Walking Tour of the Mall and Monuments

This tour is four hours.

Thee Mall run from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial, east to west. It follows the Sun, like a Cathedral. It is designed to reflect what makes America American.

But why are there no stores?

"Mall" is an old English word, meaning a large grassy area surrounded by trees and public buildings. When shopping centers were first brought inside, they were called "Indoor Malls". The word 'indoor' disappeared, but to this day American malls have trees inside. A bit of Washington, DC back home.

We start at the Washington Monument. It is easy to reach: from Metro, exit at Smithsonian Station (Blue,Orange,Silver lines), the Mall Circulator bus stops in front on the 15th Street side.
You will notice how the bottom third is whiter than the rest.

Our next stop is the Jefferson Memorial. In the Spring, we will walk through the Cherry Blossoms by the Tidal Basin. This artificual lake was built by the Army Corps of Engineers to control flooding.

The architect copied the Roman Pantheon, which honored all the gods. Why? Jefferson loved all forms of knowledge. That may be one of the secrets under his robe. We will see.

Next: Franklin D. Roosevelt's park. It has four outdoor rooms. Each represents one of his four terms, in rock, water. bronze, and quotes. This 'park' is a walk through the 20th century's critical decades: by the depression, war, and the peace afterwards.

In the fourth room, his widow, Eleanor, has the only statue of a First Lady in DC. At our next stop, the Martin Luther King memorial, we'll note that he is actually looking towards her. Why? She did more for civil rights than anyone in the White House since President U.S. Grant.

The MLK memorial is the newest on the Mall. Some consider the body language disturbing. We see his arms crossed, holding a rolled-up document in his left hand. Could it be the 'I Have a Dream Speech'?

Next: the Monument to the veterans of the "Forgotten War": the Korean conflict. "If it wasn't for M*A*S*H we probably wouldn't have a memorial," one veteran told me. He may be correct.

Enroute to Lincoln, the Potomac River is on our left. It's lined with trees on both sides, wide, peaceful, spanned by the Memorial Bridge to Arlington Cemetery. It's hard to imagine that in Lincoln's time it was the border between two armies at war.

As we climb the steps, please watch out for a possible wet, and slippery spot, halfway up. Guides pour water on spot where Martin Luther King delivered the "I Have a Dream Speech"; it makes for a better picture.

Both the 'I Have a Dream' spot and Lincoln draw visitors from the world over. There are a few surprises in the area .

Our next stop will be the Vietnam Wall. If you have relatives or loved ones on it, we can find their names. We will talk about how this was the monument which almost did not happen, and how it has grown.

Einstein sits across the street, like a favorite uncle into whose lap you can climb. In fact, he is the only statue one can legally climb in DC.

If we continue to the White House we will go by the Avenue of the Liberators, inspired by the Revolution, the headquarters of the American Red Cross, and more. Security permitting, we will see the White House from Lafayette Park. Saint John's Church, the church of the presidents, is just across H Street.

As we depart, I'm happy to help you with any future planning, or even tours. Once a guest, you're part of us.

This tour normally starts at nine am and two pm. Special arrangements may be made.

Evening Walking Tour

We start at Saint John's Church. Yes, that is the church on H Street and Black Lives Matter Plaza. Then we explore lafayette Park on the way to Pennsylvania Avenue and the North Portico of the White House. (Security usually permist this route, but it is subject to change without notice.) We will see the Ellipse where the heiliocopters land, the Wahsington Monument, and notice just who is keeping an eye on the White House.

The World War II Memorial'. Its's 56 pillars honor the states and territories. You can get a picture by your state.

The Martin Luther King memorial is the most recent on the Mall. One must go through the Mountain of Despair before arriving at the Stone of Hope, just as in life. Dr. King is carved on this stone.

The "Tidal Basin" is an artificial lake, built by the Army Corps of Engineers to control floods. Dr. King is looking across the water, at the Thomas Jefferson memorial. Some consider the body language disturbing. We see his arms crossed, holding a rolled-up document in his left hand. Could it be the 'I Have a Dream Speech'?

Our next stop is to Franklin D. Roosevelt's 'park'. This monument has four outdoor rooms. Each represents one of his four terms, in rock, water, bronze, and quotes. If that is not enough, there is literally a front porch as well. We see FDR in his wheelchair, at the entrance, reminding us polio struck him before he took office.

Next: the Monument to the veterans of the "Forgotten War": the Korean conflict. "If it wasn't for M*A*S*H we probably wouldn't have a memorial," one veteran told me. He may be correct.

At the Lincoln memorial, as As we climb the steps please watch out for a possible wet, and slipper spt, halfway up. Guides pour water on spot where Martin Luther King delivered the "I Have a Dream Speech"; it makes for a better picture. We will find out why King added "I have a dream" to the speech.

Lincoln and King bring together people from the world over. Lincoln is more than an American figure, as we will see later downstairs. For now: what do you think of his hands?

Our next stop will be the Vietnam Wall. If you have relatives or loved ones on it, we can find their names. We will talk about how this was the monument which almost did not happen, became one of the most visited in Washington. We will also see the two statue groups added: the Three Soldiers, and the Nurses' Memorial.

Einstein sits across the street, like a favorite uncle into whose lap you can climb. In fact, he is the only statue one can legally climb in DC. You might want to for a photo in daylight.

