Washington, D.C. - Sunrise in the American Rome

I did a lot of research and reading before we left for D.C. - checked out library books, scoured the internet, talked to other D.C. visitors, yet nothing quite prepared me for actually being in D.C. It really is America's version of Rome. There are historical buildings on every street and, of course, one walks. A lot. Granted, the splendor of D.C. was not equal to that of Rome, but it was certainly cleaner and there wasn't nearly the  mass of humanity we encountered in Rome. 

We got in to the city late Wednesday night and went straight to our hotel and sleep. I convinced Matt to get up early with me on Thursday to see the Lincoln Memorial at sunrise because all my books said that was a must-do experience. The whole walk there (in below 30 degree weather, mind you), I fretted because I could see the sun rising and I just knew that we were going to miss it. I whined quite a bit, actually. 

Spoiler alert: We didn't miss it. 

There weren't a whole lot of people on the streets but there were more (seriously dedicated) runners than I would have imagined since it was SO early and SO cold. We actually had Lincoln to ourselves for about ten minutes with the rest of the time interspersed with athletes. 

From inside the Lincoln Memorial, looking out at the Washington Monument. We were literally at Lincoln's feet.

After we saw Lincoln, we walked a few yards down to the Vietnam Memorial Wall. It was smaller than I imagined it to be, but once I started walking beside the panes with the names etched on them, it seemed so much longer. Too long. Neither Matt nor I actually knew anyone on those panes, but I don't think it lessened the impact. 

A look down the Vietnam Memorial Wall. The Wall is on the left. 

We kept walking down the Mall (that held no shops, BTW) and visited the World War Two Memorial which was only recently completed. We didn't get to see it in its full glory because the fountain was off but it was impressive. I don't have a picture of it here but feel free to google it.

The Washington Monument has 50 American flags encircling it to represent, you guessed it, the fifty states. Here they were all they way up, but there were still quite a few around the city at half-staff for Justice Scalia. 

After we left the Mall, we headed back to our hotel to put on fancy clothes and hoof it to the White House for an 8:30 tour. More on that later! Also, the Capitol building, lunch in the Congressional dining room, the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court and that's just part of the FIRST DAY!