DuPont Circle Fountain, Washington DC

It was a beautifully sunny but COLD day in Washington today, though only cold by comparison to the UK, and compared to my last trip here on the 16th of December when it was more like spring than early winter. It only just got above zero Centigrade today, but I was determined to eat outside and I did!

When I was here last month I had an eye exam and so today I picked up my new glasses. In times past it's taken me ages to choose new ones and this time I chose the first pair I tried on. I tried a few more just to make sure but I liked none as much as that first pair. It's uncharacteristic of me to make such a quick decision! On picking them up today I was just as pleased as when I first tried them on.

My eye doctor is near DuPont Circle so I ended up there and enjoyed my lunch while sitting by the fountain.

DuPont Circle is a historic part of the city, surrounded by many grand old houses, many of which are now embassies or museums. In the late 1800s Congress authorized a memorial statue of Samuel Francis DuPont, in recognition of his service as a rear admiral during the Civil War. However the DuPont family felt the statue was too insignificant to honour their ancestor and so eventually, in 1917, were given permission to move it to Wilmington, Delaware. They then commissioned this fountain, formally called the Rear Admiral Samuel Francis DuPont Memorial Fountain.

The shaft of the fountain is adorned by 3 allegorical figures, the Arts of Ocean Navigation, representing the Sea, the Stars and the Wind...The Sea (pictured above) is represented by a female figure with long hair holding a boat in her right hand while caressing a seagull on her shoulder with her left hand. Her left foot rests on a dolphin.