DC statue tour. Bueller?

Rebecca has returned from the wilds of Thailand. One the things that I planned to celebrate her homecoming / our anniversary was a statue tour of DC. We are planning a trip to Europe later in the summer, so this would be an opportunity to put our gear and our stamina through the paces. As an added bonus, there are many statues in DC and I had little or no knowledge of them. A statue tour would also serve as a stealth history lesson for Rebecca, whose mastery of American history is a bit rough, to say the least. (This is probably due as much to lack of interest as to lack of opportunity. My knowledge of Canadian history is atrocious, but, then, I don't live in Canada! )

Anyway, we started out midmorning with a destination of Capitol Hill at 5pm. That's about a 7 mile walk, so we had plenty of time to cover the distance. I had helpfully split the tour up into 6 discrete stops. I deliberately overdid it, because I wanted to see about where the breaking point is. I think there is a tendency to try to see everything when one visits a new place, but one or two neighborhoods or museums is about the most I could happily handle.

Anyway, things went well for stops number 1 and 2. Stop number 1 was at Meridian Hill (aka Malcom X) Park close to our house. It's a pretty park, a bit run down, but still full of trees. It's best days our behind it (the statue of Joan of Arc at the head of the park had it's sword stolen in the 1990s, and it has not been replaced), but it was scenic nevertheless.

Stop number 3 saw us linger near the white house, where Pennsylvania Avenue was shut down for some sort of security reason probably having to do with Netanyahu's visit. By about 2pm, after learning about 15 statues, we were pretty much spent. We made an impromptu visit to the Post Office Clock tower, which is free and of a similar height to the Washington monument. The view was pretty good and worth checking out if you want to skip the line and pomp at the monument.

I threw in a sculpture of the 'Haida Gwaii" at the Canadian embassy to keep Rebecca interested. Unsurprisingly, it was her favorite. It is a cool sculpture - art rather than historical tribute. And that was pretty much the end of the tour. We covered about 3/4 of the ambitious itinerary. Lessons learned: stop for refreshments often. Make a realistic plan (don't try to hit 20 statues all over the city in one day). Build in some extra time so you don't have to rush. And, finally, some people really don't care about American military history.

We finished it off with a coffee at the art museum, followed by a visit and cocktail hour at our friends' newly remodeled house in Capitol Hill, followed by a nice dinner. Yeay! Happy Anniversary us!

Rebecca at Meridian Hill

 Duck and ducklings at Freedom Plaza

 Closeup of ducklings. So Ceeyute!

 Somewhat uninspiring view of DC skyline for Post Office tower. Looking North. It's better in person. Seriously.

 Looking South from tower. Smithsonian castle visible on the mall in the middle of the photo. (reddish building to the left). Potomac River and Reagan airport in the distance.

 Rebecca and the Haida Gwaii.