under construction and the U.S. Capital building in the distance, just as Lincoln does everyday.
We then trekked over to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial off to the left of Lincoln. One definite difference between these two memorials is the audience characteristics. Inside Lincoln, people were loud and excited to see him, snapping photos at everything inside the memorial and standing in for group pictures. At the Vietnam Memorial, there was practically silence from the audience, not nearly as many photographs taken, and even some people we witnessed crying at the scene. This memorial while simple in design does evoke emotions from people because it allows for loved ones to be remembered and for families to think back to what a great sacrifice their solider made for his country.
Next, we walked past the reflecting pool over to the World War II Memorial, an impressive structure with gateways marking the Atlantic and Pacific sides of the war as well as pillars for each of the fifty states and five territories (Puerto Rico, Philippines, Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa) controlled by the United States at the end of the war. We did not stay as long at this memorial because the downpour somehow got worse than it already was, and I'm disappointed we did not stay for longer at this memorial.
We then made the walk past a group of World War II and Vietnam Veterans over to the MLK memorial, the newest addition to the D.C. area. I had seen the other memorials we visited on previous trips to D.C., but had not seen this one, and I have to say I was at first confused by the layout of the memorial. Once past the two opposing rocks though, I could see a centerpiece with King carved into it and felt more at peace with the design. I also thought it was similar to the Vietnam Memorial in that the wall surrounding King looked to be made of the same material and had engraved some famous quotes of the late Dr. King.
After meeting up with our van drivers, we drove over to Arlington and walked through the national cemetery. I was impressed with the size of the place, as I could see grave markers for as far as my eye could see. The tomb of the Unknown Solider was our destination and only real stopping point here, and we saw a couple ceremonies to change the wreath decoration out in front of the tomb as well as the changing of the guard, which stems from an old English tradition I witnessed at Buckingham Palace a couple summers ago.
I do wish we had spent more time to look at some of the other memorials found inside Arlington, and I particularly was interested in seeing JFK's grave and R.E. Lee's former house. Nonetheless, we left and climbed back into the vans, heading over to the Marine Corps Memorial (aka the Iwo Jima Memorial). This was actually my favorite of the memorials we visited today solely because I was taken away with how big the memorial actually was. I had been told that the designer made the memorial huge, but I did not really believe it until I saw it for myself. And with that, we left D.C. tired and wet, but having accomplished a great deal along with seeing some of D.C.'s finest sights and memorials.
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