The Greatest statue of a Man You Have Never Heard Of and the Prettiest Fountain That Isn't There

Hello,

Last night was the perfect evening to take a walk. It wasn't too hot or too chilly, it wasn't raining, and I hadn't done enough during the day to totally wear myself out.

I went to my handy-dandy notebook to look for something that might be a good evening excursion and I found the perfect thing--The Bartholdi Fountain in Bartholdi park. It was one of the first illuminated structures in DC (1881) and the garden is supposed to be really beautiful. For those of you who don't know--including me-Frederic August Bartholdi was the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty. He also created the fountain in this park.

I walked to the Metro station and took the Blue Line to Metro Center where I transferred to the Red Line and got off at Union Station. As I was walking I found the National Japanese American Memorial which is dedicated to those people who were interred during W.W.II. The centerpiece of the memorial is a bronze Japanese Crane wrapped in barbed wire. It is very moving, but it so difficult to find that I wonder how many people have seen it. It looks like a part of the entry plaza to the office building behind it, and I almost missed it even though I was looking for it. I stopped for a few minutes before moving on to find Bartholdi.

As I passed the Capitol I found another statue that I had sort of been looking for--the one in the first picture. Yep, Robert Taft himself!! Who is Robert Taft, you ask? What did he do to deserve such a wonderful statue with a bell tower that chimes located so close to the Capitol? Your guess is as good as mine! Yes, he was the son of President William Howard Taft, and yes, President Taft was the one who got stuck in the White House bathtub. He also went on the become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and he is the one who managed to get the current court building approved and funded by Congress. Nobody seems to remember that part. Anyway, what did "Sonnyboy" do to deserve all of this? Well, he was a Republican senator from Ohio who sponsored the Taft-Hartley Act that regulates collective bargaining between labor and management, but I think what did it for him was his (and I quote) "Honesty, indomitable courage, and high principals of of free government symbolized by his life" (Douglas W. Orr). So, there you go!!

On to the park!

Bartholdi park isn't too far from Senator Taft, but you won't see it all lit up because the fountain isn't there! The garden is beautiful, but as you can see from the picture, the center area where the fountain should be is surrounded by construction equipment because the fountain is being refurbished. Oops! I saw this park mentioned in several resources and none of them mention that the fountain was not there. Kind of a big oversight on someone's part.

So far tonight I have seen a beautiful but hidden memorial to Japanese-Americans, a wonderful statue to a man no one has ever really heard of, and a park without its signature fountain. Before you begin to think this was a bit of a wasted trip, let me remind you that it was a beautiful evening, I was in DC, and all of these places are within site of the U.S. Capitol where the U.S. Air Force band is playing! Yep, I could just hear the band from each of my stops so after admiring the little garden without its fountain, I crossed the street, walked up the Capitol lawn, and sat on the steps to hear a concert. Not to shabby.

After it ended I went home feeling great!
Love,

Tami