Constitution Gardens

We have been through these gardens many times. When we don’t want to take a morning walk on the National Mall, we oftentimes park right next to the Tidal Basin. From there we walk towards the Washington Monument and the WWII Memorial, and then to the gardens along constitution avenue. They are actually a hidden treasure and a lot of people don’t seem to know it exists. There is also a memorial to the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. You take a boardwalk over to the small island where each of the signers has a stone with a name, profession and birthplace. John Adams has always been my favorite. It was a bit tricky this time getting to the island because a mother goose was sitting close by with her brood. They are known to attack so we stayed as far away as we could. What was an even bigger surprise was the handsome great blue heron that was standing in the greenery. This is the time I wish I had a telephoto lens. He was so close but so far. It’s funny that you oftentimes see more nature in the urban jungle than in the outskirts of town. It’s always such a pleasant walk as the path meanders by the Vietnam memorial and then on to the Lincoln Memorial. It’s really a lovely and peaceful place to visit. 

The National Archives

It's been many years since we visited the Archives. The first time I was about five years old and the second time was around 1980. Our out of town guests were interested in going, so we found a convenient parking spot right by the Sculpture Garden and walked a block over. Parking is generally easy on Sunday. We usually walk to the Mall from our house but thought we'd give it a try since we were driving home from Alexandria. It's the best time to visit places like this at this time of the year.  There were no lines and we had a very leisurely walk through the exhibits. I love John Hancock's huge signature and a reminder of what came before. It feels like the Library where many areas are kept cold and dark for the documents' sake. I couldn't work in such a dim and freezing environment. Since photos are not allowed we couldn't capture the moment except once we got outside. And it was another beautiful autumn day - so much prettier than the inside.