Lincoln Memorial

After we finished viewing the WWII Memorial, it was finally time to go to the Lincoln Memorial, the site that I was most exited to visit. We walked along the reflecting pool, which was beautiful and peaceful. There were very few people walking along it with us.  

I did not know this until I looked up information about the reflecting pool later, but its official name is the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. It was built in 1922-1923, is 2,029 feet long, and 167 feet wide. It didn't look very deep at all, but is actually 18 inches deep along the edges and 30 inches deep in the center. The pool was beautiful with the sun reflecting off its surface, and true to its name, it reflected the brilliant blue sky, surrounding trees, and the Washington Monument.

While walking along the reflecting pool, a helicopter flew over our heads. We recognized it as the Presidential Helicopter, the big green one you always see landing on the White House lawn in news clips. We assumed it was on its way to the airport from the White House. It flew over our heads two or three more times that day and again over the next few days. That was kind of cool to see. We wondered who was riding inside each time we saw it.

I was so excited walking up to the Lincoln Memorial. I wanted to just run up the steps and inside, but I refrained, as I also wanted to savor every moment that we were there. Abraham Lincoln is my favorite U.S. President and I've wanted to visit this place for a very long time. It was so surreal at the time that we were actually there! It's just sinking in now as I write this and look at our pictures that we got to see the Lincoln Memorial.

Construction of this memorial was started in 1914 and it was finished and dedicated in 1922. Lincoln's son Robert, who was 79 years old at the time, attended the memorial's dedication. 

The building consists of marble from the state of Colorado. The 36 pillars that run around the building represent the 36 states that were a part of the Union at the time of Lincoln's death. The names of these 36 states, and the dates they entered the Union, are found on the top front of the memorial, just above the columns. The names of the 48 states that were part of the Union at the time of the memorial's dedication, along with the dates they entered the Union, can be found in the stone above the names of the first 36 states. 

About halfway up the stairs, we looked up and could see Lincoln's statue staring out at us.

When we first walked inside and saw Lincoln's statue up close in all its glory, we were kind of in awe. It was impressive and we just stood there quietly for awhile taking it in along with the emotions that it evoked.

I absolutely loved the inscription on the wall above him.

It was really crowded and busy, with tons of middle-school and high-school groups there. Most of the children were so noisy and not even paying attention to, or appreciating where they were. It made it difficult to hear myself think, let alone ponder what I was feeling for very long. That is the only thing that I would change about this experience -- to have the memorial all to ourselves. I'm not sure how we achieved it but we were able to get a lot of great pictures without any people in them.

We wandered through the columns to the left where we found the Gettysburg Address inscribed on the wall. We took the time to read through it entirely and once again feel the power of Lincoln's words. You can find the whole address here.

We wandered back across the memorial's interior to the right wall, where Lincoln's second inaugural address is inscribed. My first time reading through this address was about a year and a half ago, when we were learning more about Lincoln in preparation for our Gettysburg trip. This is such a powerful speech, it almost feels like scripture! We took time to read the entire speech and afterwards felt again the surety that Abraham Lincoln was an inspired man. If you haven't read through this speech you should take the time to do so. You can find it here.

The crowd had thinned a bit since we first arrived, so we were able to get our picture in front of Lincoln.

We wandered into the gift shop before we left, where we found these Gettysburg Address Memory Cards that looked familiar! Brian's parents developed a rough version of these cards with their kids as part of a family home evening when he was young. They have recently begun to sell them at gift shops and online. The cards are a cute, fun way for kids and adults alike to memorize the Gettysburg Address and you can learn more about them here.

While we were there, I just kept going back to the statue of Lincoln. It was so powerful. I felt so grateful for this man and his sacrifices for, and dedication to, our country. 

The Lincoln Memorial was my favorite Washington D.C. site. I didn't want to leave, but we had so much more to see, so reluctantly I let Brian lead me away. It was a very cool experience and one that I won't forget.