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.

 

Marine Corps Memorial

The Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, sculpted by Felix de Weldon, was based on the famous photo by Joe Rosenthal, taken 70 years ago today of Marines raising the flag at Iwo Jima.  The memorial is not just about World War II, though, but commemorates all Marines who gave their lives in defense of the nation since its founding.

The base of the memorial was covered with snow yesterday, though it had mostly melted off of the sculpture itself.  There were several snowmen in attendance, and I saw sled tracks alarmingly close to the GW Parkway (which would not be a good place to end up on a sled).

Jefferson Memorial

This weekend I paid a visit to the Jefferson Memorial and the Tidal Basin.  A black and white image seemed appropriate for the grey day, so went with the dry twig and Chinese ink technique I learned about from Kiah Kiean.

The Memorial itself is modeled after the Pantheon, a building Jefferson himself admired (and imitated in his design for the Rotunda at the University of Virginia).  The inside has inscriptions from his writings, including the Declaration of Independence.

The Tidal basin was still frozen over from colder weather earlier in the week, but it was actually relatively comfortable outside today.  This has long been a favorite place of mine to walk around - and it's much less crowded in February than it is in April when the cherry trees are in bloom.

Martin & Albert

Guido beat me to the new MLK Jr. Memorial, but I was very happy to be able to finally get a chance to see and sketch it myself. Judging from the crowds of people trekking across the mall it obviously has an immense amount of meaning for everyone who visits it.

While I was on the Mall, I thought I would check out one of my other favorite, albeit less well known memorials on the Mall. The Einstein Memorial by the National Academy of Sciences.