With one more day to tour the Washington DC area we selected Arlington National Cemetery. We took the hotel shuttle downtown and hopped on the Metro for a ride to the outskirts of town. It was a beautiful spring day with not a cloud in the sky. We wore our jackets from time to time, but mostly rolled them up on our backpack.
Our shuttle guide tipped us off to buy the tour bus ticket at Arlington to save on walking up and down the rolling hills of the cemetery. The tour bus senior price was only $6.25 each and worth the price. I always thought I was in pretty good shape until I took on this walking so far these last few days. My knees, feet and joints are really taking a beating. I’ll need to figure out how to get back into shape when I return home next week.
Today flags were placed on foot in front of each grave to commemorate Memorial Day this weekend. This is the only time that anything is placed at the grave sites throughout the year.
We stopped to view and show our respects at John F Kennedy’s graveside. It was touching to reflect on his tragic murder that Nov in 1963. Such a fitting place of rest on the crest of the hill over looking the capital with Washington’s Monument towering skyward. His saying about “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” was engraved in granite.
A humble grave, marked only with a white wooden cross was his brother Bobby Kennedy who also gave his life when gun shot through the crowd stopped his life of service.
The sea of white gravestones lined up in precision for over 290,000 servicemen and their families rest on in Virginia just across the Potomac River for the hub of our nation.
We silently viewed the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldiers. The honor of the sentinel to dutifully keep vigil around the clock. The
There was a ceremony to place the wreath with a school group followed by “Taps”. We saw a couple of the boys later in the day, dressed in boy scout uniform who had participated for their elementary school in Miami, Ohio. They were eleven. That ceremony will have an impact on their lives and civic and community involvement for years to come.
We saw the horses lined up ready to carry the coffin of a fallen soldier to their final resting place. Off in the background we could hear the 3 shots fired followed by the bugler blowing the long notes of “Taps” for another interment.
We took the short 15 minute walk along the highway with tall grasses blowing in the breeze just outside Arlington to Iwo Jima memorial. It is bigger than life as it sits on an open grassy knoll. The polished black granite base is over 10 foot high with inscriptions of all campaigns beginning with honors for marines from Revolutionary War through the Persian Gulf War. At the base of the sculpture are large jagged boulders that typify the rough terrain at the Iwo Jima summit. The marines’ faces depict the strength and courage as they raise the flag symbolic of awaiting victory.
We walked across the freeway overpass to Roslyn and found the Manhattan Cafe right on the other side. There was a variety of delicious food to pick from. The rye bread on my sandwich was extra yummy. You know the kind of bread with density and texture that is much different from the mushy Wonder bread that collapse when you press on it. The setting was lovely. On a hilly outcropping surrounded by trees and a grassy knoll. There was a sculpture garden below the cafe filled with three, ten foot diameter spheres. These were complemented by two more large sphere in the median. It was charming and a relaxing place to stop.
We hopped back on the Metro. It mostly costs $1.35/ride. If you don’t add enough money to the fare card, when you are ready to get out of the station and run your card through the gate, the gates wont open until you add more funds. It works pretty well. If there is an overage, just keep your card and add more funds the next time you ride.
We went downtown to go through the Smithsonian Air and Space museum. There are many museums off the national mall that extend for miles. They are all free, or should I say that tax liability you all paid on April 15Th, helped pay for Stan and my way in the museum and surrounding grounds.
Museums are crowded, filled with school children, tourists and more people than you could imagine. Little high pitched voices and pattering feet all dressed in t-shirts of the same bright color. We walked through some of the exhibits peering over youngster’s heads. There are aircraft hanging from above added to the fun.
We finally had walked our legs off and opted to go back to the hotel to crash and nap.
It was a fun experience and a good time to go with pleasant weather and a near-by hotel. More restaurant offering would have been nice that didn’t involve shuttles downtown and Metro rides back, but after all this in not my own neighborhood and a little inconvenience is well worth the experience.