visiting the National Gallery of Art
Family time in and around Washington, DC.
My youngest daughter and her husband live just outside Washington, DC. This year they volunteered to host the whole family for the Christmas/New Years holidays–four of us as house guests, two more in a nearby hotel.
We hung around, some of us for a week and a half. So after all the feasting and gifting that goes along with the holidays, we still had plenty of time to explore DC.
the Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial
The unseasonably warm weather the day we explored the National Mall drew a big crowd. It was over seventy degrees. If my daughter hadn’t ordered tickets a few weeks earlier for the elevator that goes to the top of the Washington Monument, we would have been out of luck on such a busy day.
Lincoln Memorial and WWII Memorial from the top of the Washington Monument
The World War Two Memorial, which opened in 2004, was new to me.
WWII Memorial
I hadn’t seen the Korean War Veterans Memorial either. It was a little older, dedicated in 1995.
The National Cathedral doesn’t make it onto everyone’s DC itinerary, but it was one of the more interesting places we explored.
From the North Tower, we had a view of some flying buttresses and scaffolding. The Cathedral’s pinnacles are still being repaired from damage caused by the 2011 earthquake.
We timed our visit to coincide with the birthday of Woodrow Wilson, the only president who is interred in the National Cathedral. Why Woodrow Wilson and no other president? you may ask. Connections. When his grandson became dean of the cathedral, he had his grandfather’s body disinterred and placed in a tomb there.
We arrived while the ceremonial laying of the wreath was already underway. No photos were allowed of the honor guard during the ceremony, but I snapped this one of an honor guard with his family afterwards.
Some facts about the Cathedral :
There’s a sculpture of Darth Vader on its west tower.
The Cathedral’s central tower is thirty stories tall.
Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, did the needlework on one of the kneelers in the War Memorial Chapel.
Number of angels: 288.
Number of gargoyles: 112.
Number of stained glass windows: 231.
Most but not all the stained glass windows depict scenes with a religious theme. The above window near Wilson’s tomb, however, is representative of our trip to the moon. It was commissioned by NASA, which had a rock from the moon embedded in the center of the largest circle.
Two nearby windows have recently stirred up controversy. They picture Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and several Confederate flags. In 1953, the church’s leadership thought the windows “would foster reconciliation between parts of the nation that had been divided by the Civil War.” After the Charleston shootings, the Cathedral received complaints about the flags. The current dean has called on the governing body to have the windows removed and to commission replacements.
A couple more photos from the Cathedral:
main pulpit
detail of communion rail
We went to the cathedral when we were there too. The donor’s names inscribed on the post were fascinating to read through. It is a lovely example of architecture. You can spend a lot of time in DC and still only scratch the surface.
I didn’t pay attention to the donors’ names inscribed on the post. Isn’t that the way with some sights? You have to see them more than once. The National Cathedral is beautiful from so many angles. Keeping up with our guide, I missed many opportunities to take pictures of it. Also I hesitate to put up too many pictures.
Wow the cathedral looks so beautiful! I love the blue windows. Thank you for sharing. If I ever go to Washington DC, I’ll definitely go there.
There’s so much more to see than I was able to show in my blog post, including many side chapels, large and small. The Children’s Chapel, with little brown wooden chairs, a low stained glass window, and a baby organ is one of the more unusual ones. I hope you have a chance to see it one day.
Thanks for the tour. Had no idea about the National Cathedral – always educational, Nicki.
In a country that cannot allow for the establishment of any one religion, what do you do when you want to have a religious service? I guess this hybrid Episcopal/National Cathedral was the answer. Presidents Eisenhower, Reagan, and Ford’s funerals were held there as well as memorial services for presidents Harding, Taft, Coolidge, Truman, and Nixon.
Interesting!
Sounds like a great trip. Enjoyed your photos. Glad the weather cooperated.
Thanks, Nancy. Lady Luck was with us.
Loved your pictures and comments of this trip to Washington, D.C., Nicki. It is time for us to make another trip to visit there, and see everything we missed before! Thanks for sharing. Stan and Cheri Relyea
Hi Stan and Cheri. Good to hear from you. I was worried it was going to be cold and snowy for my Christmas and New Year’s trip. All the walking around we did wouldn’t have been nearly as nice in bad weather. We were sure lucky. In fact, I snapped a picture of a cherry tree that was already starting to bloom.
Great pics of a great city, Nicki. One of my daughters lives now very close to DC and I’m planning a trip sometime this year to visit. I already went but hope to have more time to enjoy this unique city, the monuments and the history. Great bookstores also!
I hope you and your daughter have time to explore DC next time you visit. Sometimes it’s hard to combine visiting with tourist type activities. I haven’t explored the bookstores yet, but we did make it to the mall.
I’ve read many times about DC being one the American cities with the most bookstores. Honestly I need to check the fact. ?
Thanks for sharing about your trip Nicki. It all sounds so interesting!
Thanks, Maureen. There’s always something new to see, especially in a place so packed with places of interest.
Having grown up in the suburbs of Washington DC, your post made me quite homesick, Nicki. Your photos are beautiful. I especially enjoyed the first, you look so happy.
Washington, DC, and the surrounding area have so many interesting and beautiful spots. I don’t think my seven-year-old grandson realizes how lucky he is to grow up there.
I think I was happy in that photo, buy also a little tired and happy to sit down.
Darth Vader in the Cathedral . . . seriously?? Thanks for the tour and photos, Nicki. D.C. is such an interesting city. Your daughter gave her family a wonderful Christmas gift!
My daughter did do an excellent job organizing outings for us. I don’t know where she finds the time. She has a very demanding job.
Darth Vader’s head as a “grotesque,” or gargoyle didn’t look as out of place as you might think.
So interesting . . . if I ever get back to DC I’ll look for Darth 🙂
Oh, you are making me homesick! I’d forgotten much of the National Cathedral tour (except for the flying buttresses). I think the older you are, the more you get out of those tours. Also your attention is on the information, versus the cute guy in your history class.
My school took short, easy field trips to the dairy and the saw mill. (I’m just making this up. We must have gone on field trips, but I can’t remember any of them.) Anyway, the sights around DC are mostly new to me. My daughter moved to Rockville, MD, about five years ago. And, although I enjoy walking my grandson to school and taking him to the park, I told her that when I came to visit, I wanted to see the Washington sights, too. Last time we took a cruise up the Potomac to Mount Vernon and a drive to Annapolis. This time, we went to the Kennedy Center to see Matilda.
The cathedral looks stunning. I didnt even know about it but I guess this is due to the general pictures we get here in Europe from TV shows and movies which mainly show for example the Lincoln memorial
The Cathedral is in a residential part of Washington, very close to the Vice President’s residence and to many of the embassies. It’s a beautiful area on the highest point in town, but it’s too far away from the White House for most people to walk there. I think the last ceremony President Obama attended at the National Cathedral was in December, 2014, for a National Vigil for All Victims of Gun Violence.
It’s been several years since I’ve been to DC, always enjoyed the architecture and history.
I hadn’t been to the National Mall for decades. Us West Coasters don’t make it back East that often. For years, most of my travel was west to Asia. As we sometimes say, “The East is west of here.” I really enjoyed seeing all those familiar buildings and monuments in person.
Sounds like you had a great trip, Nicki. I enjoyed seeing your photos. I’m still trying to figure out why a statue of Darth Vader belongs in a cathedral.
The National Cathedral is kind of a hybrid. It’s an Episcopal Church built entirely with private funds. Yet, the US Congress designated it as “National House of Prayer.” Darth Vader’s head is a “grotesque, sort of a gargoyle. There was a public competition, and he’s what the public chose.