Journeys›Photograph

Clear Autumn Day on the National Mall

·Washington, District of Columbia·#travel#autumn#washington-dc#national-mall#monuments
A stone sign reads "Welcome to Washington DC" under a blue sky, surrounded by trees with autumn leaves.

Washington, D.C., and the whole plan was the National Mall — the strip the Park Service keeps between the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial. We crossed into the District past a hand-lettered-looking welcome sign on a stone base, three red stars and two bars, half swallowed by juniper and fall color.

Started at the World War II Memorial and worked west. The fountains were still running in November, which I hadn't expected, and the pillars — Pennsylvania was the one in front of us — frame the Washington Monument from just about anywhere you stand. Off in the trees nearby sits the D.C. War Memorial, a small marble dome from the first World War with nobody around it at all.

The Reflecting Pool was flat enough to hold the Lincoln Memorial upside down at the far end. Then over toward the Tidal Basin for the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, which you approach from behind: a rough granite wedge carrying the line "Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope," and around the front, the figure himself, arms crossed, still emerging from the block. His shoulders were in sun and his feet still in shadow when we left.

A white sign welcoming visitors to Washington DC stands among autumn trees with colorful leaves under a blue sky.The Washington Monument rises behind the World War II Memorial, with American flags and people under a clear blue sky.World War II Memorial pillar and fountain, Washington Monument, and American flag against a clear blue sky.The Washington Monument and an American flag rise behind the World War II Memorial's fountains, with two people in the foreground.Lincoln Memorial and its Reflecting Pool under a clear sky, with trees lining the sides and people walking on the paths.A white, domed monument with columns stands in a park with trees displaying autumn leaves under a bright blue sky.A large stone monument displaying the carved quote "OUT OF THE MOUNTAIN OF DESPAIR, A STONE OF HOPE" against a blue sky.A large stone statue of a man with crossed arms stands emerging from rock, under a blue sky with autumn trees.

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