Monuments and memorials

What's the difference between a monument and a memorial? That's the question posed to us by Melvin, the tour guide of the TourMobile twilight tour. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Huaying suggested that I get up early for the tours because the price is the same and they go from 9am to 5pm. You get off where you want and reboard another tourbus later. Well, I only had four hours of sleep (I had to take care of a few things online in the morning) so I figured I wouldn't last from 9am to 5pm anyway. Besides, I could only do the twilight tour on Monday, since I have an online class on Tuesday night and I fly out on Wednesday night.

Kiss and Ride

So I didn't leave the hotel until 11am or so. I headed to the Van Dorn Street station, which was the closest Alexandria station with parking. It was only five miles or so from my hotel. When I got there, there were signs for "Kiss and Ride" (isn't that cute?) and "Park and Ride". Since I was alone and didn't have anyone to kiss, I followed the Park and Ride signs. Well, it turned out that the lot was full and there was no street parking. So I searched my GPS for the next nearest station and found the Huntington station which had a multi-level garage.

Apparently, I wasn't the only tourist in town because the station manager was busy answering questions from two other families. I got a Smartrip card, which I needed to get out of the garage. Right off the bat, Metro gets $5 just for the card. So you pay $10 and you get a $5 value. Parking costs $4.50/day. So I had to add more money to for train fare. I asked another agent on the loading platform which train to take to get to the White House and she advised me to take either of the trains parked there (whichever would leave first), exit at King Street for the red line train and get off at MacPherson. I decided to get off at Federal Triangle, where the Old Town Trolley Tour map said to get off for the White House Visitor Center.

Federal Triangle turned out to be more than a Metro stop. There was a food court and just outside was a plaza where there was a performance of African drummers and dancers. I was about to enter the Ronald Reagan Building to cut across, when I noticed that they were going through a search process, so I asked someone behind me how to get to the White House Visitor Center. He directed me to Pennsylvania Avenue and said that it was a block or two away.

It turned out to be easy to find. There were about as many tourists on the sidewalks as there were locals. You could tell them apart by the way they dressed (casual vs. business attire) and the way they walked (more leisurely vs. more hurriedly). Of course, the strollers and the cameras were a dead giveaway.

The White House

You go through a security screening just to enter the visitor center. I have no idea why. There was nothing there that you wouldn't find in any other tourist museum anywhere else in the country. There were two corners showing the same video about the White House. There were displays with pictures along one long wall. There was a chair from the Blue Room. Some china. A gift shop. A model of the White House. And that was it. There was a police kiosk and a ranger kiosk, but, apparently, there were no tours. The ranger said that you'd have to apply for a tour of the White House six months in advance.

So, off I went north on 15th Street towards the White House. I hoped to at least see it from the outside. Meanwhile, I took pictures of the Treasury building and other interesting buildings. Along the way, a caravan of black cars, preceded and followed by police cars with blaring sirens, drove past going south. Soon, it was followed by another caravan going north.

I couldn't find where the White House was and I turned left on a small street where I saw a number of people turn. It turned out to be Pennsylvania Avenue, which was the back side of the White House. There were police everywhere! On foot, on bikes, on cars.

I asked one if it was okay to take pictures and she said it was. I only took a few. The White House wasn't as big as I thought it was, although it was supposed to have 132 rooms.

Washington to Lincoln

Then I headed south on 17th Street towards the Washington Monument. There were still a lot of police, especially in front. We were forbidden to turn into State Place. Instead I ended up at the Ellipse, which was right in front of the White House. But I was so focused on heading towards the monument that I didn't think to turn around to look. It was later in the twilight tour that I realized I could have seen the White House between the trees if I walked a little more towards the center. Well, there were tourists stopped by police there anyway, so I decided to keep going.

I walked back to 17th Street where there was a line of vending vans (roach coaches) that alternately sold food or souvenirs. I had a hotdog and ice tea, then walked down a bit to buy some souvenirs for the kids -- a sack bag saying "You don't know me... Federal Witness Protection" for Ian, a couple of smaller sack bags with the presidential seal for Cooper and Stoney, and a pink onesie saying "Future President" for Kihra.

Then I kept walking south and turned into the Washington Monument area and got REALLY close. Then I headed west to the WWII Memorial, where I found the Philippines listed among the states and territories. Then I walked along the reflecting pool towards the Lincoln Memorial. It was after 5pm and my feet were killing me.

I figured I'd make my way to the Union Station where I would have dinner and catch the twilight tour.

The guide in a booth inside the Lincoln Memorial said that I could go back to 17th Street (the equivalent of 6 blocks away) and catch a bus. I asked the water vendor outside to see if he knew a shorter alternative and he took out a map showing that the nearest Metro was in Foggy Bottom, eight blocks north on 23rd Street. Well, at least the Metro was more of a certainty. I knew that it would take me right to Union Station. So, off I went and trudged 8 blocks on my achy feet. People were getting off work so it was busy. I had to get off at Metro Center to catch the red line to Union Station.

