Avery in DC: Tidal Basin
Hey friends, Avery here! I hope you all had a fantastic week! I went on my first of six trips out to Washington DC this summer and I had a blast! This marks my 10th time out to our Nations Capitol and I could not be more excited to share a little bit about it with you! So, a little bit about Tidal Basin! It’s a man-made reservoir near the National Mall. It is surrounded by the cherry blossom trees and has three incredible memorials to see, FDR, MLK, and Jefferson!
FDR
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was our 32nd president and will forever hold the record for the longest serving president. He was elected 4 times but only served 3 full terms because he died 3 months into his fourth term. He was the president during both the Great Depression and World War 2. The entire country loved him for how well he handled these two huge events and that’s why he kept getting reelected. However, the 22nd amendment is now in place that states that a president can only serve for two terms, which is why FDR will always hold that record. All my podcast lovers have FDR to thank too, during his presidency he would broadcast the “fireside chats” where he would just talk about what was going on in our country. One thing many people don’t know about him is that he had polio and was wheelchair bound for his entire presidency. Back in this timeframe media was much more respectful and rarely published pictures of him in his wheelchair to obey his wishes. (I can’t imagine that would happen now!)
A little bit about his memorial, there are four chambers (rooms) to represent the four terms he was elected for. It’s 7.05 acres and is different than the other memorials because it’s a walk through instead of a standing monument. It is known for being the most handicap accessible memorial to honor his own disability, and even has a statue of him in his wheelchair at the very beginning. One of the reasons I love his memorial so much is because of all the water. Water played a huge role in his life because of his polio. He was in a lot of therapy for his illness and the time he felt the best was when he was in the water and could stand on his own. If you look closely next to the woman walking in the background of this picture, you’ll see a statue of his dog, Fala.
MLK
We all can picture him at the base of the Lincoln memorial giving his famous “I have a dream” speech, however his memorial isn’t talked about enough, it’s a real breath taker. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most prominent leaders of the civil rights movement. He died in 1968 by assassination, but his legacy lives on.
His memorial is covered in his own quotes which is so cool to read. The most famous being the one on the stone that his statue is in, “Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.” This quote represents exactly who MLK was to people in the 60s. This quote is even the entire layout of his memorial. As you’ll see in the next picture, the stone MLK is on looks like it is coming out of the mountain behind him. The whole idea is that he is the stone of hope coming out of the mountain of despair because when he spoke people believed that equality would come.
(May or may not have had to get this pic off of google… oops!)
Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson, one of our founding fathers, served as the third President of the United States. Most notable thing about him, he wrote the Declaration of Independence and was huge during the revolution. He served as Secretary of State under George Washington, Vice President under John Adams, and then continued to be a huge part of the political world even after his presidential term was over. Hamilton lovers, he did in fact win the presidential race against Aaron Burr.
In this picture you can see the entrance to his memorial (SO. MANY. STAIRS.) and his statue that faces the White House so he’s always looking over whoever is in office. The statue is solid bronze and 19 feet tall. The memorial is full of quotes, including excerpts from the Declaration of Independence. This is one of my favorites because you can easily see both of the other memorials I talked about, and if you know where to look (where Jefferson is looking) you get a really cool view of the White House. There’s so many things to see here and it is definitely under-hyped!
Thanks for following along with my little history lesson this week, I know it’s different than the normal posts, but I appreciate you all letting me share this love with you! T-minus 20 hours until I’m back out there!
