Saturday, March 14, 2009

Washington DC- Day 3

Our last day in DC was a Sunday. We lost an hour due to daylight savings time, so we didn't do much in the morning. We went to church in Arlington and then headed to the Iwo Jima statue. It is actually called The Marine Corps Monument and the statue of soldiers at Iwo Jima is just what happens to be on top. I've been here before really wanted to go back. It is a very peaceful place. It is in a small park away from the city with great views. Kinsey loved the park as well. The statue is huge and very impressive.

After Iwo Jima, we got in the car and headed to Arlington National Cemetery. This was the first day that we used our car to get around. We knew that we weren't going to be parking in the city, plus it was Sunday and not too busy, so it worked well. We typed in the address for the cemetery in our GPS and headed out. We ended up driving through the parking lot of the Pentagon and discovered that there was a Pentagon Memorial (from 9/11) that we didn't even know about. Unfortunately, there was no public parking and we didn't really think that the Pentagon was a place you should park without permission. We drove by it instead and continued on to the cemetery.

We got to the cemetery later than planned, mostly due to our lost hour, but we made it in time to see the last changing on the guard session of the day. For those of you that are unfamiliar, there is a tomb at Arlington called The Tomb of the Unknowns . The remains of unknown soldiers from World Wars I and II and the Korean conflict lie in the tomb and they are guarded 24 hours a day. Every hour the guard changes. This is a big event full of heel clicking, drill sargent shouting, and gun twirling. It is very cool to witness. I really wanted Jason to see it so we walked as fast as possible uphill for about 20 minutes in order to catch it. They ask you to be quiet while you are watching and I was amazed at how well Kinsey did.

After we left the cemetery, I asked Jason to drive into the city. We drove past all the monuments and the Capitol. Then we decided to see what else we could find with a map and our GPS. We ended up driving past Union Station and down Embassy Row. Then we stumbled upon the National Cathedral and the school that Malia Obama attends. It was a very cool, impromptu driving tour.

Kinsey (and Jason) really wanted to go on one last train ride. We drove into Maryland to find a place where the Metro goes above ground (it is underground throughout the city). We rode it until the end of the line and then got back on and rode back to our car.

We headed home after this and got home really late. We didn't get much done the next day because we were all worn out (I'm pregnant, Jason got sick, and Kinsey missed all her naps) but we had so much fun on our trip! We can't wait to go back...in about another year or so. I'd love to go when everything is green but that means that it would be hot. We had perfect 70 degree weather all weekend long.


Marine Corps Memorial Statue (Iwo Jima)



The little pink dot is Kinsey



The View



Arlington National Cemetery

There are currently more than 300,000 people buried in Arlington



The Tomb of the Unknowns

It is hard to read, but it says,

"Here Rests
In Honored Glory
An American Soldier
Known But To God"


The Changing of the Guard




Driving Tour Pictures


The Thomas Jefferson Memorial


The Capitol


Union Station


The British Embassy

It is blurry, but it's the best picture I got of any embassy that we drove by


The National Cathedral


2 comments:

Big Daddy said...

Great pictures. I would love to go there. I just don't think I can do it all in 3 days.

bobandhaley said...

Looks like you guys had fun. I am jealous.