Washington, Part 7
To enter the Washington Monument you must have a ticket. Tickets are free, and distributed on a first come, first served basis, so, you might arrive at ten o’clock in the morning and find the only tickets left are for two o’clock in the afternoon. This means that instead of following the schedule you had originally designed for yourself that would involve the Bureau of Printing and Engraving, the FDR Memorial and the National Gallery of Art, you instead see the National Archives and the Jefferson Memorial and call it a day.
First things first: the Washington Monument is an amazing structure when you consider how old it is. It’s like a 50 story skyscraper built of stone blocks, with no steel to reinforce anything. Inside, it’s clear that gravity holds this thing together. The security procedure was, again, rigorous, and that alone must sharply reduce the number of visitors that can be accommodated daily. The elevator takes you to a landing at the very top of the obelisk, and the mark on the floor indicates a height of 500 feet. There are two small windows on each face of the pyramidal section of the monument, and depending on which direction you face you see either the WWII Memorial, Lincoln Memorial and Arlington, Virginia; the Capitol and RFK Stadium; the Jefferson Memorial and Reagan National Airport; or the Elipse and the White House.
The Jefferson Memorial requires a hike, but is well worth it. I love classically inspired architecture, and this structure has about as many columns, steps and pediments as you could fit into a respectable design. Plus, inside there’s a great big statue.
The National Archives is not far from the Smithsonian Museums, and is a handsome building in its own rights, with a fine dome. Beneath that dome, of course, are our nation’s most precious possessions: the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights. You know you’ve got some good stuff on display when you decide to keep the Magna Carta off in a corner somewhere. The cafeteria there was surprisingly good (and very surprisingly affordable), and the elevator was fancy. Plus, it was at the National Archives that I saw the only authentic Lincoln document of my entire trip, a letter in his own hand. The Library of Congress has two copies of the Gettysburg Address, and the National Archives has, I believe, the Emancipation Proclamation, but they are too delicate to display for more than a few days each year. Still, I was glad I got to see something, at least, that bore Lincoln’s own signature.
Time didn’t allow a visit to the National Gallery of Art, alas, but I did go through the sculpture garden. Most everything in it sucked big time. But they did have a Calder stabile, so that was nice. One evening I took the Metro to the Dupont Circle stop and visited the Phillips Collection. It’s an art museum in an old mansion in a neighborhood that now houses many of the international embassies. I am very glad that admission was free, because I really only was interested in seeing one thing there. I made a pretty weak attempt to imitate a painting, too.
So, I missed the National Cathedral, Cedar Hill, the Bureau of Printing and Engraving and the FDR Memorial. The National Museum of American History and Ford’s Theater were closed, and my White House tour didn’t come through. But I’ll go back someday. Huzzah!
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