Shopping and Eating

          There's a lot of things to shop for in the Capital, no doubt, but if you know me, this post is just going to be food, food, food, and more food.

Union Station. This is a train station, but is packed with
everything, from restaurants to food courts to shops.

          For a train station (which I thought does not exist anymore) this place have such an elegant, clean feel to it. The architecture is nice, the crowd only serves to reenact the busy atmosphere, truly city-like. The food courts are easily visible and accessible, and very clean. This is the place I want to be in if I ever have that feeling of "merging with the crowd." I'm impressed by the looks of this place. It is more like a mall than a station.

Yours truly, local

Let me live here!

Can you tell me this is not awesome???

Monuments

THis is The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, constructed in memory of FDR in 1955 as per commissioned by Congress for leading the U.S out of the Great Depression and WWII. This  park-like memorial  features four outdoor gallery rooms depicting 12 years of FDR’s presidency. I really like this monument because FDR was one of my favorite presidents,being such a strong man with a handicap. He did not let his disadvantage hinder his work, and successfully brought about the recovery of U.S economy after the Great Depression, able to hold the people united to a cause in a time of turmoil. His presidency was also during the time of WWII, a period of international chaos. Under his guidance, we were able to get into the war, help the Allies, and come out of the war as a superpower.

Of course I had to put this in here! The one and only Lincoln Memorial. It is located on the National Mall, a tribute to president Abraham Lincoln. It was designed by Henry Bacon. It features seven-foot diameter columns that stretch 44 feet high, a style similar to a Greek temple. The structure’s 36 columns represent the 36 states in the Union at the time of Lincoln’s death. A 19-foot marble statue of Lincoln sits in the center of the memorial and the words of the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural Address are written on the walls. President Lincoln was the president credited with the ending of slavery, moving the U.S onto the road towards racial equality. Though it was long from being achieved, he was the one who made the road more visible. This is important to me because I've never been here, and I feel that president Lincoln was one of the presidents with the more contributions to the U.S.

This is the African- American Civil War monument. It was designed by architects Devrouax and Purnell in 1998. It is the only memorial to colored troops in the Civil War. This monument is found across the African-American Civil War museum. This memorial is one of the ones I find important because back in the Civil War era, racism was very much prevalent, and this is a first step for the US to redeem itself, and though it took a long time, the contributions of African-Americans in holding the nation together was finally acknowledged. I thought this was step in pursuing equality, one of the principles of American Government.

Supreme Court

          Welcome to the Supreme Court, home to the nine Justices appointed by the president. Once the justices are appointed, they are in for the term of a lifetime. Our government is based heavily upon the principle of Checks and Balance. The Judiciary Branch, is one of the branches of government. The most well-known power of the Supreme court, is of course, the power of Judiciary Review.

Checks and Balance in a nutshell

          Being the highest court, the U.S. Supreme court's decisions cannot be overrode by lower courts. As such, it impacts the common people very much based on its decisions in cases, and on what is constitutional and what is not. 

Justice!

Nothing is above the law