The first stop, after the Smithsonian Castle, was the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial. On the way, we had to pass by the National Mall Carousel and through the Mary Livingston Riley Garden.

The carousel is not the original one at the mall. The full history of the carousel can be read here, but some of the key events include:

• A 1922 Allan Herschell Company carousel was installed in April of 1967 to make National Mall more welcoming to all.
• In 1981, the wear and tear on the 1922 carousel required excessive maintenance, so the 1947 Allan Herschell Company carousel from Gwynn Oaks Park replaced the 1922 carousel.
• In 2022, the Smithsonian purchased the carousel.
• The carousel was sent to Ohio to be renovated from 2023 to 2026.
• On April 24, 2026, the carousel was reopened to the public.

When we cut between the Smithsonian Art and Industry building and the Hirshhorn Museum, we had to pass through the Mary Livingston Riley Garden. It is a “quiet” green place for improving mental health. We know this because all the signs explained it to us. There is even an occupation referred to as Horticulture Therapist.

Out the other side of the gardens and a few blocks east is the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial. It is across the street from the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, and it takes up the north half of the same block as the Department of Education. The memorial references his boyhood, time as a general, and time as a president. You can read more about it on the NPS website here.

At the east (far) end, there was a visitor center with a gift shop. This is where, you guessed it, the cancel stamps are. This was a six stamp stop. Kate was not sure which stamps we should get, so we had to Google memorial locations and route plan. In the end, we planned out a route that hit the following memorials:

• Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial
• American Veterans Disabled For Life Memorial
• Ulysses S. Grant Memorial
• National Japanese American Memorial
• George Gordon Meade Memorial

There were at least six or seven stamps, but the others were too far out of the way to visit. The only missing monument, that we remember for certain, is the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument, but Kate illegitimately cancel stamped it in her books and postcards anyway. Visiting that monument would have required a half mile walk out of the way, which was too much extra time and walking. Our route was already going to be five to six miles. We were also pressed for time to see the Smithsonian National Postal Museum and make it back to our parking space before rush hour.

The visitor center did have a map of the monument.

Given the time required for cancel stamping Kate’s book and 10 post cards with six cancel stamps, John had a lot of time to peruse the store. It had a vast array of over priced souvenirs. One of these was another fantastic puzzle of the Washington Monument with the cherry trees in blossom.

If you need to understand your military friends, you can get a mug with a cheat sheet. You might finally understand what Whisky-Tango-Foxtrot means.

If you like Ike, here are twelve different ways to let everyone else know! You can also carry pocket quotes from him and other presidents and generals!

You can get a coloring book that only requires eight colors! If eight is higher than you can count, you can try the one that only requires two colors because the pages are already white.

Need a desktop Sherman tank to attack your coworkers?^*

Since it is right across the street from the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, the stor has a bunch of space souvenirs.

This book taught me that NASA sends bobble heads into space, not people.⁺

And there is some World War II relevant propaganda because propaganda never goes out of style! I am not sure that the rendition of Rosie the Riveter on the right was ever going to convince at 1940’s man to want his wife to go to work.

This must be the astronaut version of Rosie the Riveter!

Next, we headed east towards the American Veterans Disabled For Life Memorial.

^* Some assembly required. Not actually capable of moving or firing.

⁺ The cover seemed pretty clear on that. Reading the book seemed superfluous.