Monuments with Aunt Pat and Celeste

Mahri's great-aunt, Pat, and second cousin, Celeste, came to DC in May 2009 to check out all the fun tourist things to do. They took us on a monument sightseeing tour, and we had a blast! Here, Pat and Celeste are hanging out with FDR and his famous dog, Fala.

An aerial shot of the FDR memorial. We absolutely love this memorial! It was dedicated in 1997. We think it's the coolest memorial we've ever been to. You know how pretentious and hoity-toity the Jefferson and Lincoln monuments are? The FDR memorial is down-to-earth, peaceful, and absolutely beautiful, filled with wonderful FDR quotes about peace and tolerance. It's the kind of place where you could spend the whole day, bring a book, and have a delicious picnic.


One of FDR's great quotes. We were wondering if anyone from the US capitol actually came over to see what FDR had to say about "progress."



Poor mathU! He looks hungry and deprived in this bread line.


"W" must have missed this quote in his history books...


There are several different water features at the FDR memorial. They symbolize:

• A single large drop - The crash of the economy that led to the Great Depression
• Multiple stairstep drops - The Tennessee Valley Authority dam-building project
• Chaotic falls at varying angles - World War II
• A still pool - Roosevelt's death
• A wide array combining the earlier waterfalls - A retrospective of Roosevelt's presidency

Pretty!


Celeste admiring the view.


View of the reflecting pool, the Washington Monument, and the capitol building, as seen from the Lincoln Memorial.


Tell us where to go, mathU!


Aunt Pat


The gals on the tour bus. Our trolley driver was CRAZY! He drove on the wrong side of the road to get across an intersection because he was tired of sitting in traffic! And-oops-he forgot to let a few people off at their stops and made them get out in the street. But, he was very nice and took us out of his way to return to Union Station, where our car was parked.


The Lincoln Memorial. (See why the FDR memorial is so much cooler?)


View of the Washington Monument as seen from across the Tidal Basin, which is near the Jefferson Memorial.


Celeste, Mahri, and mathU taking a break from all that walking!


Mahri and mathU in front of the Lincoln Memorial.


Inside the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.
We bumped into Teddy Roosevelt and had a great chat!


One of these mugs is made of wax! Can you guess which one?


Aunt Pat treated us to a 3-D movie of creatures under the sea.
It was awesome!

Thanks for the super fun sightseeing tours, Aunt Pat!