8/99: Washington DC

In 1999, a good friend of mine name Deb, who work for the EEOC, needed to travel to Washington DC for a week of training. She asked me if I wanted to come along. Free room at the Westin, a week of history and photography, shoot! .. and oh yeah, a week with Deb .. I couldn't pass that up! ;-) Due to her training, she was in class from eight to five everyday so we spent the early evenings and the weekends together visiting sites. Me? While Deb was in class, I must have visited several museums and memorials each and everyday yet by the end of the week, I still didn't see everything I wanted to see.

For those of you who know me, I am not much of a walker. Neil Davis is a walker. Deb is a walker. My eighty-two year old mother is a walker. I used to live on 48th Avenue in the city and I would drive to the beach. (Beach was a block away.) But I love Washington DC. There is so much to see, so much history. And so much to take pictures of and I love photography. This is a great city for walking and I enjoyed every minute of it.

We stayed at the Westin Hotel near Foggy Bottom and the George Washington University. I must say that not only were the rooms immaculate but that the two most outstanding features were the bed as it was covered in multi layers of those down filled comforters and the water pressure from the showers were just awesome.

Being somewhat of a history buff, upon learning of an exhibition on the history of the Massachusetts 54th, the first black Union regiment of the Civil War, I immediately high tailed it to the National Gallery of Art. During the Civil War, black Americans wanted to enlist and fight in support of the abolition of slavery. The caucasian soldier did not have the respect nor the confidence in the fighting abilities of the black soldier. Also, they were not confident that the black man would be able to fulfill the role and responsibilities that came along with being a Union soldier. The story of the 54th was depicted in the movie "Glory" starring Matthew Broderick and Densel Washington (winner of the Academy's Awards Best Supporting Actor for his role in this film). Col. Shaw, a young mid-20s, white, Bostonian from an abolistionist family, wanted those of African American descent to have pride and dignity so he volunteered his regiment to fight at every given opportunity. In 1863, Shaw volunteered his regiment to lead the charge against a Confederate stronghold guarding the mouth of the Charleston River. The 54th lost half of its complement including Col. Shaw but through the group's self sacrifice came the order to allow the black soldier to fight. And by the wars end, over 100,000 black soldiers fought in support of the Union cause and per Lincoln was accredited in helping the Union win the war against the Confederate States.

My next favorite stop was the Arlington National Cemetary. Just to give you a bit of trivia, prior to the Civil War, Arlington House atop the hill overlooking the cemetary was the home of Col. Robert E. Lee. The cemetary is located across the river from Washington DC in the state of Virginia. Lincoln offered the command of all Union forces to Robert E. Lee but the colonel decided his loyalty laid with his home state of Virginia, which was a Confederate state. Thereafter Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, offered the command of the Confederate Forces to Lee thus becoming the Commanding General of the Confederate Army.

During the war, Lincoln asked the Union's top Quartermaster to locate a new and suitable site for a cemetary. The Quartermaster decided to place the new national cemetary on the grounds surrounding the home of Robert E. Lee in order that he will never again be able to occupy his home without seeing the tombstones of the thousands of Union soldiers killed by his men during the war. After the war, Robert E. Lee never did return to his home in Arlington.

While we are on the subject of Robert E. Lee, back in 1982, I was at the USCG's Class A Boatswain's Mate school in Yorktown, Virginia. (Virginia, Virginia, the home state of Robert E. Lee) One day an officer ordered me up to his office. For whatever reason I cannot remember but what I do remember up to this day was the first thing he said to me as he looked up from his desk "OH, you're one of those Lee's."

At Arlington, I visited the tombs of JFK, the Unknown Soldier (is anyone still in there?), Douglas MacArthur, Marc Mitcsher (Commanding Admiral of Task Force 58 and once Captain of the USS Hornet), and surprised to see the unassuming tombstone of the most decorated soldier of World War II, Audie Murphy. Audie, post war, became an actor and eventually played himself in his biographical movie, "To Hell and Back." Ultimately, he was killed in an airplane accident.

Growing up in Grace Cathedral of San Francisco, I learned to appreciate and love gothic architecture. Grace was originally built as a copy of Notre Dame in Paris but before the building was finished, the original architect had died. When the project resumed thirty years later, the new architect added a touch of English gothic. Today, Grace Cathedral still stands as the home of the Bishop and his diocese. Grace is still the third largest gothic cathedral in the country and the largest on the west side of the Mississippi. The National Cathedral also commands a presence where no one will ever enter but in reverance. It's flying buttresses, tall twin towers, straight lines, center spire reminds us that God gave us this life to create and enjoy such beauty. I love Grace Cathedral as well as the National Cathedral. I hope to one day visit Notre Dame de Paris.

Other notables were the Jewish Holocaust Museum (Unbelievable); The Smithsonian Institute (I could be in there for days); The National Geographic Society (How did we end up on the front cover?); The Iwo Jima Memorial (Boy, that thing is BIG); The Lincoln Memorial (Read the words to the Gettysburg Address); The Vietnam Memorial (Lots of names); The Korean War Memorial; The Washington Monument (Under renovation at that time); Jefferson Memorial (Very nice); The Supreme Court Building; The Library of Congress (Love Books); Shopping, drinking and eating in Georgetown; Visiting Alexandria. I'm sure that I missed a few.

I got to spend this trip with a couple of great friends. Deb, while she may be a bit neurotic at times, she's a kick. A real cutie and a nut case at the same time but in a amusing sort of way. You can't help but love her. For years we continued our friendship by downing green tea, sushi and sashimi at our favorite watering hole "Okaza Yu" on Taraval in San Francisco. I do miss those days. Also, I got to see my good friend Neil Davis. He had left SF and took a job on the East Coast and lived outside of Washington. He joined us for a few days on this trip. Soon thereafter, he ended up back in SF (And I thought we were finally rid of him! .. J/K. Neil is the best friend one can have and he's a REAL avid world traveler, an awesome biker - get out of the way Lance! Europe for a weekend concert .. and he collects the air miles and all!)

If anyone is a traveler or a historian, Washington DC is a must see. It's devotion to maintaining our nation's cultural integrity of who we are is represented in each of those buildings. This city will make you want to walk. I did and I loved it.