Our new monument

Thanks everybody for your comments and concerns about yesterday's earthquake.  It was a whole new experience for a lot of people, to be sure!


This morning I hopped on the Metro and made a quick trip down to the Mall to see the new Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial, and it was a beautiful day for it! The memorial is located next to the Lincoln Memorial, where Dr. King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963. President Obama will speak at the official dedication ceremony on Sunday, but there will be celebrations over the next five days starting with a formal dinner tonight.

The entrance to the memorial is through large parted boulders meant to symbolize the struggle for civil rights...

Inside, there are granite walls inscribed with quotes from Dr. King's speeches, different dates and locations...



(Yep, I can see what I have to do!)

 The Man...

In the background of this shot you can see more of the panels inscribed with Dr. King's words; they stretch out on both sides of the entrance.  On the side of the boulder which holds his likeness is this quote:   

His "I Have a Dream" speech wasn't quoted on any of the panels, the designers wanted to highlight his other speeches.

And of course sightseeing isn't complete unless you get a T-shirt - I got this one...

front



back



The shirt looks purple with a black back, but actually it's blue!

And... since I was in the area of the World War 2 memorial I took a couple shots...

It was a really great day for sightseeing, especially with the breezes blowing off the Potomac and the tidal basin; lots of people out there, families trying to explain to their 4-5 year olds the significance of what they were seeing. 

If you're in the area I hope you can stop by to see the new monument, as well as all the other sights DC has to offer!

Sew forth and sew on til later...