Union Station

The Union Station is really beautiful, especially the main hall. Outside the Metro area, there are shops and cafes and a huge food court. It looks more like a Las Vegas hotel without the slot machines. And just as busy. Apparently, there are other train companies like Amtrak that use it as a station, too. The Amtrack area is like an airport terminal with numbered gates and public announcements reminding people to keep their handcarries with them.

After paying for my ticket for the TourMobile twilight tour, I found an Indian cuisine restaurant in the food court and got chicken saag (spinach) and chicken korma with rice and naan. I would have gone with the chicken curry but it said that it's spicy and I couldn't risk it.

A young man approached me asking if I could help him. I couldn't understand what he was saying because it was so noisy. Then he was called by someone behind him and he left. I think he was panhandling but he didn't look like he needed it. He was dressed better than I was.

Twilight tour

Close to 6:30pm, I headed outside to catch the TourMobile bus. I saw two busses and the driver of the second one showed me where I should get in line. (The driver of the first one was missing.) But I figured I had a little time to take pictures of the outside of the station. When I got back, several others were already on the bus and the conductor was taking tickets. When I got to the front of the line, he asked me where I was from. After I said Seattle, he said, "Oh, the *other* Washington." I sat all the way in the back.

The bus is a regular large bus with an extension/trailer. They took out the window panes and instead had plastic curtains over the windows, like the ones you'd see in a softshelled Jeep. Melvin, the conductor, came around and retracted the curtains since it wasn't raining anyway. He said he hated those himself. When the driver of the second bus walked by, I asked which was the best side for taking pictures and he said that the other side (left side) was, until after the Jefferson Memorial. So, I moved to the left side. And a good thing too, because the bus was almost full. And soon we were off for a three-hour tour... a three-hour tour.

Melvin turned out to be a very funny and very entertaining tour guide. It rained for a short while as we wound our way through the streets towards the Jefferson Memorial. We drove around the Capitol, which I missed earlier. There was a museum that supposedly had the only DaVinci paintings and sketches in the US. And Melvin talked about a couple of displays in the Smithsonian Museum of Gems -- the Hope diamond and the largest sapphire in the world. He told us about one of his tours when a girl blurted out that her companion is the granddaughter of the donor of the sapphire.

Jefferson and Roosevelt

When the rain let up, we got a beautiful sunset and a double rainbow. And the sky was just perfect for good pictures. We stopped at the Jefferson Memorial for about a half hour, when we roamed on our own. Then we went to the Roosevelt Memorial, where Melvin gave us a quick tour through the four different areas, representing each of Roosevelt's terms in office. On one side, there was a small field with lots of fireflies and he told an anecdote about a family from California who, upon seeing the fireflies, remarked, "It's just like Disney!"

Faces on the wall

After the Roosevelt Memorial, our next stop is the Lincoln Memorial and the Korean War Memorial right next to it. Melvin said that after dark is the best time to view the Korean War Memorial. (I skipped it earlier in the day.) The reason was that, in the daytime, it's easy to miss the faces on the wall. So, out of curiosity, I went to see it. And it was amazing. The faces were photorealistic, but in negative so they looked (perhaps appropriately) like ghosts. It was hard taking a picture of it because the light is so subtle, my camera refused to take a picture. And a flash would just ruin the whole thing. So it's something that has to be seen in person.

But before you get to the wall, you'll see several statues of soldiers as they're crossing a field. Melvin said that at nighttime, it's easier to feel as though you were right in that field with them. And when it rains and the water streams down from their parkas, the sculpture pulls you deeper into it and gets another dimension of realism added to it.

While we were still on the bus, Melvin mentioned the polished black marble in rows, but I didn't hear all of it because of noise. It wasn't until I was heading towards the Lincoln Memorial that I realized what they were meant for. The reflection of the street lamps on the black marble made them look like long pools of water. Just like in rice paddies. And *that* caught my breath.

But I only had 15 minutes, so I went to the walkway between the reflecting pool and the Lincoln Memorial to take a picture of both the memorial and the Washington Monument with its reflection. The colors were incredibly more dramatic than earlier in the day. Times like that, I wish I had a tripod. I went up the steps a little bit to get a better view of Lincoln's statue (there were still a lot of people hanging out at the steps), then I headed back to the bus.

The final stop is the WWII Memorial and I decided to stay in the bus. My feet couldn't take anymore. Besides, it was already 10pm. The wind was blowing cold but it was a beautiful night. At 10:30pm, the group came back and we headed back to the Union Station, passing by a bridge heading towards Arlington National Cemetery so we could see the "eternal flame" where Kennedy is buried.

Falling in love

So what's the difference between a monument and a memorial? There were two guesses among the passengers. The lady behind me heard from another tour guide that the Washington Monument is the only monument and everything else built after that was a memorial. A teenager ventured that a monument is for a single person, whereas a memorial is for an event or a group of people. The real answer: A monument is built to honor a living person, and a memorial is built to honor a deceased. The Washington Monument was started while George Washington was still alive, although it was completed after he died.

Anyway, if you ever go to Washington, DC, take a twilight tour with Melvin. He was born in the city, he graduated with a Pharmacy degree in the city, he performed in a theater in the city, his father is buried in the Arlington Cemetery, he eats, lives, and breathes the city. And he loves the city so much, he'll make you fall in love with it too.