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National Park Mystery Spot 38 Revealed: Jenny Waded Here

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is one of the National Mall's many iconic features. Wikimedia Commons photo.

We provided these clues to the identity of Mystery Spot 38, a named place in a National Park System unit:

You can get into trouble by buying a car with bad brakes.
What can you get into by buying a bracket in March?

Jennie Wade was killed at Gettysburg.
Another Jenny waded memorably here.

Large white eyes gaze eastward upon it,
But being stone, see nothing

National Parks lie nearby.
All are small, and one is tall.

             
 
The answer is the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The Reflecting Pool is the wide, shallow pool that begins at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial and extends more than a third of a mile eastward toward the Washington Monument. Despite its name, this huge reflecting pool -- the largest in a city that has many -- is a National Mall and Memorial Parks component, not part of the Lincoln Memorial.

Here is how the clues lead to the answer:

Buying a bracket in March will get you into an NCAA basketball tournament pool. For most folks, it's an office pool.

The Lincoln Memorial's white marble statue of Abraham Lincoln faces east toward the Reflecting Pool as though gazing upon it. Of course, the big statue's stone eyes see nothing.

One of the more memorable scenes in American movie history is the anti-war rally scene that takes place at the Lincoln Memorial in the 1994 film Forrest Gump. Forrest (Tom Hanks) and Jenny (Robin Wright), share a joyous reunion embrace after wading into the Reflecting Pool. (Jenny Wade, that other young lady mentioned, became the only civilian casualty of the Battle of Gettysburg when she was killed by a stray bullet.)

Many monuments and memorials that are counted as units of the National Park System (national parks) are located near the Reflecting Pool. These include the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the World War II Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, and the Washington Monument, to name a few. (The National Mall itself is also a national park.)  All of these units are small as national parks go, and the Washington Monument is conspicuously tall.

Congratulations to the 19 readers who submitted correct answers: Eric, viewmtn, celbert, Ken, volknitter, Eric Nelson, RangerLady, OutInTheStiks, Paul Beck, David Crowl, samsdad1, Jim Haggerty, Piperoni, RC, tomp2, y_p_w, desk-bound parky, mudandflood, and JeffB. All are eligible for our monthly prize drawing.

Comments

PS the Lincoln end is one of the worlds best places to sit and watch 4th of july fireworks. Hint frame in the Washington monument in the background. I have to look for my pics and send them in.


[RC offered this info yesterday, but it couldn't be posted without divulging the location of the Mystery Spot. Ed.]

If you fly into National Airport, try to sit on the left side of the
plane - 9 out of 10 times you'll get a beautiful birds-eye view of the
National Mall and all of the memorials, as the plane follows the Potomac
River to the runway. It’s a gorgeous site any time of year but
especially now, during cherry blossom season.


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