Arlington, VA

We left Pittsford yesterday morning after breakfast.
It seemed like a longer drive than it actually turned
out to be. We arrived here about 4 PM. Robert was
gung ho to go drive around the Mall, but I just wanted
to get out of the car and had NO desire to get back
in. We discovered we could check our e-mail so did
that and I read. I'm reading a delightful book that
Sue Berkenbush lent me. It's title is The Guernsey
Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. It takes
place just after WWII and consists of a series of
letters between a young journalist and the members
of the society. I am enjoying it very much.

Shortly after 6 we walked a few blocks to an
Italian Restaurant that Robert found with the
help of our GPS. We walked over to it and
had a wonderful dinner. Robert had the usual
Lasagna and I had a Penne, chicken, goat cheese
and spinach dish which was excellent. We
shared an apple, walnut, cheese and spring
greens salad..and couldn't eat all of it.
We came back to the motel and stashed
food enough for tonight and then some in
our frig here. WE will either microwave
it and eat here or walk out again to another
place. We have no table to eat at in our
room. We have one easy chair and one
desk chair..we'll see how we feel.

We plan to drive around the mall after
dark so we can see the Lincoln Memorial, et al
with lights.

This morning I discovered the motel offers
a shuttle service to the metro. We used
that. It was great because we knew we'd
be doing plenty of walking when we got
to the mall. The metro is fast and easy
to figure out although every time we
stopped to read instructions someone
came over to help us. I guess our age
makes us appear totally helpless, but
I always smiled and said I was always
happy for help, just in case.

Our first stop after we got off the train
was to walk to the WWII memorial. It is
grand and magnificent, but I guess I feel
I'd rather see such a thing honoring
peace instead of war.

It turns out Robert had not heard of the
Roosevelt Memorial so was taken by surprise
when I said the main reason I wanted to
come to Washington was to see that. It
is on the edge of the Tidal basin and
another walk from WWII. I guess we
walked a good 3 or 4 miles altogether
today.

Anyway, the tribute to FDR is great. At
first I was shocked because the first
thing we saw was a bronze statue of
FDR in his wheelchair. He had fought
so hard to cover up his disability
that I felt he would have been shamed
to see the statue. But there is
another and larger one with his little
dog, Fala which made me feel better.
There is also a bronze of Eleanor which
looked as though she could just walk
right up and greet you. All through
the memorial our quotes of FDR and
they made me nostalgic for what our
country was and devastated over what
it has become. We have surrendered
so much that the WWII was fought to
protect it makes me weep at one moment
and make me know I must fight even
harder to get Obama, Udall and Polis
elected.

We spent a long time at the memorial
and I really hated to leave. Pictures
will come later, after we get home.

We walked back past the war memorials
of which we have too many!! Had a
hot dog at a hot dog stand, R had
an ice cream. Then we walked more
back to the metro. When we got
off the metro I called the motel
and the shuttle came, in less
than ten minutes to pick us up. It
is a lovely service. And saved
us another 6 blocks of walking.