We decided to pay for a tour of Arlington Cemetery. Mainly because we were short on time, Ken thought he might have an early day and so we waited for him to get off work. In the end it was nice because the girls didn't have to walk as much. On the tram.
Arlington was built by George Washington Parke Custis. He was the grandson of George Washington and was raised by George and Martha Washington after his father died. George Washington Parke Custis is also the father in law of Robert E. Lee. During the Civil War Robert E. Lee was asked to lead the southern states when they first seceded. He declined, the northern states also asked him to lead them, but when his home state of Virginia seceded he resigned and lead the southern states. He didn't want to fight against the men of his state. It's hard to imagine what that must have been like given how close to the northern states his home really is he had to have had friends in both camps.
Arlington House and the property was seized over something like a $150 tax bill. I was amazed to learn of the close connection of Arlington House with Mount Vernon. Arlington National Cemetary is over 600 acres.
President John F. Kennedy is buried here. This is part of his memorial.
Hi wife Jackie was also buried here. This is the Eternal Flame.
The Challenger Memorial.
Ken explained to the kids what happened and what he remember of that day.
Next to it is the Space Shuttle Columbia Memorial.
The amphitheater in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. There are soldiers from every major war since World War 1. It has been guarded 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for over 80 years. It doesn't matter if there is bad weather or anything else going on. It is always guarded.
We were able to witness the changing of the guard. They are extremely precise and our tour guide told us about some of the qualifications to be a guard and what they have to do. It takes them over 5 hours just to prepare their uniform for the day. They also have a haircut the day before they guard the tombs, even if they just had a haircut the day before that day. It is very prestigious and an honor to be able to guard these tombs.
They are changing the guards.
Arlington House was closed this week so we left the cemetery after visiting a few other memorials, looking at the pictures I can't remember them now though:) We stopped for dinner and Ken and I ran into CVS for something and came back with a surprise for the girls.
Our little girls were so happy! I have a few pictures because I wanted to capture all the joy in their faces.
These girlies are ready for school now!
After dinner we went into the city and visited the FDR Memorial. This was my favorite memorial out of all the ones that we visited. FDR actually has two memorials. The first one was exactly what he said that he wanted and is a marble slab in the lawn by National Archives facing the Navy. This is the second one that people insisted on building after he passed. It really is amazing. It is made up of 4 outdoor rooms with statues and waterfalls throughout. I liked how the waterfalls set the mood for the room by how the water trickled. The reason there are 4 rooms is because he served 4 terms as president, although he died shortly into the 4th term.
FDR became president in 1932 and the US was deep in the Great Depression. He lead the country through that time until the beginning of World War 2. He was the first president to speak to the country over the radio and he would have fireside chats to calm the nation.
Rose liked sneaking into the soup line.
My favorite quote from this room,
"No country, however rich, can afford the waste of its human resources. Demoralization caused by vast unemployment is our greatest extravagance. Morally, it is the greatest menace to our social order."
September 30, 1934
When there was no work for the American people, he created work. It was interesting to see how many modern day things we take for granted that he started like 40 hour work weeks.
This is one of the waterfalls.
Another waterfall. The waterfalls also represent his service in the Navy. He was appointed to be the Assistant Secretary of the Navy before he became governor.
He was stricken with Polio as an adult and designed special chairs to hide the fact that he could not walk.
Favorite quote from the 3rd room,
"We have faith that future generations will know here, in the middle of the twentieth century, there came a time when men of good will found a way to unite, and produce, and fight to destroy the forces of ignorance, and intolerance, and slavery, and war."
February 12, 1943
Interestingly this is the only memorial to have a First Lady as part of. Then again not everyone is married to Eleanor Roosevelt.
4th term waterfalls. I wish I could remember everything that the Ranger told us. They did a really great job of leading our family throughout the memorial. Even though it's the summer there was only one or two families in the memorial and with the way it is set up we pretty much had it to ourselves. It was definitely a memorable evening.
Waiting to catch our bus.
Home sweet Home. Well maybe not but our kids are growing used to sleeping in hotels. We are on our 6th week of being gone this summer. It's been crazy but I have really enjoyed seeing our children bond.
No comments:
Post a Comment