Night Life

After eating an amazing burger at Good Stuff Eatery Friday night, two of my roommates and I decided to ditch the boys and  go check out the National Mall.

We didn't know we were in for such a treat. 

First, on our way to the White House, we walked past a beautiful hotel that made me wish I could be an architect. 

Then on the way to the National Mall, we decided to walk past the White House. It was beautiful to see it glow in the dark. My picture doesn't quite do it justice. Seeing it reminded me of the time when my family and I got to go to the Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn. So many fun memories.

Of course our next stop had to be the Washington Monument. And what a sight it was. The sky started to turn red from the city lights and the monument shone bright against it. 

We finally made it to the base of the monument and then had a blast hugging it.

From left to right: Me, Jordan, Cassidy.

We turned around and started walking towards the National Mall. and this is what we saw, once we crossed the street.

We were all so excited to see the Lincoln and WWII Memorials. We walked around the different  states and found Utah. What a beautiful memorial. It was very quiet just sitting on the edge of the pool of fountains just listening and watching. There were still quite a bit of people at the memorials despite the growing lateness of the hour. 

Right before leaving, I decided to get a panoramic picture of the WWII with the Washington Monument in the background...

and the Lincoln Memorial.

(It's just hiding behind the fountain).

I had seen pictures of the monuments and memorials at night and thought they were absolutely gorgeous but I don't think I had ever seen them at night. Or if I had I didn't remember it amid the hustle and bustle of everything else I was doing the last two times I had the opportunity of being in Washington D.C.

We continued to make our way to the Lincoln Memorial. About halfway down the reflection pool on the Mall, I decided that flip flops were probably the worst decision in shoes I could have made. But I wasn't going to complain with this view at my back,

and this one in front of me.

Again, the amount of people milling around the memorials at 11pm surprised me, but I guess big city's never really sleep. 

We saw Abe and and marveled at the beautiful architecture. 

I don't know about Jordan and Cassidy, but I felt humbled being there seeing the monuments to these great people, remembering what amazing things went on. We saw the piece of stone marking the place where Martin Luther King Jr. stood while making his "I Have a Dream" speech. (I believe that Friday marked the 51st anniversary of that day). It was powerful being there and standing on that spot 51 years later.

Finally, heading home with aching feet and tired eyes we said goodnight to the monuments and walked slowly away feeling like this never slowing city is home.