Washington DC Day III Part 2 Vietnam Veterans Memorial / Old Post Office Pavillion

I changed into my other sandals and Joe and I headed for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.. The " Three Soldiers," is the first part of the memorial. As I took this picture, I could not help, but wonder if the young man in the wheel chair, was maybe also a serviceman, who had been injured serving America.
 From the " Three Soldiers" we walk a short distance to the Memorial Wall.

The walls are sunk into the ground, with the earth behind them. At the highest tip, they are 10 feet high, and they taper to a height of eight inches.

The Memorial Wall, designed by Maya Lin, is made up of two gabbro walls 246 feet 9 inches long.

The stone was chosen deliberately because of its reflective quality. 

When a visitor looks upon the wall, his or her reflection can be seen simultaneously with the engraved names, which is meant to symbolically bring the past and present together. 

One wall points toward the Washington Monument, the other in the direction of the Lincoln Memorial. In 2007, it was ranked tenth on the "List of America's Favorite Architecture" by the American Institute of Architects.

 The wall listed 58,191 names when it was completed in 1993; as of June 2010, there are 58,267 names, including 8 women.

This is the last name on the wall. 

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We headed back toward the Washington Monument again. As we walked, I could see the Capitol, and the dome of the Jefferson Memorial in the distance.

While we walked through the park, my sandals, that I had changed into, was rubbing on the exact spot my other sandals had cause a blister at. Not only were the sandals rubbing on the blister, I found they were not as good a walking shoe as I thought they were. I changed back into my first sandals, and Joe gave me a tissue, to put between the sandal and the blister. I wished I had brought a band aide.

Just after we walked across the street, and heading up the Washington Memorial hill, Joe saw a band aide in it's wrapper on the ground. He picked it up and said, " Here is your band aide you wanted. My God is so good to me. Ask and you will receive! We were so glad we had a great breeze that day as it was getting up in the high eighties. You can see by the flags in this picture, what a glorious breeze we had.

At the Washington Monument, I found a bench and I took the wrapper off my, "Hello Kitty" band aide, and put it over my blister.

Good to go, we walk toward the Old Post Office. On the way, we walked past and through the Ariel Rios Federal Building, also known as the new Post Office, constructed between 1931-1935. 

Ariel Rios Federal Building

View of the Old Post Office. It is located right across from the present day Post Office.

Our tour guide on the Sightseeing Tour Trolley told us you get the second best view of Washington DC from the tower of the Old Post Office. We didn't get to go to the best view in Washington DC, which is from the top of the Washington Monument, because you have to get the tickets the day you want to go up. The tickets are free, to first come first serve basis, starting at 8AM. With us having to travel 40 minutes into DC, most likely the tickets would be gone, by the time we got there. When you do get a ticket, it has a schedule time for you to go up to the top in the elevator. You have to plan your entire day around the scheduled trip.

When you first enter the Old Post Office, you will go through security, and be check by a metal detector. Then you have to go to the bottom floor to catch the elevator.

On the bottom floor there is a food court.

View of the inside of the Old Post Office, on the elevator.

When you get to the top, you get this view. Below is the Ariel Rios Federal Building, and with of course the Washington Monument in the distant. 

All the window's had these wire on them, but you could stick your hands threw the wire for a picture. I saw  a sign that said not put your hands threw the wire. I then apologised for sticking my hands through the wire to the US National Park Service attendee. She said it was OK, because the wires was going to be removed soon anyway, and I could continue to stick my hands through the wires. So I did!

This is the view of Pennsylvania Ave. After a president takes office, the parade will begin at the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building and proceed along Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House.

This is the view of Pennsylvania Ave. After a president takes office, the parade will begin at the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building and proceed along Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House.

View of some of the park settings on top of the buildings downtown.

A closeup of one of them.

Another closeup of another.

Way off in the distant, you can see the National Cathedral.

A close up of the Cathedral.

View of the Old Executive Office Building.

View of the Freedom Plaza below.

Better view of the Ariel Rios Federal Building. By the way, you can catch the Metro Subway just inside the arch entrances.

After the city view we walked down  three flights of stairs to see the, " Official Bells Of Congress".

 The bells were a bicentennial gift from England celebrating the end of the Revolutionary War. The Washington Ringing Society sounds the Bells of Congress every Thursday evening and on special occasions.

We then take the elevator back down to the bottom floor.

Hope you enjoyed our day in Washington DC as much as we did.