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The Schumin Web Salutes America
- Part 5 -
The Schumin Web - Photography - The Schumin Web Salutes America - Menu
Continued from Part 4...
The Vietnam Veterans' Memorial is a tribute to those who died in the war in Vietnam. The thing to remember in this memorial is that every single name on this wall had a face, had loved ones, and had a future that would have lain ahead. The Vietnam War was a highly unpopular war, and it is questionable whether it was our business to be over there to begin with. However, thousands of Americans had to die before our government pulled the plug. I let these pictures speak for themselves...
The last part of the plan for this trip was to go past the White House, and then exit via McPherson Square station. The original plan was to walk by the West Wing in order to catch a glimpse of and photograph a wing I'd never seen before (previously, I'd only gone past the East Wing). This plan was thwarted by the fact that the building next to the West Wing, the Old Executive Office Building, is considered part of the White House complex, and thus is fenced in with the White House, not only making the West Wing very difficult to photograph, but also causing me to have to walk considerably more to get around this other building.
The Mavica got a view of the South Portico of the White House, looking fine as ever.
This is the Executive Office Building, which houses, among other things, the Vice President's office.
The White House's North Portico is also looking fine as ever, here in this somewhat slanted shot...
After visiting the White House, it was off to McPherson Square station, in order to go back to the car in Vienna. And so down we go...
This picture was just a tad shocking at first, seeing all these people crammed on a Metro train, decked out in full surgical gear! But their purpose is clear - Metro now operates until 2 AM (pardon the pun) on Friday and Saturday night, much to the delight of people who enjoy the nightlife...
And now it's time for Metro... these signs were new to me on this trip, and they were quite helpful, telling about an elevator problem at Judiciary Square and at Pentagon City, and also about when the trains were coming. Metro trains come in a number of flavors to fit your needs... besides being made either by Breda or Rohr, the trains run on the Blue, Orange, Red, Green, and Yellow Lines, and they come in different lengths. Since I decided to go to Pentagon City Mall afterwards to relax, I took the Metro from McPherson Square to L'Enfant Plaza. From there, I went up a level, and switched to the Yellow Line, which is essentially a connector line with Green and Blue, directly connecting downtown DC with Washington National Airport and Alexandria without having to take the Blue Line all the way around.
Breda Trains |
Rohr Trains |
In the event of a life-threatening emergency, pull the handle, and get out! However, if you use this irresponsibly, you're going to jail...
The Yellow Line, unlike the Blue and Orange Lines (joined when they enter DC), goes over the Potomac River going to and from Washington, DC, as opposed to Blue and Orange going underneath...
At Pentagon City, the thought was to cool off and unwind at the mall there before getting in the car. I wasn't exactly successful at unwinding, though I did cool off to an extent. Here at the Pentagon City Metro station, a Blue Line train makes a transaction of passengers, offloading some, and boarding others.
Back at Rosslyn, the first station going west on the Blue and Orange Lines (which diverge at this station) in Northern Virginia, the Commonwealth of Virginia welcomes you. A nice thought, but if you're not getting on or off at this station, it's somewhat pointless, as the train is going too fast for you to notice as you pass by, plus it's hard to see while stopped at the platform. One more thing... the sign does look better than this in person... I had to use the flash to get enough light to see the sign with the camera in the first place, but the flash also inadvertently brought out every imperfection and bit of dirt on the sign...
And welcome back to Vienna, final station on the Orange Line. Please take all personal belongings with you when exiting the train. We thank you for riding Metrorail, and have a safe and pleasant day.
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