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August 1, 2005
The Mall Without A Claire's
Yesterday was our first full tourist day in DC. We were supposed to be meeting the family of the guy who was Gina's dad's bone marrow donor a couple of years ago...Gina had never met him in person before, and she owes him lots and lots and LOTS of hugs, but they cancelled on us at the last minute (sick kid), so we found ourselves aimlessly wandering at the National Mall.
Cassidy: "Cool, they have a mall there?"
Gina: "Yeah, but not that kind of mall. It doesn't have a Claire's or a Hot Topic."
Every vacation needs a running gag. This year, we have dubbed the National Mall, the great landmark between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, as "The Mall Without a Claire's".
Now we can all argue about the strict definition of the word "irony", but I think this picture sums it up. This cup was embedded in the scum floating on top of the reflecting pool at the mall...the logo printed on the side says "Take Pride In America":
We walked through the Vietnam Memorial. I had heard it was an intense experience, but I was unprepared for exactly how it worked. You start walking down into the slight valley with your eyes on the wall in the distance...and then you notice to your left, almost at foot level, that the names have already started. And naturally, you start reading the names. One, then a half dozen, then a few dozen. And as you walk, the sidewalk descends as the names pile up, too many and too fast to read, higher and higher and faster and faster until there are thousands upon thousands, rising high above your head until they blot out the sun. All you can see are names of sons, and fathers, and brothers in a great overwhelming blur...and at this point if your eyes don't well up with tears, then you haven't been paying attention. It was stunning and awful.
Later we also took in the Holocaust Museum. Another wrenching, overpowering experience.
And then, fearing for the kids' mental health (they looked a little stunned) and unable to find anything like a Clown Museum or a National Museum of Giggling and Fart-Jokes, we did the next best thing and walked to Foggy Bottom for ice cream.
Various pictures in the flickr blog.
More later.
Posted by ray at August 1, 2005 8:23 PM | Permalink
Categories: [travel ]
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