washington d.c. day 5.

on day 5 we decided to take a tour bus throughout the city. it was really interesting getting to see the city from a vehicle, since we'd been walking and taking the metro everywhere the first few days. 

I asked my dad what the line is on the middle of the washington monument. he said that it is the former 'water line' of d.c. and thought that was pretty funny. the color difference is just the difference in the stone between the first phase of construction and the second phase (25 years later).

the reflection pool was undergoing construction while we were here which was a real shame!

although the WWII memorial has mixed reviews, jon and i really liked it. it was amazing to see the 4,048 gold stars lined up…each representing 100 american military deaths. it was very humbling.

the korean war monument is one of our absolute favorites. the military men are all dressed differently to represent their specific branches. the faces are so detailed and show pain and determination. when you get close to the men, it really feels like you are among them, on your way through a war zone.

Lincoln Memorial, opened in 1922.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial. There are more than 58,000 names on the wall. it was constructed in 1982.

there were two protests going on right outside of the white house when we got there. they were standing across the street from each other yelling!

we enjoyed the view anyway! was president obama in there? who knows…..

The Three Soldiers bronze statue (or Three Servicemen since the middle man is a Marine!) it commemorates the Vietnam War in a more traditional way than the wall does. It was built in 1984.

Thomas Jefferson Memorial, opened in 1943.

so beautiful!!!

Second Division Memorial (flaming sword)

the capitol from the bus.

all in all, it was a good tour. i like going on guided tours because they give you so much information that you would not get if you were walking around by yourself. it was also much faster to see all the sites:)

art

that evening we met up with lizzie for dinner...

and dessert at frozenyo! we love us some froyo.

(how cute is jon in this??)

people kept telling us that we needed to go to some of the monuments at night, so we did. it was nice because there was no one around. it was serene and the monuments really did seem different in the moonlight. it was beautiful.

i'll finish off with this photo. it was soooo hot!!! gary kept putting his hat like this and reminded me of dr. ew!