A short post today as far as activities go but a long day covering 10 kms of walking in 30 degree clear blue skies. The shorts and t-shirts are out of the suitcase now.
We left our apartment at 9am and drove 5 minutes to visit the Smithsonian Historic site and home of Frederick Douglass, African-American, abolitionist, popular orator and statesman in the mid 1850s and a contemporary of Abraham Lincoln. His house sits high on Cedar Hill overlooking Washington. It didn’t open for public tours until 9:30 but we were anxious to move on to our major stop of the day before leaving Washington, so we didn’t bother waiting around… just a few pics and we continued on.
The next three hours were a very poignant and beautiful stroll through the gorgeous 1100 acre Arlington Cemetary… where approximately 400,000 soldiers and military leaders are buried. At any point in the cemetary, you are surrounded by a sea of white tombstones. The symmetry of the rows is hypnotic as they undulate back and forth over the knolls.
Highlights of our tour included:
- The interpretive center (aka museum)
- The grave of President J. F. Kennedy
- The grave of President Taft
- The monument to Robert E. Lee
- The monument to the crew of the Challenger (1986 just 3 weeks before Ryan was born) and the Columbia (2003)
- The tomb of the Unknown Soldier where we saw the changing of the Guard
- The monument to all nurses who served in the military
Leaving Arlington, we took Ryan to the airport, hugged him goodbye and made our way out of Washington… very slowly … in 3 lanes of snail-pace traffic that took 2 hours to drive 30 miles. Oy-Vay!
Eventually we made it to Petersburg, Virginia and pulled into the Holiday Express for the night. So glad to be here now. Looking forward to seeing some North Carolina coastline tomorrow.
Here are the photo highlights of day 14 – Arlington Cemetary
nellyglass studio 