National Monuments and Touristy Sites

So went to the Botanical Gardens(above), Lincoln Memorial, MLK Memorial, WW II Memorial, Vietnam memorial and several others in Washington D.C. and had a blast. This was pretty much just a touristy day with lots of picture taking so I figured instead of talking you to death, I'll just show you what we saw and take you on your own personal tour (with me of course) of the monuments.This, although not a largely flattering picture of me, was my favorite part of the botanical gardens! The orchid room, orchids, orchids, orchids EVERYWHERE! Growing off of everything and it smelled amazing. (more pics on facebook if you want to see more of the Botanical gardens)

So when you first arrive to the Area of Monuments (love the fancy name I gave it? Classic.) We see the Washington Monument. Which coincidentally (because of the earthquake) we can't go inside. It's been cracked and there's water leaking from something so its unsafe. It is, however, entirely tall and overwhelming as you can see. Now I know your wondering, "Wheres the classic picture with the reflection pool?" To my dismay they are currently rebuilding the reflection pool and it is a pool no more (just dirt).
Next we arrive at the World War II Memorial which is HUGE! On either side of the entrance there are sculpted pictures in rock depicting the evolution of war on the West Coast (on one side) and East Coast (on the other). From afar this is what the monument looks like. After the WW II Memorial we went to the newly opened, Martin Luther King Memorial which is amazing and highly intimidating. As you can see, me and Martin Luther King share a remarkable resemblance. After the Martin Luther King Memorial we went to what I had been waiting to go to ALL DAY LONG! The Lincoln Memorial. It was fantastic! I really wanted to climb up and sit on his lap but decided it would be highly inappropriate and settled for this:) While walking around the memorial we saw these handsome Navy Sailors and asked them to take a picture with us! We talked with them a little and they said that our picture was probably the 3000th they'd taken that day hahaAfter this little detour we arrived at the Vietnam War Memorial (we also went to the Korean War Memorial but I didn't take any pictures sorry!) My favorite part of which was that you can see your face reflected in the names of those who passed away. Just like the picture below! (Its a long black wall in the shape of a V sort of with names like what you see here. The names are organized by the year they died, on either side of the very center are the names of those who died first and last in the war. Many people place pictures, flowers etc at the bottom of the wall because it serves as a grave for those who never got a body back to bury:(It was a long and wonderful day! Which ended with a ride home on the metro:) Which coincidentally is not nearly as difficult to navigate as I thought.It does, however, have a certain odor to it!