Image via Wikipedia
We are going to try to focus on the theme of the Civil War for our DC area outings this year, as it is the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the war at Fort Sumter, SC.
We thought it appropriate (or I did, at least) that we take our inaugural visit to the Lincoln Memorial as a kick off event.
With an annual visitor count of over 5 million, we’re not alone in that.
The kids glanced quickly over the Gettysburg Address, were shown a picture of the land before construction began in 1914 (it was a part of the Potomac River) and admired the massive sculpture of Lincoln that has been the background for so many important events in US history.
I found out later via Foursquare (you see my check-in here) that the words of MLK’s “I have a dream” speech are now engraved on the steps where he stood, but alas, we didn
’t see that.
There’s also a museum and a movie (which they liked) in the basement of the memorial.
All in all, we were there for about 45 minutes, but that was enough to achieve our primary objectives.
- an appreciation of history
- an appreciation of Washington DC’s unique offerings
- fostering curiosity about events outside themselves
