Like everyone else, I have seen countless movies about Washington D.C. from the Bourne Trilogy, to Olympus has fallen, to probably hundreds other political, spy, romantic, or other types of movies. We have all seen the White House a million times on TV, in the newspapers, or in any online media outlet. Besides the White House, there is Washington Monument another iconic landmark, the Capitol, Lincoln Memorial, Arlington House, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, World War II Memorial, and the Korean War Veterans Memorial and so on. Washington has a lot to offer.

Honestly, I never would have thought that I would finally be in Washington and stand in front of the White House or the Washington Monument. It feels amazing and I feel blessed to be here, to have the possibility to see and experience all of this. Just to be able to walk around National Mall is astounding to me. Simply seeing all this and breathing it all in, and to be aware of this amazes me. I’m not a city dweller and usually like the outdoors and being in nature more than walking around a city, but this time I was just mesmerized and grateful to be in this city.

I started my tour in Arlington at US Marine Corps War Memorial and took a Bird (an electronic scooter) to go from there over the Arlington Memorial Bridge to Lincoln Memorial.

Lincoln Memorial is an astonishing place and I spent a long time there to read the inscription of the Second Inaugural Address from Lincoln. The marble statue of Lincoln and the whole setting is impressive and made it worthwhile to spend some time over there and soak everything in.

From there I walked straigth by the Reflection Pool to the National World War II Memorial and found the pillar for Texas, the state where I currently reside. All these war memorials remind me of the lifes lost and pain endured during and after all those tragic wars and in my mind every war is a tragic event. We should learn from our history and don’t repeat the mistakes that generations before us already have made. 

It could be said that the Washington Monument hovers above the National World War II Memorial. It probably is one of the top 3 monuments in Washington and it commemorates George Washington, the first President of the United State, and with its height of 169 m (554 ft), it is the tallest obelisk in the world. Made out of marble, granite, and bluestone gneiss towers it over Washington. Regrettably, it was closed due to some constructions and I couldn’t get that close. 

I walked another half a mile to stand in front of the Capitol the view was not too spectacular at the time and the pond in front of it didn’t have any water in it. So I decided to turn around and go to the White House via Constitutional Avenue. A lot of Federal Departments plus some Museums residing on Constitutional Avenue and besides that not so much to see. 

The White House on the other side is exactly like you have seen it a thousand times. It has this iconic shaped roof and the four pillars. It was still mind boggling for me to stand in front of it or the fence. I still don’t know if the President was there at the time or not. But honestly, that didn’t interest me. It was more the fact that I really stood there and have seen the above-mentioned landmarks and that I walked at National Mall. All this made me feel so grateful and so blessed. These feelings and being there is something I’ll never forget.

It’s all about the experiences we have and this was a special one. With that being said I’m off to my next adventures.

Collect memories, 

not things

unknown