Around the Tidal Basin
With its cherry trees, placid river inlet, landscaping, and monuments, the area around the Tidal Basin has some of most beautiful scenery in Washington.
A foot pathway leads all around the Tidal Basin and following it is the best way to enjoy this area. Approaching from Independence Avenue through the trees, you will see the Jefferson Memorial across the Basin and a paddle boat rental dock in front of you at the path. Paddle boats can be rented there to venture out on the Tidal Basin itself. To the left, the footpath leads aound the Basin, over Outlet Bridge to the East Basin, and then to the Jefferson Memorial. All around are the Japanese cherry trees. The original trees were a gift from Japan in 1912. Their descendants, and many of the original trees, now surround the Tidal Basin.
A visit to the Jefferson Memorial is a "must". It's one of the most attractive monuments in Washington and I think it's my favorite. In the center of the memorial stands a bronze statue of Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and the thrid President. Quotations from his writings surround the interior of the memorial designed by John Russel Pope and inspired by the Pantheon and by Jefferson's own design for the Rotunda at the University of Virginia. Displays on Jefferson and his times are underneath. Near the Jeffeson Memorial is a new memorial to Jefferson's friend and fellow Virginian, George Mason. Mason is famous for authoring the Virginia Declaration of Rights, the precursor to the Bill of Rights.
On past the George Mason Memorial the pathway leads across Inlet Bridge. A small stone Japanese pagoda compliments the cherry trees found all along the path. The Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial is in the vicinity. The Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) Memorial commemorates the thrity-second President of the United Sates, who led the country during the Great Deprssion of the 1930s and World War II. The memorial is open and leads the a series of statues, sculptures, and quotations describes FDR and the New Deal and its programs, the war effort, and the foundation of the post-war world. A statue of Eleanor Roosevelt commemorates her role as an activist First Lady and her work with the United Nations.
Excellent views of the Jefferson Memorial and the Washington Monument can be seen from this location on the Tidal Basin. Soon the path leads to West Potomac Park, a popular area for picnics and for office workers at lunchtime. At this point you are on the opposite side of the Tidal Basin from the Jefferson Memorial. A Japanese stone lantern stands in the park. It is also a gift from Japan, in 1954. The lantern is illuminated each year to mark the start of the Cherry Blossom Festival.
From West Potomac Park, the path leads over Kutz Bridge and along Independence Avenue back towards the paddle boat area. Nearby, across Independence Avenure, is the World War II Memorial, opend in 2004. Two facing pavilions, or pylons, commemorate the Atlantic Theatre and the Pacific Theatre. Quotations from prominent figures of the Allied nations are displayed throughout memorial. A separate section at the main entrance also commemorates the Home Front in a series of bas reliefs.
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The Jefferson Memorial is my own favorite among all the memorials and monuments in Washington. The location is nearly perfect—a classical rotunda on the edge of the Tidal Basin and surrounded by the Japanese flowering cherry trees.
The memorial was designed by architect John Russell Pope who drew inspirtation from by Jefferson’s own interest in classical architecture and his designs for Monticello and the Rotunda at the University of Virginia. In the center of the memorial's own rotunda is a statue of Jefferson by Rudolph Evans. On the surroudning walls, the visitor sees excerpts from Jefferson’s major writings, including the Declaration of Independence and letters to James Madison and George Washington forming a "shrine to freedom" as Franklin D. Roosevelt described it. Exhibits on Jefferson and his times and presidency and a book and gift shop are in the lower part of the memorial.
