DC Day: Albert Einstein Memorial

I'd always wanted to go to the Albert Einstein memorial statue on Constitution Ave, so for our next DC Day we did just that.

Unfortunately it coincided with what I think might have been the hottest day of the summer. Yikes. Fortunately the kids were good sports.

We found a spot to park on I think 20th, a block or so from Constitution (and a few blocks east of the statue) next to this big climbing tree where we rested and had a snack.

The kids noticed a fountain across the street, so we stopped there too.

It was a really big fountain.

By this point it was so hot outside, we were all dying to get in the fountain. 

I'm including this picture in case you are dying to go see a giant fountain on Virginia Ave near a Federal Reserve building. (You never know.) It's apparently named after Robert Latham Owens, whoever he is. So there's that.

Anyway, that might not be quite enough fountain pictures, so here's another one. The kids noticed another fountain on Constitution, and we rested again in the shade. A nice security guard offered to take our picture when he noticed Ida and Theo were taking turns taking pictures of Lars and me. I initially said no thanks, but then realized I have hardly any photos of me with my kids (as opposed to a bazillion photos of just my kids since I'm always the one with the camera) so I took him up on it.

Finally we got to the point of our excursion: Albert Einstein.

The Albert Einstein Memorial is in front of the National Academy of Sciences, on the corner of Constitution and 22nd Ave. It's right across from the Vietnam Wall. I see people climbing on Albert's lap all the time (including right when we arrived) so I felt fine letting the kids do it.

We stayed for a few minutes, walked around the grounds and read the plaques. My kids had no idea who Einstein was. I tried to explain--not sure if I succeeded. If nothing else, they'll have the image of a giant metal man holding a giant metal book on top of a giant metal map of the sky. 

For a moment I considered taking them into the actual Academy of Sciences to check that out, but quickly thought better of it.

Then we went home.

I know my in-and-out, one-thing-at-a-time sightseeing method isn't for everyone. It might sound funny to drive into DC just to see one tiny memorial, or to drive to a creekside trail for a 1-mile "hike." But since we live a 20-minute drive from just about anything you can think of (besides the beach...or mountains), and my kids get bored so quickly of walking from sight to sight for more than an hour or so at a time, it works for us. If we stick to an hour at our destination, I almost never deal with major tantrums. Anything over an hour or 90 minutes and we're always on the brink of tantrum city. So I recommend the method to anyone local. Especially if you have young kids, or a short attention span yourself (guilty *points to self*). And especially if it's 93 degrees and humid outside.

On the flip side, if you're already doing a walk around the monuments and are therefore already spending a few hours there, it's definitely worth the 10-minute detour to cross Constitution and sit on Albert's lap for a moment.