After leaving Yorktown, we got stuck in the worst traffic jamb I've ever seen. For hours, we barely progressed towards DC. Finally, we made it to DC, coming in by the Pentagon, and saw the Washington Monument looming before us as the sun set. It was a lovely sight. We were all so giddy, it's a wonder we didn't crash right there. Thankfully, we made it safely to our hotel in Maryland. H got a wonderful deal over the internet and we are still so proud of the great hotel he found us for such a low price.
The next morning, we caught the Metro to our first DC stop: Arlington National Cemetery. By the way, we travelled a lot on the Metro during our vacation and found it to be safe and clean.
This is a view as we walked from the Metro station to the front gate of the cemetery. You can see Arlington House up on the hill. Arlington is huge. Wear your most comfortable shoes and bring a water bottle. I recommend you allow for at least half a day in the cemetery. We did and still missed much.
These are the gates of Arlington National Cemetery. One happy son and one slightly cross daughter. What? Am I taking too many photos, Dear?
Arlington is very hilly and everywhere you look you see tombstones. We also saw many robins.
Before you climb the highest hill to Arlington House, you come upon the gravesite of President John F. Kennedy, his wife and two of their children.
Everywhere during our vist to D.C., we saw Tulips, Cherry trees, Dogwood trees, and Robins.
A patch of loveliness amongst the solemness of Arlington.
Here is Arlington House - home to George Washington's grandson/adopted son. It was also home to General Robert E. Lee (though it belonged to Lee's wife, not him). See the long line of people waiting to enter? Unfortunately for us the National Park Service is currently restoring the home and it is now empty, but we were still able to go inside and take a look.
Can you imagine being a child of Arlington House and playing upon this hill?
Up on the hill is also the grave of Charles L'Enfant, designer of Washington, D.C.
In the background you can see the Washington Monument on the left, the Capital Building in the center, and the Jefferson Memorial on the right.
Also on the hill are the gardens.
Next, we went back down the hill to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
There we witnessed not only the Changing of the Guard, but also two wreath laying ceremonies. Here is a video of a wreath laying ceremony (though not one of the ones we witnessed).
And here is one more photo, this time of the kids with a statue of Sir John Dill.
There are a few more photos of Arlington at Flickr.
After all this walking, we took the Metro back to our hotel for a bit of a respite.
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