One Hundred Eighty Four concrete, metal, and marble benches, each inscribed with the name of a person who died, are oriented along the exact trajectory of the plane as it approached the Pentagon. Each bench has below it a small reflecting pool with lights that illuminate the bench at night. The memorial is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Note the slightly different color on the exterior of the building, showing the extent of the repairs.
From the three bays on the right, to just left of the multiple columns on the left, the building was destroyed.
The benches are ordered as well by year, indicating the year of birth of the souls in a given row. The benches face either in or out, indicating whether that person was on the airplane or in the Pentagon.
Our next stop on the last day of our stay in Washington, DC., was the Old Ebbitt Grill. We had to eat here again due to the great food and comfortable atmosphere. When we arrived, just after 1 o'clock, the place was packed, but we managed to squeeze into a couple of chairs at the bar in the southeast corner of the building. There are four bars, one in each corner, each with a different theme. This one was an Oyster Bar, so we had to try a half dozen.
Fish and Chips on Donna's plate,
And a Cuban Sandwich on mine (pulled pork, ham and cheese with a shaved cucumber salad).
The Metro Red line was undergoing some construction today, so we took a shuttle bus to the National Building Museum. We had expected some type of history of building and the like, and so we were surprised to see an indoor "Beach"! Snarkitecture was commissioned by the museum to create the quintessential summer experience of going to the beach in downtown Washington, D.C., and it appears they have succeeded!
Made from nearly one million plastic balls, it was fun for all, but at an admission of $16 each, D and I passed on participation and viewed the fun from the second floor, where we saw a number of models of futuristic buildings on display. These ideas are based on sound engineering principles and seek to stretch the envelope of architecture. Warped pyramids and flowing lines caused us to think "What will they think of next?"
Many of the rooms surrounding the central hall of the 1883 building are fine examples of plaster and paint work of the time.
Well, we've enjoyed our three week stay in Washington, DC. We've seen a lot, learned a lot, and crossed a whole bunch of things off the bucket list! Cherry Hill Park will remain one of our favorites, and site 1305 was just about perfect. We met some people just across the road that are working on the Capitol (at least he is…) and they have given us a second hand look at the Capitol Building from between the two domes…an area the public never gets to see. Kevin is a painter/sandblaster removing the lead-based paint and prepping for new industrial coatings. He expects to be on this job for another year and a half.
Down the road, Sasha's friend Molly, the Wheatland Terrier, gives us a friendly bark each time we pass and the two dogs go for a short romp on the grass.
The Metro has turned out to be cake, and we ran our two cards down to $.05 on one and $3.05 on the other. The park has a program to donate the cards to homeless people, so we turned the cards in to be "recycled".
The weather has turned nice, not too hot or humid, with little rain expected in the near future. Great. Just as we get ready to leave!
Tomorrow it's off to another state. But that's not saying much here as we will leave Maryland, cross Delaware, and go into New Jersey within 3 hours! Today we were in three "states": Maryland, DC, and Virginia. This is hard for a westerner to grasp, I tell you!
So long, DC!
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