As we depart, I'm happy to help you with any future planning, or even tours. Once a guest, you're part of us.

The Capitol and Library of Congress are Currently Closed, without firm reopening dates.

We can add a short exterior and nearby-neighborhood tour walk to another tour, schedule permitting.

The Capitol Dome, crowned by the Statue of Freedom, defines the DC skyline. From the Mall, one sees Capitol Hill rising to the east. The architect wrote George Washington that he had discovered "a pedestal waiting for a monument." It is more than an American symbol, it stands for the rebirth of a Republic in the modern world. Therefore it is open to the entire world: one need not present any document to enter. One needs only to be human (and to pass the security check, of course.)

We will start our tour at Union Station, once America's largest. Our short walk surprises many with a few hidden gems, and a feel for the neighborhood. The Supreme Court is our first inside stop, followed by the largest Library in the World.

The Jefferson Building, reflects post-Civil War optomism and exhuberance. We will see the Reading Room from National Treasures, then, a real national treasure: one of the world's three perfect Gutenberg Bibles. The building itself represents the universal aspect of knowledge, with carved figures, paintings, and mosaics. We can see the Thomas Jefferson's original library, and special exhibitions.

Then we go to the Capitol. The Visitor's Center features Emancipation Hall, with statues of people took us on the path to a More Perfect Union. We will discover exhibits on Congres on the Constitution, and -- if possible -- visit the Senate and /or House chambers. The you will get in line for your Capitol Visitor Services-run tour. We will make arrangements for this tour in advance, although if you are booking last minute we can most probably get tickets. You'll be taken through the Rotunda and Statuary Hall by one of the Capitol Visitor Center's dedicated staff.

“Do people actually live here?” many visitors ask after they’ve seen the Mall, the monuments, and the museums. If they have visited the Capitol’s east side, by the Supreme Court and Library of Congress, they have probably seen the sidewalks and front yards of East Capitol Street.

Go east for a few blocks, and you come to Lincoln Park. During the Civil War, it was a tent hospital. Now, you see playgrounds for young families, a field for dogs to frolic (unofficially), benches for reading or just hanging out. “Now I can go home,” one Italian visitor said, “I have breathed the air of Washington.”. The tour starts here, in the neighborhood, by the Lincoln Statue.

You may have seen the Spring 2020 demonstrations calling for its removal, or at least renovation. The statue is still there, behind a barricade and fence. Frederick Douglass joined U.S. Grant at the 1876 dedication. On this anniversary of Lincoln’s assassination, Douglass reflected on his complex legacy. Mary McLeod Bethune, the African-American educator who served in Eleanor Roosevelt’s kitchen cabinet, looks on.

The early Hill had two centers: political and naval. You’ve seen the Capitol, and now you’ll discover the Navy’s neighborhood. At one time, the Navy Yard was the District’s largest employer, and it manufactured ordinance until the 1960s. The Marine Barracks, called 8th and I, is the corps oldest post, and gives Barracks Row its name. John Philips Sousa gave it music. He grew up just a couple blocks away, and ended up in the Marine Band almost by accident. The arc of his life is all on this side of the Hill.

The Old Naval Hospital, opened just a little late to serve Civil War Sailors (1866). But it has trained medics, hosted veterans here to “cut the red tape”, and supported city social services. It is now an arts and community center.

Eastern Market, the oldest original farmers’ market in the city, comes alive as a flea market on weekends. After the 2007 fire it almost died, but the community came together to rebuild it. It’s a piece of architectural history, designed by the “red architect” Adolf Cluss, probably the only many who was a close personal friends of both Karl Marx and U.S. Grant…

Barracks Row, winner of the America’s Main Street award, was the heart of blue-collar, as well as blue-jacket, Washington. It still has one factory, which is now an arts center, and a movie palace operating since the 1910s. The Odd Fellows fraternal hall is now headquarters for one of Washington’s two Shakespeare companies. It’s rehearsal hall is where Sousa, son of a Marine Band musician, took music lessons. At 13, he played violin well enough to have a chance at running away to join the circus . . . we will see his home, and just how short a walk it was for his father to change his destiny.

The Marine commandant’s house survived the War of 1812, but is still, reportedly, haunted. The Marine Parade Ground is still used for drilling and for the twilight parade on summer Friday evenings. The Navy Yard sits at the foot of the street; we would need a military ID to enter. If you can, the Navy Museum is a well-kept secret.

We’ll follow the March King from his barracks to his final resting place, called Congressional Cemetery, though it is not a government owned. That is one reason we need to look out for dog poop. As the cemetery fell apart, it was rescued by local dog owners, who formed an association to preserve it. It is still an off-leash dog park. On Sousa’s birthday, when the Marine Band and a Sousa interpreter come, a human’s best friend can come too.

The FBI was concerned about dogs defiling J. Edgar Hoover’s grave (he’s a local boy), so his family’s plot is fenced in. His friend Clyde Tolson is a few plots down. He did inspire the cemetery’s gayborhood, which has even hosted a wedding.

We’ll end at the Lumi Nation’s Native-American 9/11 healing poles, carved to be placed by the wounded Pentagon. They were rejected in favor of the current memorial, so Congressional Cemetery is hosting them, at the end of a tree-lined walk. One can pause and overlook the rolling terrain on which downtown Washington was built. It slopes down to the Anacostia River, which now features trails and boardwalks where one can step out into nature, surround by history, and reflect.