DARTH VADER GROTESQUE (GARGOYLE)

I went to the Washington National Cathedral while sight seeing in Washing, D.C., and in the gift shop I found this pack of postcards.

Is that Gargoyle Darth Vader or is it just wearing his helmet? It's Vader, alright.

The back of the Vader postcard from the pack (below) explains partly what happened.

Christopher Vader, er, I mean Rader (boy, I bet he got that a lot) came up with the idea of the Vader gargoyle for a children's design competition that was held in the 1980's. It was sculpted by Jay Hall Carpenter and then carved by Patrick J. Plunkett, and I'd say they did a mighty fine job. Here's a picture of the normal sized Darth Vader postcard. The photo on the postcard was taken by Hal Conroy and has the copyright date 1999. There's also a mini card attached to it, though that may be just so the buyer can keep a photo of it even after sending the postcard away.

While I was there, I searched for the gargoyle, or "grotesque" as I hear them called. I never found it, but I enjoyed all the cool ones I did see. The inside of the Washington National Cathedral is really amazing looking, too. I gotta admit, though, seeing Vader's face in stone would've been cool, too, but I hear he's pretty difficult to see, even if you find his location. At nationalcathedral.org, they give you directions to find the Sith Lord: "First, bring binoculars! Darth Vader is very difficult to see by the naked eye. Leave the building through the ramp entrance at the northwest corner of the nave, through the double wooden doors of Lincoln Bay. Go down the ramp, and step into the parking lot. Then, turn around and look back up at the tower closest to you. Near the top of the tower is a gablet, or small peaked roof, located between the two huge louvered arches. At the bottom of each slope of this gablet is a carved grotesque. Darth Vader is on the north, or right-hand, side. There is a carved skull situated on a gablet much closer to the ground that many people often mistake for Darth Vader. From this skull, Darth Vader is up and to the left." I wish I had these directions when I went!