Washington DC day 1

Well, I am tired.
I got up this morning and went out to get coffee. But, I decided, why not wander in the direction of the national mall? I could look at one or two things, and then get on a tour bus, one of those double-decker ones. I got my coffee, and walking down the street, spotted the exact type of bus I wanted. However, I hesitated a moment too long and didn't hop on. I never was able to catch one after that. It's a shame too, because the passes are good for two days. I could have sat in luxury for two days! Maybe tomorrow I'll catch one and sell my half-ticket to someone else.
Of course, after I wandered over that way, I came across Pennsylvania avenue, and so of course I had to wander over to look at 1600 Pennsylvania av! I mean, to just be wandering around and kinda happen upon the whitehouse is pretty darn cool. I mean, walk by a few trees and BAM! there it is. Not that you can get to it because of yards and yards of guards, fences, concrete blocks, etc. But it was cool. And then I thought, maybe I should go back, or find a tour bus.
But, of course, I didn't want to wait, given that if I turned around that meant I could see the washington monument, so, since I was already a mile from the hostel, I figured, why not?
So I went up to see that. At which point my video camera battery ran out. There are so many things to look at that I couldn't keep focused.
Not knowing my capitol geography, I wandered further south (missing the war memorials and the Lincoln memorial till later, and the mall/capitol hill entirely) till I walked all the way to the big white dome across the water. I almost stopped half way there around the lake-thing. But I had a feeling that I would want to go all the way over to this big dome with some statue in it. The Jefferson memorial, as it turns out. I was right to go.
Starting at that memorial, and continuing at the rest of them, I admit I did shed a few tears. The words inscribed on the walls of these grand buildings, etched deeply into stone to give them more power, more longevity, were deeply moving. I kept thinking as I walked how great these men were, how big the things were that they struggled with. And conversely how much we've trivialized the politics in this country, and how our country is run like a corporation, squeezing as much as it can get out of the workers to make quarterly reports. I kept thinking there should be towers and castles like this in all cities. These things are bigger than us, they hold meaning and power just by the sheer size, the sweat and time taken to build them.
I walked through the FDR park/memorial. It's absolutely beautiful. Powerful, proud, optimistic. It's so full of strength and belief in the good of humankind.
Then I walked to the Lincoln memorial because I saw it in the distance and it looked familiar.
By this time I was aching, tired, hot, and my sunscreen was irritating my skin. I was getting hungry, too. But I went and looked at Lincoln, then the Vietnam war memorial, at which point my camera died, (I knew I should have bought that durned charger in Boston!) and my feet were getting there too.
So I went back up to the whitehouse (where I managed to squeeze two really great pictures out of my camera's dead batteries).
I continued on my way back, bought a battery charger, and got back to the hostel to wash my face and rest a bit.
All told I walked something like 8 miles today, and saw about 7 monuments. Not bad. Now I just have to catch the rest of them tomorrow!!