Happy Thanksgiving! I love Thanksgiving time. I love that it's a time to get together with family and/or friends and eat lots of delicious food and be grateful for that which we have. I also love that it's the beginning of the Christmas season and spirit.
We had lots of delicious food on Thanksgiving, turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, brussel sprouts, and broccoli salad! (I made sweet potato rolls.)
And of course we had pie. What would Thanksgiving be without pie?! We had key lime pie, pumpkin pie, Lara's famous apple pie, peanut butter chocolate pie, and pecan pie. (I made the peanut butter chocolate pie.)
All of us ready to eat our dinner (minus me who was taking the picture).
It was a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with family! I am thankful for all of my family and to Lara and Glen for hosting!
The day after Thanksgiving which happens to have been yesterday, I went to work for a few hours and then I decided I wanted to go to downtown D.C. I mainly wanted to go to the holiday market (in front of the National Portrait Gallery) which opened for the season yesterday.
I walked around the market and since it was such a lovely day outside, I decided to take a little walking tour of the monuments. I walked over to the National Mall and made my way to the Washington Monument.
The Washington Monument was built in honor of George Washington. They
first began to build the monument in 1848 but were not able to finish it until
1884 due to political and economic difficulties at the time. The monument is made of granite, marble, and gneiss and is over 550 feet tall. I believe it's the tallest structure in D.C. and I think it is a beautiful monument to a great man!
Next stop on my self-guided walking tour was the World War II memorial. The memorial was opened in 2004 and honors all of those people who served from the U.S. on the front lines as well as those who served at home. Each pillar at the memorial represents a state, territory, or commonwealth of the U.S. as of 1945, as well as the District of Columbia. There are two triumphal arches at each end of the memorial.
The Freedom Wall is also part of the memorial and has 4,048 stars on it. Each star represents 100 Americans who died in the war.
There is so much more symbolism at the memorial but I will refrain from sharing on here.
After the World War II Memorial, I walked along the reflecting pool and stopped at the Lincoln Memorial. Can I just mention what a gorgeous day it was yesterday?! It was seriously so nice!
The Lincoln Memorial was built to honor Abraham Lincoln. Construction began on the memorial in 1914 and was finished in 1922 and was designed in the style of ancient Greek temples. The 19 foot tall statue of Lincoln inside of the memorial took 4 years to finish.
The inscriptions on the inside surrounding the statue are from Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address as well as the Gettysburg Address. It really is quite the magnificent memorial to a great man.
Look at that view from the top of the steps of the Lincoln Memorial!
I loved this view with the reflection of the World War II Memorial and the Washington Monument on the reflecting pool!
The sky was just so pretty! It was such a lovely evening!
As I was walking back to the metro from the Lincoln Memorial, I saw a bunch of food trucks lined up along the street just waiting for customers. I decided to get a lamb gyro from a Mediterranean place and it was pretty tasty!
As I sat there eating my dinner, this was my view!
Although my purpose in going downtown originally was not for walking the monuments, I felt like it was a fitting way to end the Thanksgiving week. I am thankful for living in this area and being able to visit these monuments on a whim and to remember those who have gone before us and have given their lives, either literally in dying for our country or in serving our country throughout their lives.
