Monuments and memorials

OK - at least one more DC post for you today - the Monuments and Memorials. It seems impossible to see all the monuments and memorials in DC, especially in the space of one afternoon. Despite the short time frame, I did manage to see quite a few. You can't miss the Washington Monument, since it towers over DC, and the mall in particular. It was so omni-present that I took far too many pictures of it.

I did not do anything on this list, however, but then, I didn't go up in the monument itself. You have to stand in line to get tickets (and then stand in line with the tickets, just like at Disneyland, but without the music and scary, life-sized cartoon characters). No time for that for this blogger, so I just took the pictures and moved on.

Nearby to the Washington Monument is the World War II Memorial. The columns with wreaths stand for each state, and continue all the way around the fountain. It is tasteful, but somehow it was far less moving than the Vietnam Memorial.

Seeing the sheer number of names alone is striking, sobering. There was a volunteer with a handy-dandy little computer index who would look up names for you, if needed, and help you find them on the wall. The wall itself is a mirror, and a blackness that absorbs the light.

The Lincoln Monument is also quite striking, and I would have liked to sit there and watch it for a while, but without all the other people.

This strange monument was in Alexandria, near our metro stop. It is the George Washington Masonic Memorial. Hmm. Just what is it with all these pointy topped monuments?!

I didn't get to see the Capitol Building, except from afar, and never got close to the Jefferson Memorial. And there are countless other memorials and monuments that I would like to see, whenever I get back to DC...So I guess I had better go!

NPR! NPR!

Did you think I had forgotten about my promise (or was it a threat?) to tell you about my tour of NPR? Anyway - NPR is my favorite radio station. It is about all I ever listen to, apart from the BBC Radio Scotland feed on my computer. The first thing we do when we move or travel is figure out where the NPR station lives on the dial in the new location. So, I was thrilled when I discovered that NPR does tours of its studio in DC every Thursday morning. Right then and there I determined to skip whatever session was on tap at the seminar and go to the tour.

All these pictures are from Studio 4A - the studio where they interview musicians. It was the only room we were allowed to take pictures of. Ah well. We got to see the office areas, where the reporters and researchers and producers work, and we even got to see Scott Simon working on an interview! He was in a studio, and we were int he observation room, and he waved! For NPR geeks, this was a swoon-worthy event.

Studio 4A is an amazing space - the floor, ceiling, and walls are acoustically designed to provide perfect sound for radio, so you can hear every note as it was intended. They have a specially room with a Plexiglas shield for drummers, when they have rock bands. This is as it ought to be! Keep the drummers separate.

If you are an NPR geek like me, and are in the DC area on a Thursday, take the tour! It's free. If you listen to NPR and don't give monetary support, please reconsider. The tour guide told us that only 10% of listeners donate to their local stations, and NPR has not been immune from the current economic climate. They have had to lay off reporters and other staff. We need their special, balanced (or at least biased in the proper direction) reporting on issues.

DC Buildings

The Smithsonian Castle - no two turrets are the same!

DC has an abundance of really interesting buildings. There are the official buildings - White House, Capitol, and so on, there are the museums - Smithsonians (all of the various branches), the National Archives etc, and the private houses...I could go on, and I only saw a small portion of DC! Here are a few of my favorite buildings - the White House you saw in the magnolia pictures, I never got close to the Capitol building, and I didn't take any pictures of the really cute townhomes in Alexandria's Old Town area...

Here is a not very good shot of the National Archives. As an archivist (I haven't relinquished that title, even though I am currently masquerading as a reference librarian) I was excited to see it. Too bad I couldn't go inside - you have to apply for tickets 6 weeks in advance! It is a nice, impressive looking building across the street from the Mall.

This building is where we spend most of our time during the week: the United States Patent and Trademark office. All the buildings on either side were also USPTO buildings - what do all those people do?


The Jefferson Memorial. S. and I elected not to walk that far, so we only ever saw it from a distance. I see it every once in a while on Bones, which is set in DC - now I can say I have actually seen it!

This is perhaps the most important building of my trip - the headquarters of National Public Radio (NPR). I listen to almost nothing else on the radio. If my tuner broke and was stuck on a station, it would be whatever NPR is in the town I am in. I took a tour with a group of like-minded public radio geeks (proudly self-professed) on my last day in town. More about that in a later post.

And here, not too far from NPR, is the entrance to DC's Chinatown. I didn't have time to go in, but the gate was pretty cool. All the signs on the surrounding buildings were in English and Chinese, including the one for a Chipotle and the Verizon Center arena.