Uncharacteristically, I got up at 7 AM on a Sunday. The weather forecast was for temperatures in the mid- to high 90s, and I didn't want to bike around in that. Also, we planned on visiting some of DC's famous memorials and wanted to beat the heat as well as the crowds.
First stop: The Jefferson Memorial. We were among only three other tourists when we got there a little after 8 AM. The parking lots were still closed, so the tour buses hadn't dropped off their lemmings yet. I rarely actually go into the Jefferson Memorial, but always enjoy it when I do. Pithy quotes etched in the marble show Jefferson make Jefferson sound more pious than I think he actually was, but they are powerful.
Then we visited the old patriot George Mason, one of the newer statues in DC. Can't say I know much about Mason, but I did learn that he wrote the Virginia declaration of the rights of man. I think Jefferson's Declaration of Independence borrowed heavily from Mason. I especially liked the circular garden surrounding Mason. The statue depicts him as a gentle, plump man in stockings. Much more approachable than the stiff Jefferson down the street.
Next stop: Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt. I forgot that there was a statue of Eleanor at the FDR Memorial, so this was a nice surprise. The only information about her provided at the Memorial is that she was the first U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. When i think of Eleanor Roosevelt, I think of her promotion of racial integration and tolerance. Granted, the Memorial's strengths are in visual and symbolic representations rather than historical explanation.
In retrospect, I can't believe it was controversial that the Memorial included a statute of FDR sitting in a wheelchair. FDR took great pains to hide the extent of his disability, but I find it hard to believe that he enjoyed having to go through this charade. Future generations of Americans will visit his memorial and see him as he was. I hope we will not prejudge the competence of candidates based on their physical condition. After all, the current president may be in great physical shape, but he could be the worst president we've ever had.
We then visited the Lincoln Memorial. As my photographic assistant did her thing, I read Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address. I always read it when visiting. It transports the reader to March 1865. You can feel the pain of the Civil War and Lincoln's reassurance that it is was worth the sacrifices. Contrast Lincoln to another president's repetitious platitudes about the importance of a war that most of the public believes has not been worth fighting. Ugh! (I sense a theme.)
After a quick stop at the Korean War Memorial--where the South Korean ambassador recently left a wreath--we visited the Albert Einstein Memorial. Wow! The statue makes Einstein somewhat Pooh-like. So cuddly and innocent. I highly recommend this documentary of the making of this statue narrated by the sculptor on his website.
We then rode to Theodore Roosevelt Island, which happened to be once owned by George Mason. The island has a pretty interesting history and is worth reading. In case you don't know of the island, once inhabited, it is now an uninhabited island on the Potomac separating DC from Arlington. It is a sort of urban oasis, a fitting memorial of the founder of American conservationism. Unfortunately, the TR depicted in the statute is very stiff. After taking the requisite photographs, we hiked around the island. We saw a deer and watched the procession of a family of ducks.
On the way home, we biked through Southwest DC to check up on the extreme makeover of the Frederick Douglass Bridge. The bridge, which spans the Anacostia River, is being lowered so that it does not take up so much valuable real estate next to the baseball stadium that is being built for the Washington Nationals. Right now, a major portion of the bridge is on a set of jacks while new construction goes on. They say it will take 2 months, which would be a pretty amazing feat.
All told, I think it was a pretty good day of statue-finding. The map will be updated soon.
