So, in between seeing my Aunt, Rachel and I were able to see
some of the cool things in the Washington, DC area.
First, I have to say that DC’s METRO system is one of the
best Public Transportation systems I have seen. Rachel and I took this a couple
times from about an hour outside the city of DC into the heart of it. It was
very simple to use. We did drive into DC and parked one time and it really was
about the same price. There were pros and cons with both but I won’t get all
into that. Just wanted to shout out to the METRO and post this funny picture of us
riding the longest escalator we have seen ever in life.
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| Me on the longest escalator ever |
In Part I of this post, you saw that we went to the Air and
Space Museums and spent time in Old Town Alexandria. We also spent a day
walking around the rest of the National Mall. First, we went to see the White House. It was Rachel’s first time ever in DC so she hadn’t seen it in person
before.
I think when you see it for the first time it just feels so unbelievable
that the President stays there and that so many world changing decisions are
happening just a few hundred yards away. The kind of folks you find outside the
gates are interesting, too.
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| Protester outside the White House front gates |
We, then, made our way over to the Lincoln Memorial. I’m not
sure why, but I was very excited to see this. Of course, it didn’t disappoint.
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| Outside the Lincoln Memorial |
I think when I see things like this up close and personal it takes me back to
the history behind such memorials. It makes you think about what it was like
back then and the impact that someone like Lincoln had on the world.
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| Inside the Lincoln Memorial |
From the Lincoln Memorial you get a really great view of the
Washington Monument and the Reflecting Pool. After the deep thought above, is it
bad that when I saw the Reflecting Pool I thought of the scene from Forrest Gump
when Forrest is making his speech and Jenny runs out of the crowd into the
pool? Classic movie.
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Anyway, it was getting late so that was all we were able to
see. We were able to get this gem, though, on the walk back to the car, lol.
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| Two beautiful Statues in a park |
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| Arlington National Cemetery Welcome Sign |
It’s hard to find the words to describe this place. The
headstones of all of the fallen soldiers seem to never end. You cannot help but
feel heavy-hearted.
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| Graves at Arlington Cememtery |
The history behind how the family of Robert E Lee. acquired
the land and how during the civil war it began to be used to bury fallen soldiers
was very interesting. You can tour the Estate and a small museum on
the grounds that explains everything.
We also got to witness the Changing of the Guard Ceremony for
the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. . We actually got lucky and stumbled onto this
as we made it to the Tomb. It is guarded 24 hours a day 365 days a year even in inclement weather.
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| Changing of the Guard Ceremony |
If you ever make it to the grounds, be prepared for lots and lots of walking. We were not able to
see everything thing we wanted to like the Challenger memorial, but we did get
to see where JFK is buried, the Estate and the Memorial Amphitheater to name a
few.
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| JFK burial site |
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| The Estate at Arlington National Cemetery |
DC has so many places to see and things to do and we definitely want to come back. Some places we missed but want to see are the Modern Art Museum,
Mount Vernon, Monticello and the Capitol Building.
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