I’m not a big fan of Washington, D.C. these days. That city seems to epitomize all the nastiness and divisiveness that run rampant “from sea to shining sea” in 21st century America. Still, I can’t deny the city has enormous cultural and historical significance, and its monuments not only memorialize great Americans but also testify to the sacrifices of ordinary citizens. So, when grandsons Alex Yensel and Sam Welsh picked Washington as the destination for their nine-year-old trip, I didn’t argue with them.

It was raining Friday when we arrived at Reagan International Airport, and some GPS confusion made finding our hotel harder than expected.  Still, we arrived in time to catch the bus for our “monuments by moonlight” tour. Our first stop was the FDR memorial, located next to the Tidal Basin. This is one memorial I’d never seen on previous tips to D.C. It features a statue of the 32nd President in a wheelchair; something that would have been unthinkable at the time FDR was in office. There are also statues of Eleanor Roosevelt and FDR with his dog Fala. Besides the statues, the memorial includes fountains and pools, as well as stone panels inscribed with famous FDR quotes. From the FDR memorial we walked to the Martin Luther King memorial, a short distance away. This landmark features a 30-foot granite statue of the famous civil rights leader, arms folded, gazing out over the Tidal Basin. Behind him, a “Mountain of Despair” looms, but with a huge gap in it, suggesting King triumphed over despair to bring hope to the oppressed.

Although not new to me, the other memorials we visited — The Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam War Memorial, and the Marine Corps Memorial — brought forth a flood of thoughts and feelings. The Vietnam War Memorial, inscribed with the name of every serviceman who died in that conflict, provides stark evidence of how tragic and wasteful that war was.  The Marine Corps Memorial, with its depiction of the flag-raising on Iwo Jima in World War II, is a stirring sight. But beneath the flag-raising figures is a list of the many conflicts in which the Marine Corps has participated. There are the “big ones,” of course: Korea, Vietnam, and the multitude of campaigns in the two World Wars. But there are also numerous “smaller ones” such as Grenada, Lebanon, Panama, Somalia, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti. I couldn’t help but notice there is plenty of space beneath the flag-raisers for the names of future conflicts. The Lincoln Memorial, always so awe-inspiring, makes me wonder what Lincoln would say about the current condition of the country he struggled so hard to preserve. Maybe it’s just as well he doesn’t know.

Saturday sent us to two Smithsonian museums for Air and Space, and Natural History, respectively.  In the first of these, Sam and Alek took advantage of the many hands-on simulated activities. They drove racing cars, hang-glided over mountains, created solar systems, and fought forest fires with airplanes. Later, along with Becky and me, they enjoyed a program at the planetarium on the expansion of the universe and the mysteries of dark matter. At the Natural History Museum, fossils, especially dinosaur fossils, were everywhere; at one point, a huge brachiosaurus skeleton seemed to be looking over our shoulders. But perhaps this museum’s greatest attraction is the Hope Diamond, a dazzling gem that has been surrounded by mystery and sometimes tragedy for centuries.

Sunday included a visit to another Smithsonian museum, this one on American History. Inside were a variety of artifacts relating to America’s past and present. These included Thomas Jefferson’s desk, Abraham Lincoln’s top hat, George Washington’s uniform, and the flag that inspired the National Anthem. The influence of pop culture was reflected by such items as an original Barbie doll, Archie Bunker’s lounge chair, a Prince-style guitar, and Muhammed Ali’s boxing gloves. Sunday also brought the most-moving and most-significant event of the whole trip– a visit to Arlington National Cemetery.  There is something solemn, even sacred about this place. Each gravestone seems to have its own story to tell, and only by being silent can anyone hope to hear that story.  Speaking of solemn and sacred things, the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier left Becky and me spellbound and maybe the boys, too. To their credit, they remained quiet and gave their full attention to the ceremony, which involves an officer inspecting the uniform and rifle of the new guard before he replaces the departing guard. Leaving the cemetery, we went to the Washington Monument and rode an elevator to the top, some 555 feet from the ground. There, for about 15 minutes, we relished the panoramic view of Washington, D.C. afforded by the observation room windows. Look one way, and you’ll see the Jefferson Memorial just above the Potomac River. Look in another direction, and the World War II Memorial unfolds beneath you with the Lincoln Memorial standing majestically in the distance. Look in any direction, and a breath-taking vista will greet your eyes.

We weren’t able to visit the White House, but we did get our picture taken in front of it on our way to dinner Saturday evening. More importantly, a learning opportunity arose when we passed a “protestor,” who had planted himself next to the White House fence. Clasping an umbrella in one hand and a bullhorn in the other, he railed about white supremacy, Donald Trump, and the “awful things” going on in America.  “Here you see an example of free speech in action,” I said to Alek and Sam. “In a lot of countries, that man would be arrested, maybe even killed, but because the Constitution guarantees free speech, he can say those things and not be harmed.”

In between the visits to monuments and museums, we enjoyed small pleasures, such as eating oversized ice cream cones and riding the subway, which is amazingly clean considering how much it is used. I’m sure Alek and Sam had a great time and will have many stories about this trip they can someday share with their children and grandchildren. Maybe by then the issues that have caused such deep rifts in our country will be resolved, and no new wars will need to be added to the Marine Corps Memorial.