Today I am 40 years old... What am I going to do on this monumental birthday? A day when - it used to be said when you had a family in your early twenties - life begins at (because, theoretically your children had left home by the time you are 40). Although this only seems to be the case if you are from a sink estate in Essex and are a regular guest on the Jeremy Kyle show or other such White Trash programmes. What have Diane & Frank got planned for me today?
Roadtrip! RoadTrip! Roadtrip! Roadtrip!
Actually, it is our scheduled visit of two days in Washington DC - the Nation's Capital. A 300 mile drive (there or thereabouts) that is going to take us a good few hours to get too (5 hours and 15 minutes according to Google Earth) across several states and numerous county lines.
It was a long trip...
...
... that was only interrupted by my first chili dog at the equivalent of a motorway service station somewhere on the new Jersey Turnpike. An experience I can only say that I would not like to repeat. They look like roadkill and - I would assume - taste no better. As well as the crossing of the Delaware River - made famous by George Washington.
We arrived at our motel that was just in the state of Virginia around 5:00pm and decided to have a rest for an hour or so before heading out to visit the Memorials by twilight.
I have to admit that the Lincoln Memorial is a inspiring building, the overly familiar statue of President Lincoln looking almost regal & benign surveying the populace that come to grace this hallowed hall with almost beatific countenance. It is a reverential place - a celebration of everything that is potentially good in the United States of America - in memory of one of the most visionary & determined leaders the country had. On either side of the statue are inscriptions of his most famous speeches, The Gettysburg Address, and his second inaugural speech as President of the United States - more inspiring than The Gettysburg Address and it was given just days before the formal end of the American Civil War and instead of being full of jingoism and sabre rattling at the impending victory of the southern state he speaks of the sadness and loss that the conflict has brought the nation and his ultimate belief that all men are created equal under the eyes of God regardless of race, creed or colour.
Unfortunately the reverential atmosphere is completely lost on the herds of high school children and bus-loads of overweight & badly dressed American tourists who flocked to the Memorial at night and overwhelm the building with their inane chattering, loud reciting of the speeches and general bad manners to fellow visitors.
Sitting on the steps of the Memorial Frank and I had a discussion on what Lincoln represents to the USA and its people. To Frank it was about power; who had it and who wanted it. To me it was about belief; all men are created equal. I think both points or view are valid, however I am inclined to think that Lincoln was a man of principal and not power - well, that's the fantasy anyway.
All in all, the Lincoln Memorial is one of the representations of the good the USA could do - as with the wording of on the Statue of Liberty. It depicts a purity of thought that is lost in today's society. It is a refreshing change to the Americana that the world is subjected to on a daily basis - a forcing of culture (or lack thereof) on the world - and a bullying mentality that will eventually be its downfall.
I am glad I took the time to visit it - it reignited my faith in the human condition.
The Washington Monument - an obelisk of granite - lies directly a head of the Lincoln Memorial and the optical illusion of the Reflecting Pool (I was tempted to run through the pool shouting "Forrest! Forrest!") is very clever. I was sat on the same steps where Dr Martin Luther King Jr gave his most famous speech following the "March on Washington" in August 1963 - almost 100 years after the end of the American Civil War and the abolition of slavery under the Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America (an amendment that was not formally ratified by the state of Kentucky until 1970 and the state of Mississippi until 1995). It is difficult to believe that the civil rights of some individuals are still abused in the United States based upon their skin colour - it may not be common knowledge but it still happens in some of the southern states.
As the Memorial Park become too crowded with over enthusiastic Americans we decided to retire for the evening and find somewhere to eat. With Frank repeatedly telling us we were no longer in New York and these provincial towns will shut a 10:00pm - he is such a New Yorker - we drove to Georgetown, a north west suburb of Washington DC and reputedly a rather high end and fashionable place to eat (according to Diane). We parked, walked a while in the oppressive heat - did I tell you DC is built on a swamp? No? Well if you don't like humidity & midges the I would suggest you avoid it. Eventually finding a Sushi restaurant where I would be celebrating my 40th birthday in style over some warm sake.
Ah, sushi - Diane & Frank's favourite food and something I had not tasted sober before.
Not an experience I want to repeat either as it seems to be a acquired taste and I generally like my food to be hot and I am able to name the animal it came from in at least 1 out 3 occasions. The nearest experience I can get to it is when I was very young my brother thought it would be a good idea to force my head into a rock pool at the seaside and make me eat the contents - it tasted exactly like that rock pool... I endured it for Diane and promised to give it another go when I returned to Blighty.
After being ejected from the restaurant at about 11:00pm we absconded to an faux Irish Bar & I preceded to drink Guinness like there was no tomorrow to get the taste of the bloody sushi from my throat - it worked too... eventually... I was chatted to a very nice black woman who loved my accent and graciously allowed me to cadge cigarettes from her, I eyed up some DC hotties that came into the bar from whatever high powered federal job they did (tea making, photocopying, type & file) and eventually dragged back to the car an locked in my room until morning.
Day two of our adventure in the Nations Capital was going to be a busy one...
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