ANOTHER TRIP INTO DC - PART 1 - THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL AND VIETNAM WALL

On each side of the street at the Memorial Bridge are these wonderful statues.  Carved in the base, "Aspirations and Literature.  Cast in bronze Rome 1950.  A gift from the people of Italy to the People of the United States of America."  Gregg took a photo of Bill and myself after we had been dropped off across the road from the Lincoln Memorial.

Today we went back into Washington DC, but this time we parked our car across the bridge at the Marriot Hotel, and called for an uber car to take us to the Lincoln Memorial.  We have a downloaded app, so easy!  This very nice man was only two minutes away and no sooner had we reached the front of the hotel entrance, there he was.  We were even able to pre-pay the ride on our phone.  We decided to do this because of the difficulty parking the car yesterday.  Walking is great exercise and we don't mind walking, but in this high humidity, well you know....

Our uber driver made a slight mistake with the roundabout and would have had to take us back over the river, so he dropped us off a little further away from the memorial than we had anticipated. But we managed and it was still a lot less of a walk in that heat than we experienced yesterday.

Loved the mohawk-style helmet on this bicyclist.  We walked over a couple of crosswalks and in no time at all we were at the Lincoln Memorial.  Before heading up all those stairs (they do have an elevator but it wasn't working), Gregg took another photo of Bill and me with the Reflection Pool and the Washington Monument behind us.

Neither Bill nor I found the steps going up too bad.

Look at this.  I was I suppose looking at my feet trying not to trip over them, when I spotted a small poloroid of a little cat.  Someone must have dropped it out of their purse.  I didn't want it to be stepped on, and put it on a ledge at the side, hoping that whoever dropped it might find it on their way down.  Yes, even the lost and found photos of kitties make it on my blog.

There's Bill walking up the steps on the left-hand side.  He is faster than me!  But in my defense I was looking at a sweet little kitty.

Here he is with President Lincoln.

Gregg soon joined him.

I cropped off part of the base as there were lots of people taking photos.

The words above him reads, 

"In this temple as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the union the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever."

Heading back down the steps.

From here we are heading to 

The Vietnam Memorial.

We stopped off at The Three Soldiers first.  If you see any red lettering in my posts, this means there is always a link where you can find more information.

This area never fails to move me.  It is a feeling you get as soon as you start walking along its path, after seeing all those names carved in black granite.

And the sight of this little girl touching the wall I found very poignant.  She doesn't understand the full significance yet but her family standing behind her, are already sowing the seeds. I have seen many family members touching a name on the wall, overhearing hushed conversations about a loved one.  Sometimes I have seen rubbings being done with paper and pencils supplied by volunteers nearby. 

I wanted Bill to see another sculpture before we left. We have visited many times over the years and it is another that can bring one to tears.

This is The Vietnam Women's Memorial.

Just before we left, a large group of young people surrounded the sculpture, and I heard an adult telling them its history.  School is out, it's the summer holiday and I noticed a few had caps with New York on the front.  A school trip to the Nation's Capital perhaps?

I am very glad we were able to share this sacred place with Bill.  From here we caught a taxi into Georgetown, but more on that later.