What a great day. I am physically and emotionally exhausted. I have heard that it would take at least a couple of days to see all of Disneyland. It must take weeks to see all of D.C. It must take years to learn just about the highlights.
We started early and went late. Still, we saw only the smallest portion of the sights. The simple version of the day's events went something like this: a walk in the business/hotel part of D.C., breakfast, walk around the gate of the White House, visit the Washington Monument, walk The Mall, go through the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, go through the Smithsonian Art Museum, visit the back side of the Capital, walk The Mall past the reflecting pool to visit the Lincoln Memorial, visit the Vietnam Memorial, and then it was 7:30pm.
What were the big deal highlights for me? Just about everything was worth so much more time to contemplate. Touching the rock fragment from the moon was among my favorite parts of the day. Seeing some phenomenal art was another favorite part of my day. I devoted the largest portion of my time to the art museum. Stunning examples of beauty, emotion, and talent. To be able to look at the brush strokes as close as I cared to stand, without touching the art of course, was a treat. Try seeing the brush strokes of 500 years ago and then stepping back to see something beautiful. It was indeed a great day. I took plenty of pictures and I will certainly upload them to this blog when I get home. The truth is, I can not begin to articulate the experience I had today properly just yet. I could spend days taking in the art and the monuments and trying to put my thoughts into words.
There is so much we did not see. Between the memorials and the two museums we did see, I would need a day of recovery before returning. As it is, I will have to review my thoughts, impressions, and photos from afar. This visit was not the entire adventure and tonight we sleep in the outskirts of Fredericksburg, Virgina. We are conveniently across the street from the Waffle House where we have dined well and consumed the requisite nightly allowance of sweet tea. My laundry is washed and ready to attach to the back of my bike in the morning. My mind is floating in colors of paint, sadness, respect, admiration, love, and appreciation of life.