We had passed it a few times heading back and forth from our van to other destinations (the parking lot is free and vacant most of the time, so we used it to save money), but our last visit on this trip-of-a-lifetime was the Jefferson Memorial. We would actually stop this time. When I had visited in 1996, this memorial was blocked off with scaffolding and tarps. Our tour guide said it was deliberate to prevent people from seeing the references to God inscribed on the walls. I think they were just cleaning it. Either way, it was nice to be able to go inside and look around. The children enjoyed the benches to sit on for a rest. Not only could we explore the outside, but we discovered down below, in the basement, was a museum to Jefferson and a gift shop. Terry and I visited Monticello in 1999, and it was rather expensive. This museum, though not as lavish, gave a nice overview of Jefferson’s life. It had a few artifacts and a tiny gift shop.

I enjoyed photographing the Jefferson Memorial as we approached it. The first few photos are from across the Tidal Basin.

 

Most of the kids were too tired to want photos. Lauren and Mitchell gladly smiled for me, though. This monument was not nearly as packed out as the Lincoln Memorial. It may have been the time of day which worked in our favor. It was around 4:30 when we made it here.

It was a long but exciting day of sight-seeing. The Lord blessed us with fabulous weather – it was almost 70 degrees on our monument visiting day. The same time the following week would find Gettysburg and D.C. in a massive snow storm. The Lord was most gracious to us.

We left the following day to visit Colonial Williamsburg. I have about 500 photos to cull through for that blog post! I will try not to bore you. The last stop on our adventure was Lexington, Virginia, and the home of Stonewall Jackson.

Thank you for joining me – the end is in sight! 🙂