USA ’25 – Day Two – The Sights

Jet lag wasn’t too bad. I’m sure that it’s perfectly normal to be wide awake at 5 am! Still it did allow us to get out early and avoid the crowds.

National Mall

Today we’d earmarked to do the sights, which in Washington’s case are all centred around the National Mall. We started by heading to the White House, which, somewhat unsurprisingly, was swarming with gun-toting serious-looking guys. Many had the words “Secret Service” emblazoned on their bullet-proof vests, which seemed a little odd as they weren’t being secret at all.

You can get reasonably close to the White House, a similar distance as you can get to Buckingham Palace, which, coincidentally, was where The Donald was when we visited. Other than a quick photo through the bars there’s not much more you can do so we moved on fairly quickly.

We walked on to the Washington Monument before walking around the Mall and the monuments to previous presidents. Lincoln’s is probably the most impressive but is also having some work done at the moment so not looking great. However, my favourite has got to be FDRs as it includes a number of attractive water features, some interesting sculptures and thought-provoking quotations.

Washington Monument

Lunchtime we went up the Washington Monument. You have to get tickets in advance but I had secured ours while sitting in the Mobile Lounge being transported across Dulles tarmac. I’m not sure why we didn’t do this last time because at $1 a person it was excellent value. The views across the city and the Mall below were great and worth the tight security (my nailcippers were deemed a risk and had to be left at ground level!)

Looking at the monument, I was struck by how the colour of the stone changes roughly one-third up. While at the top, I asked a guide why this was, and she replied, “Money, it’s always money.” It turns out that the monument was initially paid for by private funds, but the money ran out. Eventually, the government took over, and a series of changes led to a difference in colour, namely the new stone came from an adjoining quarry, the stones were no longer hand-cut, and less money was spent. It’s very obvious when looking at it when the government took over!

Washington (George) may have bought the US their independence, but he wasn’t that great that they were going to spend THAT much on a monument, clearly.