Fotografaire - Blog and Photography

Off of the Beaten Path

October 15, 2007 on 5:05 am | In General, Personal, Photography, This and That |

Sometimes it is nice to go off of the beaten path, take a little side trip, on your way home from traveling. It can often lead to a lovely experience. I had such an experience going off of the beaten, last week while driving home from Washington DC. I saw a sign on the interstate in Virginia (about three - four hours outside of Washington DC) that said ‘National D-Day Memorial Next Exit” I talked with my trip friend, and we decided to take the exit and see what it was about.

When we got off the interstate, we saw a sign stating the National D-Day Memorial was 27 miles away. We decided to drive the distance to see it, not knowing what to expect.

We drove through small cities on the way, to the Memorial. The Memorial is located in Bedford, VA. After we arrived, paid our entrance fees ($2 U.S. per person), and parked, and looked ahead, this is what we saw.

The two columns don’t do the initial view justice, as they are part of a huge monolith style of architecture.

We walked to towards the columns, and looked out at the rest of the Memorial. It was quite the overwhelming sight, and my words can’t articulate how I felt, or describe the entire scene before me.

There is an architectural replica of Omaha Beach, in which the military stormed during the Battle of Normandy. The replica has an ocean and sandy beach, and service men wading through water, trying to get to the beach. You also see other statues of men dying, and trying to climb over the hills.

Further out you can see a circular sidewalk area, lined with benches for resting and reflecting, lined with gardens, and lined with dozens and dozens of large plaques.

The plaques have the names of the U.S. deceased on them (those that stormed Omaha Beach), and also names of the English deceased who stormed the beach.

Beyond the walls of plaques, is a rotunda, with a statue inside of it. The statue is that of then, General Dwight D. Eisenhower.

He would later go on to become our country’s president.

We spent about 90 minutes there, walking throughout the acres and acres of gardens, architecture, statues, etc., that are part of the Memorial.

When we returned to the car, we had to drive around the perimeter in order to leave. We passed several gardens.

We had to drive behind the Eisenhower rotunda, and I got out of the car to take this photo. It is a view of the entrance, the architectural monolith, from the opposite side of the landscape. In between the gardens, and the wall, is where the replica of Omaha Beach is (you can’t see it in the photo). The landscape consists of acres upon acres of land encompassing the Memorial, and it is extremely long and wide.

If you are ever in the area, it is a must see.

It was quite the incredible experience, and I’m glad we chose to go off of the beaten path.