I figured I'd better start tackling some of that massive haul of Dowdles I came across last week, and decided to begin with the one depicting a place I've visited. (Though technically there are two, since one is Best of the World, and I've been there, too.) I visited DC during a school trip to the national forensics (speaking, not CSI) competition in Baltimore in the late '90s. We went to DC for a day, and crammed in as much as we could. This included visits to the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial Wall, and a VIP tour of the Capital Building our teacher had arranged with one of our congressmen. We got to go to many areas that are off-limits to the public outside of a presidentially-instigated insurrection, including a statue dedication in the rotunda and a ride on their subway. We didn't get to visit the White House because there'd been a bomb threat or something, so no tours were being given, and Pennsylvania Avenue was blocked off. We hadn't yet become completely disillusioned with our government, so this didn't phase us much. We took lots of photos, ate at the congressmen's cafeteria, bought tacky souvenirs, and I stood where Jimmy Stewart stood in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and was able to deliver most of his speech there from memory, and a good time was had by all.
The art is nice and colorful, packed with details, and does a good job of capturing the spirit of what our nation's capital should be all about. All sorts of people roam the city, taking in the landmarks, and wouldn't you know it, there isn't an armed thug in sight. Perhaps this is a vision of a celebration that lurks a couple of years in our future? Let's hope so! The pieces are good, fairly thick blue board. The fit is slightly loose, but I had no issues with false fits. There was very little dust, and it was very clean, always nice with a second-hand puzzle! I came across a single long hair while sorting, and as it was slightly wavy, I couldn't swear that it didn't fall from my beard. Hopefully the other nine are as clean and complete as this one!
