Friday, Aug. 01, 2008
Nation’s Capital: An Ever-Evolving History Lesson
By Nicholas Sakelaris
Staff Writer
History is literally around every corner when you visit Washington, D.C.
The nation’s capital has probably changed a lot since your school field trip, so it’s definitely worth checking out again.
New memorials, museums and other great tourist spots have been built in the last decade that add another dimension to the trip. Of course, the old favorites are still there.
And the best thing is that federal taxes already paid for many of the attractions.
You can spend a whole day at the National Mall with its war memorials and huge monuments to some of the country’s greatest presidents. But you better bring comfortable shoes and be prepared to walk several miles if you want to see everything.
Completed in 1885, the Washington Monument stands as one of the oldest remaining sites on the mall and is a good place to start. Tickets to ride the elevator to the top are free but are given out on a first-come first-served basis each morning and often snatched up fast. For a fee, the tickets are available by calling 1-800-967-2283 or by visiting reservations.nps.gov.
The Washington Monument was the tallest structure in the world until Paris’ Eiffel Tower was built in 1889.
Next up is the World War II Memorial, which honors the 16 million Americans who served in uniform in the war against Japan, Italy and Germany. The memorial is one of the newest on the mall as it opened in April 2004.
When you first approach the memorial, relief sculptures tell a chronological history of the war, including the home front. Detailed murals show everything from paratroopers ready to jump from a C-47 early on D-Day in Normandy to the Pearl Harbor attack and an American family listening on the radio as President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares war on Japan.
From there, the monument splits in two, with the Atlantic and the Pacific theaters represented.
All the states, territories and the District of Columbia are represented with giant marble monuments. The Freedom Wall puts into perspective the 400,000 Americans who died in the war with 4,000 gold stars, each representing 100 deaths.
The monument is situated between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.
If you’ve got a veteran in your family, you can enter them into the World War II Registry. Kiosks at the site have a database that displays veterans’ names and photographs.
For more information, see www.wwiimemorial.com.
The Korean War Memorial, near the Lincoln Memorial can also stir some emotions. Larger-than-life statues show soldiers wearing ponchos as they march in the bitter cold on rugged terrain.
Reflections of the statues can be seen in the long black marble wall that lines the monument along with sandblasted photos. The Pool of Remembrance honors the more than 54,000 Americans who died in the conflict.
President Bill Clinton and South Korean President Kim Young Sam dedicated the memorial on July 27, 1995.
In 1997, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial was completed between the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials on the coast of the Tidal Basin. Unlike the elder presidential monuments, which were made of white marble and feature Greek or Roman-style columns, Roosevelt’s is made of four open-air sections that represent each of his four presidential terms.
A statue at the beginning shows Roosevelt in his wheel chair, something most Americans never saw when he was alive. Another statue shows working-class men wearing trench coats standing in a breadline during the depression. The turmoil of WWII is depicted with powerful quotes and violent waterfalls. Roosevelt died before the war ended, but a statue of his wife, Eleanor, shows her carrying on his legacy as a delegate to the United Nations.
The nearby Vietnam Memorial is a must-visit as well.
Inscribed in the black marble wall are 58,256 names, for families to study and all to see. Don’t miss the two statues, one of three weary soldiers armed with machine guns and another showing female nurses helping an injured soldier.
Though much older, the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials are both inspiring because of the democratic ideals they stand for.
The Smithsonian museum complex offers free exhibits and is a must-see. With 19 museums and nine research centers, everyone will find something of interest. The National Air & Space Museum, for example, has everything from space capsules and satellites to rockets and WWII era fighters, and even the Wright Flyer.
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden has a variety of modern and contemporary art on three levels — from paintings to sculpture, photography to digital or video art — with a plethora of media and artists represented. Outside, the bi-level Sculpture Garden is home to a geometric reflecting pool and green space. Sculptures from Rodin, Matisse and Koons can be viewed here as well.
The Smithsonian National Zoo — also a free destination, although there is a fee for parking in the zoo lots — has about 2,000 different animals. The zoo, open 364 days, is a 163-acre park. To help educate children, the zoo offers Kids’ Adopt programs. And if you want to remember your trip, how about a ringtone of a wild animal for you cellie?
The American History Museum is closed for renovation until fall 2008, but be sure and check out www.si.edu/visit/ for details on all the Smithsonian sites.
Of course, no trip to D.C. is complete without a drive past the White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Tours of the home of the sitting U.S. president are restrictive. According to www.whitehouse.gov/history/tours, public tours for 10 or more are allowed, but requests must be submitted through one’s member of Congress. Reservations are accepted up to six months in advance, and are scheduled first-come, first-served.
After some sight-seeing, head to Silverspring, Md., just outside the capital.
The city has a more urbanized version of Southlake Town Square with a wealth of restaurants from African and Greek to Indian and Tex-Mex, if you get homesick.
The entire area can be navigated by train and tours are available by double decker bus. But you should plan to spend a minimum of four to five days exploring all the city has to offer — even then, you still may not see it all.
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