National Mall PHOTO BLOG POST (Washington D.C., Outside Travels)

My second (and last) day in D.C. I headed up to the delicious Rise Gluten-Free Bakery in Adams Morgan for breakfast. After enjoying some of my gluten-free treats, I planned to make my way back towards the Mall. I had Uber’d from my hotel to Rise, but Uber had Surge pricing and there wasn’t a Car2Go close to me. I decided to walk back, which was just the start of a day of walking.

I set my sights on the White House and planned my route through Dupont Circle. Walking and exploring is one of my favorite things to do in cities. I love to get a feel for a city and its neighborhoods and DC has a lot of architecture, bars, and restaurants to walk by and take in. I didn’t meander as much as I usually do, since I only had so many hours in D.C. and I didn’t want to get too off track. At one point I did walk down a different street to check out a particular building. I usually pride myself on my sense of direction and ability to use landmarks and memory to know which way to head, but D.C.’s diagonal streets got me confused for a few minutes and I ended up heading east to Logan Circle instead of south-ish towards the White House. That wasn’t that bad of a detour and ended up at the White House in not too much time after checking out Logan Circle. The walk from the bakery was definitely worth it, especially to burn off all the gluten-free food I had stuffed myself with. That included everything I had gotten “to go” (none lasted beyond my walk to the White House).

After getting some shots of the White House I walked by the Old Executive Building (which I find fascinating) and down to the Mall. I admired the Washington Monument from afar and then went to the World War II Memorial. This was by far my favorite part of the D.C. and so it definitely deserves its own post.

Afterwards I walked along the Reflecting Pool to the Lincoln Memorial. I got some of my favorite shots of the Lincoln Memorial crowded with people (I actually preferred that look over what it’d probably look like completely empty) and then shots back down the Mall to the Washington Monument.

My plan was to then walk along the Potomac and visit the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial (both of which I hadn’t seen before) before heading to the Lincoln Memorial. I did however have lunch plans in Dupont Circle, so I debated whether I had time to see all the remaining memorials before Ubering it there. I knew it would be a stretch, so instead I had a water break and then just decided to start walking back towards Dupont. It ended up being kind of perfect timing to get there for lunch.

After lunch the friend I had met and I hung out for a little bit and then I started looking at locations of Car2Go to drive back. There were a few not too far away. My friend also recommended maybe doing one of the Capitol Bikes to get back to the Mall. I kept both in mind as I started walking south… And I ended up just again walking all the way back to the Mall and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.

What I loved about both the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorials were the quotes. I love quotes (yeah that sounds a little weird, but ah well) and their ability to cause you to reflect and be inspired. My favorites were

• “We shall overcome, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but bends towards justice” (MLK)
• “Have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits” (MLK)
• “The test of of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little” (FDR)
• “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith” (FDR)

I also was a big fan of all the waterfalls at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. I thought both memorials were more serene and calm than the others and really helped you reflect on the quotes and their contributions to our nation. Partially the calmness came from them both being far less crowded than the Mall between the Capitol and Lincoln Memorial.

Finally I wrapped up my walks of the Mall with the Jefferson Memorial, which has always been one of my favorites. The architecture is just so classic with the portico, the columns, and the dome. I love walking around the circle and seeing what partial views I get through the columns. I snagged a pic of the Washington Monument through the columns, which was probably one of my favorites.

Then it was back to my hotel (any guess how I got there?) to grab my suitcase and get to the train station to head to Baltimore (no of course I didn’t walk to Baltimore) for the rest of my Memorial Day Weekend plans!