America pics - part 2

The Lincoln Memorial has always been my favourite of the big monuments. 

Someone said one time about America that rather than building giant cathedrals like Europe that America builds temples to their leaders. 

From the US Park Service:

"The individual responsible for this design was architect Henry Bacon who modeled the memorial after the Greek temple known as the Parthenon. Bacon felt that a memorial to a man who defended democracy, should be based on a structure found in the birthplace of democracy. The final design featured thirty-six exterior columns to symbolize the thirty-six reunited states at the time of Lincoln’s death. The names of those states appear in the frieze above the columns.

 French (the statue's sculptor) depicted the president as a worn but strong individual who had endured many hardships. He positioned Lincoln's hands in a manner that displayed his two leading qualities. One of the president's hands is clenched, representing his strength and determination to see the war through to a successful conclusion. The other hand is a more open, slightly more relaxed hand representing his compassionate, warm nature."

The reflecting pool was nearly drained while we were in DC. The engineers had drained it so that repair work could be undertaken. They left enough water so that you can still see the Washington Monument reflected in the shallow bit of water in the middle. I guess you can't deny all us tourists our photo op.

This photo is taken from the steps of the Lincoln memorial.

(photo from http://havecamerawilltravel.com)

We visited in mid-August, and by Labor Day on September 3 (my birthday!) the renovations on the pool were complete. 

I didn't realize this, but Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I have a dream" speech was made from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington. This action is commemorated by an engraving directly outside the memorial.

King's speech in August of 1963 was given on the 100th anniversary of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.

This is the World War II memorial. I really like how it has the arenas of conflict separated into Atlantic (European) and Pacific. Each column has the names of one of the states on it.

Seeing the Hope diamond has always been on my "gotta see" list. I finally can mark that one off. Its really huge.

Denise and I outside the White House.

The National Museum of the American Indian. I love how the architecture of the building has the feel of the Great Plains or the southwest. 

The Wright Brothers plane that flew at Kittyhawk.

Lindburgh's Spirit of St Louis plane at the National Air and Space Museum.

You've got to love a museum that's so huge you can hang planes from the ceiling.

I had to take a picture of this Toast-o-lator. We have a family joke about everything being an "entator". So close enough.

Apparently the word "avocado" is impossible to spell correctly. And I loved "micro greens", do you need a microscope to see them?