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They are big enough for the President to read the messages if he looked out the window of the White House – and was using binoculars. On this quiet Saturday afternoon, only a few protesters are on hand. One has two signs. The first sign says "Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men." The other sign informs people that the protester is "Fasting for a Kinder, Gentler Nation." ("Kinder gentler nation" is a phrase President Bush made famous.)
Sometimes, Lafayette Square is called Washington's "village green." Early in the city's history, though, livestock wandered from nearby farms to graze on the grass in the square. The nearest farm today is miles away and any livestock heading toward this park would probably be hit by a car or truck before getting anywhere near it.
You're tired from the walk, so you stretch out on the grass by one of the two fountains and watch the families taking pictures of each other in front of the White House. Other people sit on the benches and throw popcorn to the pigeons and squirrels.
As you walk up 15th Street, you pass more vendors. You are definitely not hungry! But you decide to have your picture taken by a photo vendor. He takes pictures of people standing next to lifesize photographs of President and Mrs. Bush or ex-President Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy. You decide to have your picture taken with President Bush. The picture looks real, as if you had your picture taken with the real President, not just photograph of him.
You will have to turn right and walk a block to the north to get around the massive Department of the Treasury building. Behind the Treasury Building on Hamilton Place, at the point where Pennsylvania disappears at 15th, you will see a statue of Alexander Hamilton, a former Secretary of the Treasury. Despite his many accomplishments, he is probably best known today because he was killed in a duel on July 11, 1804, at Weehawken, New Jersey.
At 15th Street, just past Pershing Park, Pennsylvania Avenue comes to a temporary end, right at the corner where Admiral Cockburn stayed the night he burned the President's House.
The park includes a small waterfall and pool surrounded by a picnic area and a refreshment stand. You aren't really hungry, but how can you resist having a "Robo Pop"?
Traffic is light today, on a Saturday. Crossing the streets is no problem. From Monday to Friday, though, Pennsylvania Avenue is a very busy street. At 14th Street, right at Freedom Plaza, over 72,800 vehicles crisscross the intersection each work day. Over 5,700 people cross on foot.
You again cross Pennsylvania Avenue to walk through Pershing Park. It is named after General John J. "Blackjack" Pershing, the American leader of World War I.
Right behind Freedom Plaza is the most famous hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, the Willard. It began in 1816 as a row of six houses between 14th and 15th Streets. By 1818, the corner house had become a hotel, which was leased to the Willard Brothers in 1847. It was expanded over the years and was completely reconstructed several times, but fell on hard times and was closed in 1968 and almost torn down. With backing from the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation, private developers restored it as a luxury hotel with office and retail space.
Nearby, some children are trying to jump skate-boards over a trash can. Some make it, and the others manage to avoid injury.
You stop to read the inscription on the statue of Brigadier General Casimir Pulaski. It says he died during the Revolutionary War in the battle of Savannah in 1779.