I recently had the good fortune to be able to again visit Washington, D.C. to attend a national conference, the Organization of American Historians. While in the nation's capital, I always try to visit Arlington National Cemetery as it is one of my favorite places; its tranquil beauty and vivid reminders of the cost of war always touches my heart.
The conference provided me some great contacts for my project as well as some helpful ideas on designing my website and database and so I am grateful for TCC's support and especially my dean Dr. Jackson for making this last minute trip possible. I was lucky enough to visit during the last part of the cherry blossom season and the weather was gorgeous! The visit was very very short but really useful.
I went on a great scavenger hunt around the national capitol mall to photograph the many memorials on the mall as well as some in out-of the-way places. The tributes to the 1st and 2nd Army Divisions that are found near the White House are often overlooked but their stark beauty caught my eye, especially the red flowers laid out in a large "1". 
I walked from the White House around the entire mall -- the WWII, Vietnam, and Korean memorials and then down behind the Lincoln Memorial to the Memorial Bridge to photo the beautiful and large sculptures that mark the entrance to the bridge, then to the FDR memorial, and the DC World War I memorial that is largely forgotten but so very beautiful, then John Paul Jones, and U.S. Grant in front of the Capitol building; I then hiked up to the Japanse-American Patriotism in WWII memorial and back down to the Navy Memorial! This was a very very long walk in about 5 hours but my camera clicked away and I enjoyed finding the more forgotten memorials such as the Grand Army of the Republic, and the Soldiers and Sailors of the Civil War. I will make a separate post for Arlington National Cemetery.
[One last comment here -- I do wish I had been able to go with a good friend who lived and worked in this city for a number of years and who knows all the great places and how to get into them -- like Old Ebbits Grill! Oh well.]
[One last comment here -- I do wish I had been able to go with a good friend who lived and worked in this city for a number of years and who knows all the great places and how to get into them -- like Old Ebbits Grill! Oh well.]
