It is the US Open at Congressional Country Club…guess this is the place where the US part really comes into play. Thus the pictorial of our visit to our nation’s capital yesterday. It was hot and terribly humid and we walked until we dropped – into the bar on the top of the W!
It was a very long walk from Embassy Row to the Lincoln Memorial, the Viet Nam memorial wall, down the Mall to the Air and Space Museum but well worth every step. It is impossible to see even a small fraction of DC in a week much less a single day. But this long walk gives one a sense of the history that is our country.
The Lincoln Memorial never ceases to amaze…it is larger than life as was he. We were somewhat disappointed when we saw our tax dollars at work in the reconstruction of the Mall’s reflecting pool. Instead of the reflection of the Washington Monument we saw a very large rectangular dig. I am certain it needed to be done but they could have waited until after we visited. Really!
It has always been my opinion that one must be thoroughly crazy to want to be President of the US of A and nothing yesterday changed my mind. As we gazed upon the White House from the W and watched Secret Service men wander around the roof looking – waiting – for something to happen it reinforced my opinion. Can you imagine living with armed, trained killers walking the over your head – not to mention everywhere else? I cannot. The bartender told us that the Secret Service shows up usually once a day to check out some tourist with a camera to question if and why he or she is photographing the top of the White House. Pretty crazy but in our world today it must be so.
Not having been in DC since Y2K at least it was my first opportunity to see the WW II Memorial. It is beautiful and definitely does justice to the ‘greatest generation” to which my father belonged. Its huge fountain is a lovely place to sit and reflect upon the men and women who sacrificed so that many live free from tyranny.
What struck me the most as I sat at the WW II Memorial is the difference between it and the Viet Nam Memorial. The WW II site is light and celebratory and a place to remember its history and men and women with pride. The Viet Nam Memorial is a dark, very long slab of black granite, built into the ground like we are trying to hide it and the names of those who died. Regardless of one’s attitude about Viet Nam itself, those who made the ultimate sacrifice deserve our thanks and deepest respect. I hope we think long and hard when we memorialize those whose impossible task it is to fight and serve today.
Our nation’s capital – an amazing, beautiful, sobering.
On a lighter note – we are ready to begin our annual US Open journey tomorrow. We do not work until Thursday so there are two days to wander, take pictures and observe those whose task and goal this week is to become the United States Open Champion. I wonder if the eventual winner will find it especially sweet to win here at Congressional.
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