The National Mall

Where: Washington, DC
When: May 29, 1997
With: Class trip

There are a lot of icons in Washington, DC, and nothing beats seeing the majority of them on the nation's main drag: the National Mall. A long strip of perfectly manicured grass (depending on the time of the year) lays across the center of the city connecting the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument to the US Capitol building.

It was originally intended to be a "grand avenue" when the city of Washington was laid out, but it was never completed. Now, where the road would have been, a massive lawn sits between the Washington Monument and the Capitol building and a reflecting pool sits between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.

Some stellar film photos of this strip from my middle school field trip to DC. 

And since it was 1997 and we were a bunch of corny 14-year-olds, we obviously had to recreate the Forrest/Jenny scene from Forrest Gump. 

Throughout the times I have visited DC since, I have taken some much better shots (though have yet to recreate the Forrest Gump scene with Dave).

So let's start with the memorial at the center of it all, the Washington Monument. Construction on this obelisk commemoriating our first President began in 1848, but was not completed until 1884 as they ran out of money to keep building it (the Civil War also didn't help). When it was completed, it was the tallest structure in the world, and continues to remain the tallest obelisk and tallest stone structure. 

It also makes for amazing attempts at fun photos (many of which are not PC). While it is not possible to climb it the way Ashley is in this photo, it is possible to climb the inside. However, back in 2011, when a freak earthquake hit the DC area, damage was done to the structure that closed down the inside and took years to repair. 

Just underneath the Washington Monument is the World War II Memorial, dedicated to all those who served in the armed forces and as civilians during World War II. 

Created in 2004, it is a large oval plaza surrounded by 56 pillars, one for each state (48 at the time of the war) and one for each of the territories that fought on behalf of the US. Each pillar is adorned with a wreath. 

At two ends of the plaza are two arches, one for each front of the war: Pacific and Atlantic.

In the center of the plaza is a giant fountain.

On the western side of the plaza, opposite the Washington Memorial, is the Freedom Wall. This wall is covered in 4,048 gold stars, each one representing 100 Americans who died in the war. 

From the Freedom Wall, visitors can get a glimpse over to the final memorial on this strip: the Lincoln Memorial. Completed in 1922, this monument is humongous in person, and beautiful at night. It feels like a Greek temple, and not surprising, as that was the intent of the design. 

Up the stairs and inside the temple is a giant statue of President Abraham Lincoln, sitting in a chair 60 feet high. 

In the "rooms" on either side of the statue, etched into the walls, are the Gettysburg Address and his second inaugural address. They start sky high, memorializing the famous words that Lincoln spoke. 

Now while those are the memorials on the strip that is considered the Mall, there are several other monuments that are also technically part of the Mall. Another presidential one that actually sits across the Potomac River is the Jefferson Memorial. 

This one went for the Roman theme over the Greek, looking more like the Pantheon than the Acropolis. Completed in 1947, this memorial is dedicated to founding father and second President Thomas Jefferson. A large bronze statue stands in the middle of the rotunda, and I have to say, it's pretty breathtaking in person. It stands so tall, and particularly at night, is pretty amazing to see. 

On the walls around the statue are excerpts from the Declaration of Independence, appropriate as he was the main writer of the document. 

When we were there in 1997, a brand new memorial had just been opened one month earlier: the President Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. This memorial is more of a complex of beautiful stone structures, one for each of his four terms, statues and waterfalls, and at night, it couldn't have been more magical. 

One of the more iconic memorials in the area is that of the Vietnam War. Completed in 1982, this memorial contains a long stone wall with the names of all servicemen who died or were missing in action over the course of the war. The stone has been polished to the point of reflection, and makes the names eerily disappear into the image reflected back. 

Just a ways from the wall is the "Three Soldiers" statue depicting three soldiers of different ethnic backgrounds all looking upon the wall and their fallen brothers. 

Another statue at the memorial is dedicated to the nurses who served in Vietnam, depicting three nurses holding a wounded soldier.

When I was here in 1997, this would mark the first travel adventure I had with Rachel. While looking at the Vietnam Memorial, we got lost in the names and turned around to find our group missing. We both thankfully didn't panic, and just followed the logical path they might have taken and found them a few minutes later, but we will always fondly recall how we almost got lost in DC on the middle school field trip. 

We caught up with our group at the Korean War Memorial. Its hard to see as night was falling, but eerily appropriate as the memorial consists of 19 men from different branches of the military, meant to be hidden in the rugged terrain of Korea. 

Surrounding all these monuments and lining the river are a type of tree that 11 months out of the year may not seem like a big deal. But for one month in the spring, they bloom in an explosion of pink and kick-off the cherry blossom season. And it is one hectic time to visit DC. 

On a nice day during cherry blossom season, visitors are practically shoulder to shoulder along the river. And understandably, as it is a beautiful sight to see. 

The monuments are even prettier during this time. 

My sister was not amused that I made her come down here during her birthday weekend to see this. But she got over it, and it made for a great photo. 

And now to end with my favorite story from the National Mall during my middle school trip. We were taking a short break from siteseeing and sitting out on the lawn when a man came up and began to harass us to buy some watches. We refused him until he left and then continued hanging out.

We suddenly noticed that the very man attempting to sell us stuff had just been noticed by a cop on horseback. This was such a unique experience for a group of suburbanite kids on their first vacation: seeing someone get arrested on horseback? However, things got even more...exciting...when the horse suddenly also became very...excited. Let's just say that the "happy horse" on the Mall was probably the most memorable story that occurred for this group of middle schoolers in their three days away. 

And so I end this post with my favorite photo taken from that middle school trip, here on the Mall. I loved this picture then for the fact it signified vacation and a landmark and that it had all my friends in the photo. I love it now for the same reasons. I have returned to the Mall several times in my life and at different points in my life, and I still find it to be an absolutely beautiful area of DC, albeit touristy, filled with stunning memorials and beautiful structures. And I always snicker when I see the police on horseback.