Rolling Thunder

Every year on Memorial Day weekend, Washington D.C. becomes host to Rolling Thunder, a large motorcycle rally originally started by a group of Vietnam veterans. Thousands of veterans from around the country ride in on motorcycles to honor those who served, and remember those who were left behind. They don't come on small, quiet bikes either - they ride the loudest Harley-Davidsons they can find, to make Rolling Thunder live up to its name. You can see all sorts of motorcycles on the road all weekend, and the various riding groups all have unique logos and patches.

Many of the riders proceed to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall to pay their respects. The Wall, designed by Maya Lin and embedded in the ground, bears the names of the 58,000 American service members who gave their lives in the war. One end of the Wall points to the Washington Monument, while the other points towards the Lincoln Memorial.

Many of the activities take place near the Lincoln Memorial, which has a lot of visitors at any time of year, but is particularly crowded on Memorial Day weekend.

On Sunday, the riders will gather in the Pentagon parking lot and ride slowly over the Memorial Bridge towards the Lincoln Memorial and the Wall. Previous events have had as many as 900,000 participants. The sound is not something you will forget.

 

Cherry Blossom Festival

Spring has finally arrived now in D.C., and the cherry trees are actually in bloom for the annual Cherry Blossom Festival - the timing doesn't always work out quite this good.  There are always a lot of things going on in D.C. during the festival, including the parade, street fairs, music, and various events at the art museums - often with a Japanese cultural theme, since the cherry trees were originally a gift from Japan.

I got to see the Onoe Ryu Dancers perform traditional Japanese dance at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.  The costumes and dancers were fun to sketch, and I tried using a brushpen instead of my usual fountain pen to capture them.

Old Post Office

For the 42nd World Wide Sketchcrawl, the D.C. sketchers met at the Old Post Office on Pennsylvania Avenue, because it has a nice atrium where we could sketch out of the elements. I happened to be in the neighborhood last week, when it was a little warmer, so I went ahead and did a sketch of the exterior that day, since I knew it would be colder today.

In front of the building is a statue of Benjamin Franklin, the first Postmaster General. Inside there is an atrium with a food court and shopping, and an observation tower that gives a nice view of the District.

We had a few new people this time, as well as some familiar faces. It's always good to get a chance to see other sketchers.

Washington Monument

Washington Memorial, sketching after work and I got the attention of the Secret Service for doing so.