A Hike on the Mall

Yesterday I took an adventure onto the National Mall. That large strip of open space (sort of) that is filled with museums, and takes up the entirety south of Downtown DC.

I titled this section as a "hike" on the mall because if any of you have ever been foolish enough to think you would be able to dart around and pop your head in the museums, I'm sure you were proven wrong with the first attempt you took at wayfinding your way to your destination. The sign posts and directions make it look easy. But layer on a half a mile walk with blistering hot sun and little shade, and by the time you walk to your destination, it feels much more like a hike.

Needless to say, the National Mall is a wonderful place. There is such a concentration of history, art, and monuments to fill a lifetime of simple wandering, let alone one day if you have that. Actually, my advice for the Mall if you have a limited amount of time during a day (say a couple of hours): Pick one museum you want to explore, and explore only that museum/place. If it is a longer amount of time half a day or over 5 hours, make it a dense museum (American History/Air & Space/Natural). If it is shorter (2-5 hour layover) make it an art gallery. And for the love of goodness use this wonderful bus called the DC Circulator. It drives up and down the Mall with 10-20 minute frequencies, and hits all of the high points, and only costs a dollar. And it's air conditioned, which you will want for visiting DC in the coming months. (Much better than hoofing it with whatever you are lugging around.) Keep in mind too: Certain Smithsonian museums have lockers that you can use for free to stow larger bags (and smaller ones!) so you don't have a heavy companion with you around the museum the whole time. Use them.

Anyways. Enough of Nick's tips. Back to the Mall hike.

After work I shored up and decided to walk to the Washington Monument and the Constitutional Gardens. I strolled over to the White House and partook in some great people watching for a bit. Then I commenced the hike down the ellipse and onto the grounds of the Monument. Rolling up, I came upon a realization: The things in DC are much, much bigger in real life than they look in pictures.

Those specks at the bottom of the monument, right under the flags, are people.

I really had no aim for the afternoon, so I decided to head westward towards the Lincoln Monument and the associated gardens and landscape features there. It ended up that the Constitutional Gardens were under construction (like so many things on the Mall are right now) and off limits. So I walked to the World War II memorial. There were giant fountains, and tall marble pillars with each state and territory etched on them with a giant steel wreath commemorating the people from each state who lost their lives in the war.

There were also lots of people here, especially school aged kids, running around, taking selfies in front of their state memorial, and blatantly not really getting the point of the area. I have a lot of feelings about this, especially since memorial day was the day before. There were flower wreaths and handmade memorials in place from the ceremonies the day before, and it seemed like the memorial was more of a hangout space rather than a space of... memorial and reverence. Later on I walked passed (did not look up close) at the Vietnam memorial, and there the guides were saying to their school children to be quiet, do not disturb people, and respect the space. But here there was no control. It's weird how time works isn't it?

The area with the fountains and the star memorial was way too loud for me to hang around for very long, so I headed off towards the Lincoln memorial and the reflecting pool.

The closer I got to the Lincoln Memorial, the more and more people there were on the steps. It was like tour groups galore. I also saw the many tour buses carrying said people, all lined up in their select spots, and I thought to myself: Ohh. This is a gathering spot for tourists to return to their buses...

Once I hung around the Lincoln Memorial for a bit, saw the Washington Monument in the reflecting pool, I decided it was time to call it a day and head home. Except I didn't really want to walk back to a metro stop, so I searched for the closest Circulator stop. There is one at the Lincoln Monument, but it's not where Google Maps says it is. Beware, it's on the Southwest corner of the building (exact opposite of the above shot), and it's kind of hidden away, so give yourself plenty of time before you go to catch the bus back.

While I was waiting, I saw people on the back of the Lincoln Monument sitting and looking out over the Potomac. Oh yeah! The river! And when I looked back to see what they were looking at, I caught a glimpse of the sun setting behind Rosslyn, and I thought to myself: What a wonderful view: