Confessions of a Former Drag Queen: morning walking in DC

On Saturday, I was supposed to walk 13 miles. In light of the fact that I was in D.C. to work for the weekend, I knew this was unlikely to occur. That said, I got up early to get in some miles, with plans for an additional couple of miles that evening. I logged 4 miles in the a.m., with pics featured here. The 5 mile evening walk will be documented in another entry.

My first wake up call was at 5:45. The second was at 6:00 a.m. I was out the door by 6:15, headed back to the monuments.

I was surprised, at first, to see the news van. And that there was no one else there as I approached the World War II memorial from Constitution Ave.

For a change of pace, I decided to walk up the right side of the reflecting pool.

I give you the Lincoln Memorial.

They were washing the wall when I got there. I didn't 'walk it' because it seemed somehow intrusive.

The Washington Monument, from the top step. That view never gets old for me. . .

Close up.

I took this pic standing at the exact spot Martin Luther King stood when he delivered his 'I have a dream' speech. Of course I got choked up. I stood there, imagining how he felt, with all the people gathered to listen to him, knowing what he was going to say, not knowing how it might be received/perceived.

Close up. I am reminded of when Mad was younger. I hijacked a part of that speech to help me cope with the stress of idiot strangers asking stupid questions of me re: my child in front of her as though she wasn't even there! I would say to myself, "I have a dream that one day my child will be judged NOT on the patch on her face, but on the content of her character!" It helped. Believe it or not.

A pic of Washington and the Capitol near the Korean War Monument.

World War II again - from the 'back' side.

Lincoln - from WWII. I couldn't believe I had the place to myself. It was so peaceful - and perfect! What a great way to start the day.

Here's your close up!

I passed this guy on my way back to my hotel. The building on the left is the IRS building. This guy, at 7 a.m. was headed to the flagpole to put up the flag.