Monday, June 25, 2007
Planning the next outing
Thanks to "NR" for providing useful knowledge about Statuary Hall in the Capitol. Statuary Hall will have to wait for a rainy day, i think. Next stops will be either Meridian Hill Park (I neither rode my bike there nor took decent photos) or the Mall, including the Albert Einstein sculpture and several monuments that could be considered statues.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Day One
Before I get started, let me recall the Stupid Tourist Comment of the Day. Hopefully this won't become a series. Overheard at a statue of George Washington: "Hey, it's the guy on the nickel!" It sounded stupid even before I thought about it.
Here's the map after today's hard work. My wife and I started off early, fortified by coffee and a soy protein powder smoothie (tastes much better than it sounds). We headed first to Stanton Park where we took pictures of General Nathanael Greene.
We then headed to Columbus Circle outside of Union Station where we took pictures of Christoper Columbus. (Thanks to my wife for remembering Columbus.)
By the time we went a few blocks down Mass Ave to the new
statue/memorial to the Victims of Communism, I was sick of the flimsy fenders that I had installed just yesterday. No matter how I adjusted them, they were rubbing against my bike tires. So I took them off and vowed to return them. At that moment, I considered myself a Victim of Capitalism.
We then hit the fertile ground of Lafayette Park, just in front of the White House. We skipped a few at Lafayette Park and McPherson Square because the sun was in a bad position, but we got good light at McPherson Square, and the grand circles on Massachusetts Avenue west of the convention center--Thomas, Scott, and Sheridan Circles.
We thought there was a statue at Dupont, but it seems there is just a memorial. Sometimes there's a fine line between a statue and a memorial, but this memorial was definitely not a statue.
On our way to Sheridan Circle, we stopped at the Dupont Circle Famer's Market. I felt guilty for abandoning Eastern Market, but I felt better after buying little mozzarella balls and some vegetables from the people whom we usually buy at Eastern Market.
After the Farmer's Market, we were pleasantly surprised by statues of Gandhi and Masaryk (first President of Czechoslavakia) on the way to Sheridan Circle.
We headed to the George Washington statue near the GW University Hospital. There we heard the Stupid Tourist Comment of the Day of "Hey, there's the guy on the nickel!"
I've always thought that this statue of George Washington was very underwhelming. In contrast, the man's monument is, by law, the highest point in the city that was named after him. So what's this lame statue doing here, in this lame part of the city? Speaking of lame, I had back surgery across the street from this statue just over a year ago. I could barely walk back then, and I couldn't be happier biking around the city now.
We then hit Farragut, Burke, and Gompers on the way back to Capitol Hill. We then thought we'd seen the olde English jurist Blackstone near Judiciary Square. Before getting to Blackstone, we discovered a statue of Albert Pike near the DC Government buildings. Never heard of the guy. Check the map for details on the obscure Albert Pike.
We completed the morning's work with a stop in front of the Capitol to take photos of Presidents Garfield and Grant and found a statue of Senator Robert A. Taft by his bell tower memorial.
Here's the map after today's hard work. My wife and I started off early, fortified by coffee and a soy protein powder smoothie (tastes much better than it sounds). We headed first to Stanton Park where we took pictures of General Nathanael Greene.
We then headed to Columbus Circle outside of Union Station where we took pictures of Christoper Columbus. (Thanks to my wife for remembering Columbus.)
By the time we went a few blocks down Mass Ave to the new
statue/memorial to the Victims of Communism, I was sick of the flimsy fenders that I had installed just yesterday. No matter how I adjusted them, they were rubbing against my bike tires. So I took them off and vowed to return them. At that moment, I considered myself a Victim of Capitalism.We then hit the fertile ground of Lafayette Park, just in front of the White House. We skipped a few at Lafayette Park and McPherson Square because the sun was in a bad position, but we got good light at McPherson Square, and the grand circles on Massachusetts Avenue west of the convention center--Thomas, Scott, and Sheridan Circles.
We thought there was a statue at Dupont, but it seems there is just a memorial. Sometimes there's a fine line between a statue and a memorial, but this memorial was definitely not a statue.
On our way to Sheridan Circle, we stopped at the Dupont Circle Famer's Market. I felt guilty for abandoning Eastern Market, but I felt better after buying little mozzarella balls and some vegetables from the people whom we usually buy at Eastern Market.
After the Farmer's Market, we were pleasantly surprised by statues of Gandhi and Masaryk (first President of Czechoslavakia) on the way to Sheridan Circle.
We headed to the George Washington statue near the GW University Hospital. There we heard the Stupid Tourist Comment of the Day of "Hey, there's the guy on the nickel!"
I've always thought that this statue of George Washington was very underwhelming. In contrast, the man's monument is, by law, the highest point in the city that was named after him. So what's this lame statue doing here, in this lame part of the city? Speaking of lame, I had back surgery across the street from this statue just over a year ago. I could barely walk back then, and I couldn't be happier biking around the city now.
We then hit Farragut, Burke, and Gompers on the way back to Capitol Hill. We then thought we'd seen the olde English jurist Blackstone near Judiciary Square. Before getting to Blackstone, we discovered a statue of Albert Pike near the DC Government buildings. Never heard of the guy. Check the map for details on the obscure Albert Pike.
We completed the morning's work with a stop in front of the Capitol to take photos of Presidents Garfield and Grant and found a statue of Senator Robert A. Taft by his bell tower memorial.
Starting Off
Since I moved to DC 11 years ago, I have wanted to catalogue and map statues in the District of Columbia and provide biographical information of the people represented by the statues.
Thanks to Google Maps and Wikipedia, the technology exists to make this a fairly easy task.
A friend called this the Dead White Guy on Horseback Tour. There are certainly many of them, but we'll see what surprises are out there.
The map will be work a progress and can be viewed here. Wikipedia links to the person depicted in the statue will be accessible on the map.
This blog will chronicle the effort to complete the map.
If you think I missed a statue or want to let me know of an interesting or out of the way statue that I may not know of, please drop me a line. Thanks!
Thanks to Google Maps and Wikipedia, the technology exists to make this a fairly easy task.
A friend called this the Dead White Guy on Horseback Tour. There are certainly many of them, but we'll see what surprises are out there.
The map will be work a progress and can be viewed here. Wikipedia links to the person depicted in the statue will be accessible on the map.
This blog will chronicle the effort to complete the map.
If you think I missed a statue or want to let me know of an interesting or out of the way statue that I may not know of, please drop me a line. Thanks!
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