2018 03 26 - 03-30 - Washington DC and Alexandria, Virginia

Washington, DC - March 26, 2018

Walking along the Tidal Basin under the not yet flowering cherry trees.
We are planning on returning in a couple of weeks for the full display. 

Wait. Bob found one. Apparently there are certain trees among the 3800 that are indicator trees and bloom sooner than the other ones. 

Jefferson Memorial backgrounded by the Declaration of Independence.

Franklin D Roosevelt with Fala. His right index finger and Fala's ears are very shiny as the patina has been rubbed off by people holding them for pictures.

The Martin Luther King Jr Memorial was dedicated in 2011.
A nearby inscription wall embraces the Mountain of Despair and Stone of Hope featuring quotations from Dr. King.

The Korean War Memorial gave me a very strange feeling...like the soldiers were really out on a patrol. 

The Lincoln Memorial inscribed with his Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural Address.  

The Vietnam Memorial is always a busy place with people searching for someone they knew, capturing a picture, making a rubbing or leaving a personal memento. 

The Water Taxi we are going to take down the Potomac to Alexandria. I see a safety issue even before we board. There are no stairs or railing to assist passengers off the boat. Thankfully the river was calm enough to keep the boat close and level. 

We have seen a lot of cobblestone streets but this section is more like river rocks. It's a short section and that's probably a good thing since the cars going down the street were going less than 10 mph to save their suspension. 

Stopped by the gelato shop for a coffee and apple fritter while we checked out the map of the local area attractions. 

Hopped on the trolley to avoid having to walk the 25 minutes uphill to the end of King Street.

Our destination was the George Washington Masonic National Memorial. 

It gave us a wonderful view of Alexandria. 

After returning to the city we found Vola's for a late afternoon, early evening meal and cooling beverage. 

They had quite a selection of oysters with real interesting names. The last time we were only told where they were dug. These have names - Green torpedo, Twin hook and Cannon Cove. All local and delicious.

A dozen - 6 torpedos, 3 cannons and 3 twin hooks. So good we ordered another half dozen. Guess we were actually having dinner. 

Just off the bank of the Potomac a beautiful specimen in almost full bloom.

The blooms look so much like apple blossoms but they have very little scent.

Good for the bees.

Freedom Wall with 4048 gold stars, each representing 100 Americans who died in the war "Here we mark the price of freedom."

Part of the World War II Memorial. We didn't know where to look for the two "Kilroy Was Here" inscriptions which were included to acknowledge the "significance of the symbol to American soldiers" during the war representing their presence and protection wherever it was inscribed. 

Granite pillars arranged in a semicircle around the plaza inscribed with a name of one of the 48 states as well as DC, territories of Alaska and Hawaii, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and Virgin Islands. Bob is in front of the Missouri pillars and had his father and several uncles in the Army or Navy.

This tower shows all the armed forces that participated in the war including the Army Air Forces where my dad served. 

John Paul Jones also has a small memorial and is considered the "Father of the American Navy". One of his quotes is "I have not yet begun to fight!"

Bob found an over-sized chess board at the Prince William Forest RV campground. 

We covered a lot of ground and still did not get to many of the things we wanted to see. After our next trip, we will return for a few days and see if we can be more efficient with our time. And hope we don't miss the cherry blossoms.