Washington D.C. Part Two: The Time I Nearly Swallowed a Bug

After a quick Metro ride, we arrived at Hannah and Wes' cute little apartment in D.C.  A few chicken wings and a couple pieces of pizza later, we were back on the road again to take a night tour of a few of the monuments.  Our first stop was the Lincoln Memorial.

The Lincoln Memorial

This was the first place on the trip that I felt like my obsession with American History was completely justified.  As I stood there reading the engravings of Lincoln's Second Inaugural and the Gettysburg Addresses, it struck me just how amazing this country is.  People who had fought against each other in the Civil War put down their weapons and attempted to patch the country back together again.  There was still tension and hatred but they battled through it and worked things out.  Not too many countries in this world have overcome violence to that degree and still managed to come back together as a unified front.

We take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth. - The Gettysburg Address

"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." - Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

View of the Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial.



We left the grandeur and majesty of the Lincoln Memorial and walked down to the reflecting pool to make our way to the World War II Memorial.  As we were walking alongside the water, we noticed that there were hundreds of ripples appearing on the surface of the pool and realized that there must be thousands of bugs taking a quick evening dip.  Then we started feeling little winged creatures hitting our faces (which, if you know me at all, is not my cup of tea) so Hannah suggested we backtrack and take a different path to the WWII Memorial that wasn't so close to the water.  As I opened my mouth to agree, a bug flew right into my mouth and towards my throat.  I had no choice but to spit on the grass in front of the Lincoln Memorial.  "Sacrilege, darling." (Name that movie.)

Shortly thereafter, we arrived at the World War II Memorial.  The memorial is split into two halves representing the two fronts of the war, the European and the Pacific.  Stone pillars surround a large fountain in the middle, each inscribed with a state name or the name of an American territory. Hannah and I walked around touching the names of the states we have been to.  It wasn't until we noticed all the webs and inch-wide spiders that covered the pillars that we decided to only lightly touch the names and then quickly move on to reading the quotes.

BATTLE OF MIDWAY JUNE 4-7, 1942
THEY HAD NO RIGHT TO WIN. YET THEY DID, AND IN DOING SO THEY CHANGED
THE COURSE OF A WAR…EVEN AGAINST THE GREATEST OF ODDS, THERE IS
SOMETHING IN THE HUMAN SPIRIT – A MAGIC BLEND OF SKILL, FAITH AND
VALOR – THAT CAN LIFT MEN FROM CERTAIN DEFEAT TO INCREDIBLE VICTORY.

Walter Lord, Author      

 WE ARE DETERMINED THAT BEFORE THE SUN SETS ON THIS TERRIBLE STRUGGLE
OUR FLAG WILL BE RECOGNIZED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD AS A SYMBOL OF
FREEDOM ON THE ONE HAND AND OF OVERWHELMING FORCE ON THE OTHER.

General George C. Marshall   

        OUR DEBT TO THE HEROIC MEN AND VALIANT WOMEN IN THE SERVICE
OF OUR COUNTRY CAN NEVER BE REPAID. THEY HAVE EARNED OUR
UNDYING GRATITUDE. AMERICA WILL NEVER FORGET THEIR SACRIFICES.

President Harry S Truman 

The fountains in the middle of the WWII Memorial.

Represent!

Though I nearly swallowed a bug and I saw far more spiders than I ever care to see again, I enjoyed our first excursion to the monuments and the patriotic atmosphere of the capital.  I couldn't wait to see what else was in store!