The Washington Monument

Washington

You can see the Washington Monument from so many places in Washington D.C. and I think it's second, behind the White House, in terms of the iconic Washington D.C. landmarks and "must-see" places.  The monument was built to commemorate the 1st U.S. president, General George Washington.  It is both the world's tallest stone structure and the world's tallest obelisk, standing at 555 feet 51⁄8 inches.  It is so much taller than I thought it … [Read more...]

The World War II Veteran’s Memorial

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This memorial was by far the most beautiful and most meaningful for me.  Being from Hawaii, Pearl Harbor "hit home" in more ways that one because the attack was in our backyard.  The Freedom Wall, on the west side of the memorial, has 4,048 gold stars, each representing 100 Americans who died in the war.  In front of the wall lies the message "Here we mark the price of freedom".  I literally got chicken skin when I read this and realized … [Read more...]

Walking Past The D.C. War Memorial & The Thomas Jefferson Memorial

D.C. War

There were just way too many places that we wanted to see that there were no way that we could see them all.  On our walk from the Korean War Veteran's Memorial to the National World War II Memorial we were able to see the D.C. War Memorial and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.  The D.C. World War Memorial has a list of 26,000 Washingtonians who served in the Great War.  Inscribed on the base are the names of the 499 District of Columbia citizens … [Read more...]

The Korean War Veteran’s Memorial

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The memorial is in the form of a triangle intersecting a circle.   The walls have more than 2,500 photographic, archival images representing the land, sea and air troops who supported those who fought in the Korean War are sandblasted onto the wall.  I ended up reading a lot about this memorial because of the "eeriness" of the statues of service members.  Within the walled triangle are large stainless steel statues representing a squad on … [Read more...]

The Lincoln Memorial

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After we left the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial, we headed up to the Lincoln Memorial to say hi to our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln.  The location of the memorial is amazing and the view of the capital and the Washington Monument is breathtaking.  The statue of him siting is much bigger than I thought it was going to be and the inscriptions of both the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural Address were so much more powerful than I had … [Read more...]

The Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial

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Today we started our trek around the Washington D.C. landmarks and memorials at The Vietnam Veteran's Memorial.  For me, this memorial was the one that touched home the most for me because of actually see the names of the service members of the U.S. armed forces who fought in the Vietnam War, service members who died in service in Vietnam/South East Asia, and the service members who were unaccounted for (Missing In Action) during the War. The … [Read more...]

Ke’alohi vs. Toilet Paper

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In the fight of Ke'alohi vs. toilet paper, Ke'alohi wins, every time.  While Lucas was out of our hotel room getting ice, Ke'alohi and I stayed in the hotel room to finish getting ready for our last day in Washington D.C.  I was finishing packing my diaper bag and putting on my shoes when I noticed something; silence.  As a mom, you always strive for silence but with a toddler, silence is deadly and usually means trouble and messiness. When I … [Read more...]