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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.
Freedom Plaza is on the other side of Pennsylvania Avenue. It is a large paved park, with a striped covering set up in one area to shade visitors and hold special events.
The New Post Office Building is just across 12th Street and the District Building is between 13th and 14th Streets. That is the home of the city government.
After taking a few pictures, you go back down to the street. You pass a statue of Benjamin Franklin, the American printer, diplomat, and inventor. The statue is outside the Old Post Office because Franklin was a postmaster. King George III appointed Franklin in the years before the Revolutionary War.
When you finish your drink, you take an elevator to the tower above the Old Post Office. At the top, you get a long range view of Pennsylvania Avenue.
This old building was going to be torn down, but instead it has been converted into a little shopping mall with an eatery. The eatery has a small stage. You buy another soda and listen to a five-piece band performing rock songs. The band is from a school in Virginia.