After a great night's sleep, we got up early again and took the Metro bus to the College Park Metro train station, and then on to Union Station. We had decided to eat breakfast at Union Station, so we ate a not-so-good-for-us-but-yummy breakfast at Johnny Rockets.
We boarded a Tourmobile bus which took us to our first destination of the day, The National Archives. It was another chilly day, but thankfully it wasn't raining, so the wait to get in was tolerable. The building is kept under very tight security with only a limited number of guests allowed in at any one time. After a 25 minute wait, we were given admittance after clearing security, and made our way to the room where the United States Charters of Freedom are housed. Being in the same room and viewing the original documents evoked a deep sense of awe, and stirred unexpected emotions in all of us. I don't have any pictures to post, as flash photography was prohibited. I tried to take some pictures of the Declaration, but the light in the room is so dim, none of them turned out. :o(
The National Archives has a great website:
http://www.archives.gov/
After we visited The Archives, we got back on the Tourmobile bus and rode through the city until we reached Arlington Cemetery. Our tour first stopped at the JFK gravesites, then took us on to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We were able to witness the changing of the guard, and then went into the museum. Things got kind of fuzzy for me at this point! I began experiencing vision changes associated with classic migraines, which I get from time to time. I hadn't experienced one in almost a year, and was really disappointed at the timing of this one. Thankfully, the pain with this one didn't set in until later, because I didn't have anything to take for it with me.
After leaving the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, our tour bus took us up to the Custis-Lee Mansion. The mansion is currently undergoing an extensive renovation, so all of the furniture has been removed. The Parks Service is still conducting tours, and since there were very few of us at the house that day, the very knowledgeable park ranger took us upstairs and allowed us to see parts of the house that are usually not available to the public.
I took many pictures at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and at the Custis-Lee Mansion, but I cannot account for them! I have two theories on where they went: 1) The batteries in my camera were nearly depleted, so I may have thought I was taking pictures, but really wasn't because the camera wasn't capable; and 2) I somehow deleted them -- a very real possibility since my brain wasn't quite right from the migraine. The outcome is still the same -- I'm very sad that I don't have them! Tom's focus was on videotaping today, so he doesn't have any still photos to give to me. He said that he would try to take some frames off of the video for me to make into a still picture at some point.
Arlington Cemetery also has a great website:
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/index.htm
Under the "Ceremonies" tab, scroll down to "The Sentinels of the Tomb of the Unknowns" and read about the soldiers who guard the tomb -- very impressive!
Touring Arlington took most of our day. At 4:00, we got on the Tourmobile bus and rode back to Union Station where we ate yet another not-so-healthy-but-yummy meal at Sbarro.
We boarded a Tourmobile bus which took us to our first destination of the day, The National Archives. It was another chilly day, but thankfully it wasn't raining, so the wait to get in was tolerable. The building is kept under very tight security with only a limited number of guests allowed in at any one time. After a 25 minute wait, we were given admittance after clearing security, and made our way to the room where the United States Charters of Freedom are housed. Being in the same room and viewing the original documents evoked a deep sense of awe, and stirred unexpected emotions in all of us. I don't have any pictures to post, as flash photography was prohibited. I tried to take some pictures of the Declaration, but the light in the room is so dim, none of them turned out. :o(
The National Archives has a great website:
http://www.archives.gov/
After we visited The Archives, we got back on the Tourmobile bus and rode through the city until we reached Arlington Cemetery. Our tour first stopped at the JFK gravesites, then took us on to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We were able to witness the changing of the guard, and then went into the museum. Things got kind of fuzzy for me at this point! I began experiencing vision changes associated with classic migraines, which I get from time to time. I hadn't experienced one in almost a year, and was really disappointed at the timing of this one. Thankfully, the pain with this one didn't set in until later, because I didn't have anything to take for it with me.
After leaving the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, our tour bus took us up to the Custis-Lee Mansion. The mansion is currently undergoing an extensive renovation, so all of the furniture has been removed. The Parks Service is still conducting tours, and since there were very few of us at the house that day, the very knowledgeable park ranger took us upstairs and allowed us to see parts of the house that are usually not available to the public.
I took many pictures at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and at the Custis-Lee Mansion, but I cannot account for them! I have two theories on where they went: 1) The batteries in my camera were nearly depleted, so I may have thought I was taking pictures, but really wasn't because the camera wasn't capable; and 2) I somehow deleted them -- a very real possibility since my brain wasn't quite right from the migraine. The outcome is still the same -- I'm very sad that I don't have them! Tom's focus was on videotaping today, so he doesn't have any still photos to give to me. He said that he would try to take some frames off of the video for me to make into a still picture at some point.
Arlington Cemetery also has a great website:
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/index.htm
Under the "Ceremonies" tab, scroll down to "The Sentinels of the Tomb of the Unknowns" and read about the soldiers who guard the tomb -- very impressive!
Touring Arlington took most of our day. At 4:00, we got on the Tourmobile bus and rode back to Union Station where we ate yet another not-so-healthy-but-yummy meal at Sbarro.
A picture of Union Station that Tom took while we were waiting for our Tourmobile bus.
A monument of Christopher Columbus surrounded by beautiful tulips in front of Union Station.
A different view of the Columbus monument.
Standing in Arlington Cemetery, looking down on the National Mall
The Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington
The tomb of Pierre L'Enfant, who under the direction of George Washington designed the plan for the Federal City.
This is as close as we got to the White House!
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