Washington, D.C. - Part III

Here are a few animals that made us smile today...


And now back to Round Four of "Name that Monument." This one might be a little trickier than earlier ones...

This photo gives you a hint...

It is the Memorial to the Signers of the Declaration of Independence.

This memorial lies on a tiny, tranquil island in the middle of the Constitution Gardens Pond which lies on the side of the Reflecting Pool. It has 56 large granite blocks each of which is engraved with a signature from the Declaration of Independence.

A few neat facts about the Declaration of Independence:

• Thomas Jefferson, who was only 33 at the time, was chosen as the primary author.
• Only John Hancock and Charles Thomson signed the first copy in July of 1776. It was not until August 2 when most others had signed their name.
• The Declaration was seen as an act of Treason against England, and many of the signers were forced into hiding and had their belongings taken or destroyed.

Round Five...

A clue: It is a new monument, finished in April 2004 and dedicated on May 29, 2004. It honors all those who served during World War II - the 16 million who served in the U.S. armed forces as well as all those who supported the effort from home.

Answer: The National World War II Memorial.

By the way, over 400,000 Americans died in the war

Even though the monument is relatively new, it blends seamlessly into the D.C. Mall area. Lying at the end of the Reflecting Pool alongside the Washington Monument, it preserves the overall design of this historic D.C. area.

Some of the most striking bronze panels we've ever seen were the 24 panels on either side of the formal entrance to the memorial. They depicted many aspects of the war: scenes from battle, from hospitals, and from returning home.

Jeopardy-style question... This structure is known as "The Apotheosis of Washington"

Answer: What is the U.S. Capitol?

Leaving our backpacks, snacks, and water bottles safely at "home" we made our way to the Capitol's newly renovated (and high security) Visitor Center. The extensive renovations were completely in 2007 and comprised the largest addition to the Capitol - a whopping 580,000 square feet.

The new center is basically a way to accomodate the thousands of visitors to come and experience the Capitol before even stepping foot inside, in addition to adding extensive office and storage space. The renovations are so new that google satellite images still show the construction going on.

Free guided tours take you through the rotunda and the few adjoining halls. And even though the tour was restrictive in where you could go, it was very informative.

For instance, why's it called "The Apotheosis of Washington?" Well apotheosis, for those who haven't read The Lost Symbol, means the raising up of a subject to a divine level. The painting on the ceiling of the rotunda of the Capitol depicts George Washington being elevated to "god-hood." It was painted by Constantino Brumidi in 1865 in the true fresco technique.

The dome is 180 feet up, the figures are up to 15 feet tall, and it covers an area of 4,664 square feet. For more detail on this extraordinary painting, click here.

Also in the Capitol is something called the National Statuary Hall Collection. Each state is allowed to place 2 statues in the Capitol to honor persons notable in their history. It was pretty easy to spot Louisiana's Huey P Long. We couldn't find the other statue from Louisiana, but we found the webpage that lists each statue in the collection. Click here to view it.

So, is it spelled Capital or Capitol? According to dictionary.com, Capitol refers to the building in D.C. or one of the state houses. Capital refers to the city or town, an uppercase letter, the net worth of a business, as well as several other common meanings. To show off the versatility of this amazing word, here's a sample sentence:

To capitalize on increased tourism and increase capital for the Capitol's visitor center, located in the capital city of ...., workers put up a sign in all capital letters: FAILURE TO DONATE MAY RESULT IN CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. Bloody capitalists! (That sentence was Richie's idea.)

The Nation's Christmas Tree!

And for our last round... What is this?

Answer: The White House

Tours of the actual White House are only given with a letter from your Member of Congress, and as you can imagine are very limited. Bummer. But we were content to spend time reading through the informative displays in the White House Visitor Center, which is a block or two from the White House, and allows more people to learn about this historic place.





Some facts:

• Originally the White House staff were paid out of the President's pocket, but in 1909 Congress voted to appropriate public funds to support a payed staff.
• Plumbing for hot and cold running water to the Presidential bathtub was done around 1853.
• First telegraph installed in 1866.
• First telephone installed in 1879.
• Electric lights installed in 1891.
• There was an aviation demonstration on the south grounds done by the Wright Brothers in 1911.

Protesters outside of the White House.

As we were walking amongst the protesters near
the White House, we spotted Bo, the first dog. Adorable!

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The Huang Kids found our sleeping bags.

Chuck and Jenn are great hosts, and Washington, D.C. never fails to impress us. It was nice to find the secret monuments and memorials hidden in the bushes and lawns of our Nation's Capitol (or is it Capital?).

After weeks and weeks of wishing for snow, we got the "mother load" of snow in Chevy Chase, Maryland. 24 inches fell in 24 hours. The roads and public transportation systems were shut down. Washington, D.C. hadn't seen this much snowfall since 1993. But that didn't stop us from walking around town and playing in the snow!

Our Snow "Man"


Can you spot Sally the Subaru?
Yes, we finally got the chance to shovel some snow, but we were
grateful for the snowplow that showed up the next morning.


And Richie in his "big puffy."