I’ve been to Washington D.C. once, back in 2003 at the tender age of 13 for my 8th grade graduation school trip. To say I barely remember it is an understatement. It was such a brief and erratic trip – they shuttled us onto a chartered plane at like 4am and brought us back to Illinois the same day, at around midnight. Returning to D.C. 15 years later as an adult was an entirely different experience. It was still a whirlwind trip since we spent only one day there, but I will remember and appreciate it this time. The number one thing I came away with after visiting our capital city is basically what I learned after every city we went to: you need at least 4 to 7 days to see and do everything.
We arrived at our Arlington, Virginia hotel late in the evening, so we didn’t head into the heart of D.C. until the next morning. We stayed at the DoubleTree by Hilton, located 300 at Army Navy Dr, Arlington, VA 22202 – and it was one of the nicest hotels I’ve stayed at, and by far the nicest on our entire east coast road trip. It’s right across the state line and only a stones throw away from the Pentagon (I can NOT believe how enormous that thing is). I recommend staying here if you go to D.C.!
Marine
Corps Memorial
The next morning, we bought tickets for the D.C. HoHo, even after our disastrous NYC experience, because we figured it couldn’t be as bad as NYC (it was still “ugh” at times, but not nearly as bad), and made our way into downtown. First, we stopped by Arlington Cemetery, but the HoHo guide said it was typically a 1 ½ wait between HoHos, so we decided to wait to see if we wanted to stop by at the end of the day (we didn’t, #regret). Next, the HoHo drove us around the Marine Corps Memorial, which is basically next to Arlington Cemetery. The bus didn’t stop at this memorial, unfortunately.
Officially named United States Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima Memorial), it was unveiled in 1954 and is dedicated to all of the U.S. Marines who have given their lives since our country’s inception in 1775. It’s one of the few memorials located in Arlington, Virginia and not within D.C. (more specifically on the Mall).
Lincoln
Memorial
Our first stop inside of D.C. was a big one – the Lincoln Memorial. A massive, mesmerizing marble building perched on a slight hill, it cannot be missed. One of the more famous sights in D.C., it was packed, as expected. It was a fight and a lot of patience waiting to get a picture with Honest Abe that wasn’t full of strangers unintentionally invading the background, but regardless it was breathtaking and amazing to view in person. I found it striking that a mere 50 feet from me was a police officer packing an AR-15, because this is what our world has become. I don’t recall there being so much armed police in D.C. (they’re EVERYWHERE) in 2003 but then again, I was a naïve and oblivious 13-year-old.
Located at 2 Lincoln Memorial Cir NW, Washington, DC 20002, it’s open 24-hours a day, 7 days a week. It’s an open-air memorial and completely free to view (basically everything is free to view in D.C. if it’s ran by the government). It was built between 1914 and 1922, officially opening on Memorial Day 1922 (cool fact – President Lincoln’s only surviving son, Robert Todd Lincoln, was in attendance. He was 78-years-old). It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in October 1966. It’s an impressive memorial and likeness of Lincoln, and one of my favorites.
Reflecting Pool
Directly south of the Lincoln Memorial is the Reflecting Pool, and on the other side of that, the Washington Monument. Officially named the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, it was disgusting, something I was not expecting. In pictures and videos, it looks clear, refreshing, and beautiful, but in person it looked like a swamp full of syphilis or malaria. I’m not sure if this is due to natural reasons like weather and plants, or because people are simply a-holes who don’t care where their trash goes (or both), but either way it was a little disappointing.
It’s not the only reflecting pool in D.C., but it is the largest. It was built between 1922 and 1923 immediately after the Lincoln Memorial’s dedication ceremony.
Korean War
Veterans
Memorial
We walked along the side of the Pool, making our way to the Korean War Veterans Memorial, which is a very short distance from the Lincoln Memorial. I LOVED this memorial! It was by far my favorite in D.C., because it is so gripping and excellently done, and unlike any of the other memorials throughout the city.
There are 19, 7-foot statues of soldiers who appear to be a platoon, lurking through the jungle, representing all 4 branches of the U.S. military (14 Army, 3 Marines, 1 Navy, and 1 Air Force). The detail in these statues is breathtaking, and you feel as if you’re transported to the jungles of Korea and can see all the stress and strain on their war-torn faces. There is also a mural wall, in the shape of a triangle and made from striking black granite, with various words and imagery etched into it. Much thought and planning went into this memorial.
Martin Luther
King Jr.
Memorial
We then continued our walk along The Mall (not an actual mall like a shopping mall, for those who are unaware), eventually making our way to the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial. Most of the main memorials are all located along The Mall and are within reasonable walking distance from one another. The MJK memorial was impressive, with an excellent likeness of the great Reverend, and it certainly did him justice.
It stands at 30 feet (9.1 meters) and is made of solid white granite. It was created by Lei Yixin, who began the sculpture in 2009, and completing it just 2 years later. It was officially opened on August 22, 2011. The centerpiece of the memorial references a line from MLK’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. It reads: “Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope“.
WWII
Memorial
We left the MLK Memorial and continued along The Mall’s sidewalk, eventually coming to the WWII Memorial. This is another one that I loved, and I think it was excellently designed. It is basically a giant circle, with a large water fountain and pool in the middle, and every state and U.S. territory that fought in WWII has its own column. We each found our respective states – California for me, Indiana for her – as well as our mutual “home state”, Illinois. We noticed that basically everyone who comes to this memorial finds their home state and has themselves a mini-photoshoot.
This memorial has been steeped in controversy (isn’t everything), because people were upset about the location. Their complaints were that it would “interrupt” the view between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, and that that space had historically been used for protests and demonstrations. However, Congress told those people to move along, because the WWII veterans were beginning to die before ever seeing a proper memorial erected in their honor. Construction for the memorial finally began in 2001, and opened to the public in 2004 – 17 years after the request for such a memorial was initially made in 1987 by WWII veteran Roger Durbin.
Washington
Monument
Moving on, next was the Washington Monument. Poor George got the shaft in the monument department (ha). Lincoln and Jefferson have grand mausoleum-type structures, and Roosevelt has his own island, yet our first president, Founding Father, and overall puffy-haired baddie of the Civil War gets a giant, pointy stick. Fun note: it’s also the center of many conspiracy theories, mainly those involving the Masons. Not fun: it’s one of the few memorials that *may* have been built by slaves.
Located at 2 15th St NW, Washington, DC 20024, it’s open 7 days a week from 9am to 10pm. You can go inside of it, but we did not. It stands at 555 feet and is made of marble. Construction began in 1848 and lasted until 1854, when donations needed to build it ran out. Then the Civil War happened, continuing the halt on construction. In 1879, construction finally resumed, with the monument finally finished in 1884. It was officially opened in 1888.
White House
Next up – the White House. Many of my memories from my 8th grade trip are foggy, but one that really stands out is the White House. When I first visited D.C., Bush Jr. was president and times were simpler, therefore security wasn’t as hardcore as this time around. I remember our teacher pointing out snipers on the roof of the White House, but that was about it. You could walk up, touch, or lean against the black gate that surrounds the home of the President. This is not the case in 2018. There is now a good 50+ foot gap between the black gate and where visitors can stand, and standing in this gap are armed police officers with AR-15s. I’m assuming this has something to do with the uptick in crazies who have jumped the gate.
We hung out outside the White House for a few minutes (you can go in with a pre-bought tour, but it’s not something we were interested in), where I bought Gatorade from some very business-savvy young men. It gets hot in D.C. during the summer and there were people selling Gatorade and water for $2 a piece on all the street corners and in front of various hotspot locations. Pro tip: make sure to carry some cash, otherwise you’ll probably pay double at any of the stores!
National
Archives
While the White House is fun to ogle at for a few minutes, there’s not much point in hanging out there forever, since you can’t get any closer than what is allowed (unless you book that tour), so we continued our journey. Once back on the HoHo, we were onboard only for a few minutes before realizing the next stop was the National Archives. I quickly shoved Kristi off the bus to go to it. If you come to D.C., you must go to the National Archives, because this is where the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Bill of Rights are housed.
Viewing these famous and historic documents is completely free (as are all the museums in D.C.) but you must go through security, including a metal detector, and wait in line to view them. They only send up a certain number of people at a time to try to fight overcrowding, which honestly didn’t seem to do much good since people take forever just sitting there, trying to read every single line of the damn thing. Very few people seemed to get the memo that you’re supposed to just look, go “oohh, ahhh”, and move right along.
Pictures are strictly forbidden of all three documents because one single flash from a camera speeds up the documents fading by 30 days. So basically, one single flash wipes away 30 days’ worth of ink from the document 😳. The lights inside the document area are very, very low, which is another way the government is fighting the fading. Unfortunately, the documents are already extremely faded, so I have a hard time imagining they’ll be around in another 30 or so years. I suggest getting to D.C. asap if you want to view the original documents (as opposed to copies, which is all we’ll have in the future)!!
U.S. Capital
We meandered around the National Archives for a bit before heading to our last stop of the day, the U.S. Capital building. You can take the HoHo to the Capital, but we decided to just walk – it’s not that far (all downtown D.C. is walkable, in my opinion). We didn’t go inside because 1) we didn’t know if we could, and 2) we were too lazy to find out. Rule #2 of my road trip rules (SeeWorldNotSeaWorld’s 5 Rules for Road Trips.) keeps springing to mind, because had we spent more than one day in D.C., we would have had the time, energy, and patience to actually go into places like the Capital or any of the numerous museums. However, since we had already spread ourselves so thin throughout this entire trip, we were somewhat defeated at this point and didn’t really bother with it (a lot of regret 🤦🏻♀️).
Seeing the U.S. Capital building in person, however, was awesome in and of itself. As an American citizen who is currently rather dissatisfied with our entire government, it was surreal to be standing outside of where all those politicians go to duke it out constantly and somehow get absolutely nothing accomplished in the process. Beautiful building, though.
All-in-all, our day spent in D.C. was satisfactory, more than I can say for some of the other places we visited during the road trip. While we certainty didn’t get to do a ton, we did see the main iconic locations and monuments, and for that I cannot complain. I regret not being able to go to any of the Smithsonians, but that is our fault for thinking we could foolishly do D.C. in one day. I don’t necessarily think you need an entire week in D.C., but certainly 3 to 4 days. This city is one of the very few places I will be making a THIRD trip to in the future. I’m not done yet, D.C.!
