Random DC Stuff May 2025

I went on a fifth-grade field trip with my son to see the famous monuments in DC, starting at the Lincoln Memorial. They enjoyed the views of the president and the reflecting pool.

Another monument in the distance

Needed for a virtual geocache

The planned itinerary was to walk up to the Washington Monument, have lunch there, and walk back to Lincoln down the other side of the Mall. We started by visiting the Vietnam Memorial.

The statue at Vietnam Memorial

Further down the Mall is 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence Memorial, a small island in an artificial pond. The island also has a lot of ducks on it.

On the island

Bottom feeding?

Pursuing the ducks

The World War II Memorial was the favorite of the boys. It has plenty of space to explore and a nice fountain where visitors can stick their legs in. We did not do that, though other 5th graders did.

WWII Memorial

Atlantic theater

We made it to the Washington Monument, which seems even taller when you are standing right underneath it.

Washington Monument

We ate lunch there and discussed our next plans. We could see the White House and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial from there and opted to go to Jefferson. That was a deviation from the planned itinerary but we had enough time to make it.

I guess I avoided taking pictures of other people's kids

We continued around the Tidal Basin to the FDR Memorial, a sprawling display of the years of his presidency. I was amazed to find a small copy of a sculpture of FDR on one of the information signs.

Mini-he

Not far away is the dramatic Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. Another school group was there at the base of the statue. 

MLK Memorial

My son looking over the Tidal Basin back to the Jefferson Memorial

We made it back to the bus in plenty of time, with a quick walk through of the Korean War Memorial. We were impressed with the Washington Monument's reflection in the reflecting pool (go figure!). 

Another view from Lincoln

Walking around with the boys was a lot of fun.