Monuments by Moonlight

Well, George is back in the saddle. After his brief initial stint in the military and his unceremonious departure, we find that George has been bitten by the soldier's bug. After returning to Mount Vernon and contemplating his life as a planter, he discovers that he misses the fame, honor, camaraderie and power that comes from being an officer. So he begins his quest to return to military life and petitions to join General Edward Braddock's ranks. With the French and Indian War still percolating in the background, Washington again becomes a military man.

Seeing the name Braddock causes me to wonder if this is the same person that is remembered in the DC/NOVA (that's Northern Virginia for you "foreigners", which technically I may still be since I've only been here three years). Upon a quick search, I did find out that North Braddock, PA, was named after General Braddock. North Braddock is just outside of Pittsburgh making it approximately four hours from here. Since the Braddock Road Metro Stop is near Old Town Alexandria which is synonymous with George Washington, it's likely this is the case. I will keep researching and let you know if I find out definitively.

But I digress. The point is that Washington is back in the army and ready for his next big adventure. I look forward to learning more next week. You see, I'll be on vacation with lots of time to read. I won't have access to the Internet, so you'll be without blog updates until I get back, but by then, I should have some juicy George gossip to pass along.

Speaking of vacations, a few weeks ago some friends of mine were here for their family vacay. I suggested they take the Monuments by Moonlight tour to get a totally different perspective of this amazing city. This is by far one of the coolest things you can do in DC. In fact, I love it so much, I've been about six times. It never gets old and I always learn something new each time. My friends were gracious enough to include me on their family adventure, which I appreciated. The tour begins at Union Station and lasts approximately 2.5 hours. There are three stops where you have a short time to get out and explore the actual monuments.

Of course, during the tour, you learn lots of presidential tidbits. For example, did you know that Garfield was only president for four months before he was assassinated? Or that FDR actually has TWO memorials?

FDR was very explicit in stating that, if he was to be remembered, he wanted his memorial to be placed in front of the National Archives and the actual monument should be no larger than his desk (image courtesy of Wikipedia).


Of course, the later, more substantial memorial is along the Tidal Basin and was designed by the infamous (that means he's "more than famous" - bonus points if you can name the movie that quote is from) landscape architect, Lawrence Halprin (in architecture terms, Halprin might be the equivalent of Frank Gehry in terms of notoriety and style). The memorial consists of four outdoor "rooms" that represent FDR's four terms in office.

On this particular tour, we were not able to travel via trolley to the FDR memorial as the roads surrounding it were closed to anything but foot traffic due to the construction of a new memorial celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. So, instead, we ventured to the Jefferson Memorial, also along the Tidal Basin, which was a treat to visit at dusk since I've only been to it during daylight hours.

Other presidential tidbits, William Henry Harrison gave the longest inaugural speech in history, which ultimately cost him his life. This gave him another distinction...the shortest presidential term. Yes, folks, his tenure was even shorter than Garfield's. Sadly, he only lasted one month before he died of pneumonia.

And on that sunny note, I'll close this edition. I look forward to rejoining you in a week or so with more information about George, and hopefully, a tan.