DC - Day One

Well, we finally made it to DC. Had a little trouble finding a campground but found a place outside the city (Lothian, MD) towards the Chesapeake Bay. As it turned out a rally was to take place the following weekend and we had no clue! Called “Restoring Honor,” it took place on the exact spot and day that Martin Luther King gave his, “I have a dream” speech in the early 60’s.The Lincoln memorial and reflecting pool as the setting. I’ll get into that later, first some sightseeing! I told Donna that we need to stay longer than 4 days…… We stayed the entire week!
 

Our first foray was to Arlington Cemetery where we saw JFK’s grave with the eternal flame, watched the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers (very impressive!) and toured Robert E. Lee’s old homestead, Arlington house.

Gizmo

Our shuttle driver from the RV park to the metro was Nick, who always brought his little Yorkie, Gizmo, who was half the size of Emma. He must have weighed a whole 3 pounds, if that! “How long you been full timing it?” we asked Nick. He explained he’d been living at the park for the last 2 years. Heck, that’s not full timing it! He’s put down roots in a motor home! Anyway, Gizmo was as cute as a button. “My wife owns him but he’s my dog.” Yep, Gizmo followed Nick everywhere and when Nick wasn’t in sight, Gizmo was looking every which way for him.

Ok, I’m rattling but the reason I brought up Nick was his grandson is in the Army and was a guard for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for two years. Apparently it’s a pretty huge responsibility and very grueling. When Nick’s grandson wasn’t on duty, he was cleaning his gear, drilling or attending funerals at Arlington. He had attended 32 funerals in one day! Nick explained there’s a service every 15 minutes in the chapel and there are no graveside services so once you’ve done your 15 minutes, your done. Time to go home.

View of DC from Arlington House

They’re in the process of renovating Arlington House so it was empty of furniture but still impressive just the same. They had poster board sized photos of each room so you can get the general idea how the room looked with furniture. In my opinion, renovation has been a long time coming. The paint in the rooms are peeling and the wood floors show years of wear but turn around and look outside toward the Capitol and you think you’d died and gone to heaven. The view is absolutely stunning.

Robert E. Lee acquired the property which Arlington Cemetery now sits when he married the great grand daughter of Martha Washington (yep, wife of George) and lived happily on the property for over 30 years until the War Between the States broke out. It was in this house where Robert E. Lee wrote a letter resigning his commission in the U.S. Army. Both Robert E. Lee and his wife left the house in 1861, never to return again. Union forces quickly occupied Lee’s property and used the house as headquarters with Union troops camping on the estate. In 1864, Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs ordered the first of many burials at Arlington making sure the bodies were buried just outside the front door of the mansion to prevent the Lees from ever returning to the property.

Ok, so much for the history lesson. The point is, GO! and enjoy your visit. Forget paying the $7.50 a person for the trolley. Put on your tennies and start walking. You’ll save yourself some money and the walk will do you good and you to tell you the truth, you really don’t learn any more from the guide on the trolley than you can reading the pamphlets.

And after Arlington, walk over to the Iwo Jima Memorial. I warned Brian it was a large monument (more like massive statue!) and really is something to see but to tell you the truth, I think they could have found a better location. Maybe something closer to the Mall with all the other war memorials but then I’m sure space was an issue.


Put on your walking shoes, there's a bunch of museums to visit. The Museum of American History is just the beginning!