Wednesday, April 6, 2011

National Mall and Memorial Parks: Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial

Date of Visit: March 19, 2011

FDR Memorial
As one would expect from the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, it is very wheelchair accessible.  It is a decent size memorial, but this is footprint wise, as it is not a big large monument that stands out among its surroundings like the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, and Jefferson Memorial.  It is organized into different "rooms" to represent FDR's four terms.  Depending on how you approach the memorial, you will go backwards or forwards through it chronologically.  We came from the Jefferson Memorial, so we ended up going backwards through it.

FDR Memorial
Mik does not care about the FDR Memorial for what one might expect (FDR being a wheelchair user).  He loves the water fall aspects.  He also found it fun to find the terms on the ground as you passed between the rooms, although somehow we missed the 4th term one.  Of course, he also likes it being an entirely open air memorial and no need for elevators or those pesky doors to get to the elevators.

The FDR is among my favorites on the National Mall, too.  I like that there is plenty of spaces where you can sit down and just take in the memorial.  The columns with the different images is also cool.

On the north side (i.e. beginning) of the memorial there is a building with a small exhibit and decent sized gift shop.  I am not sure what exactly was in the exhibit, as Mik did not want to stop and look at it, but I am sure it was somehow about FDR!  The gift shop was a decent size and laid out well wheelchair accessibility wise.  Here we got National Park Passport stamps for the FDR Memorial as well as the World War II Memorial.  We even got the District of Columbia World War Memorial stamp, as we walked by it and only did not explore it because it is under renovation.

Photos by Kjersti
Text by Kjersti with Mik's wheelchair accessibility input

Destination Info:
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
1850 West Basin Dr SW
Washington, DC 20242

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