Washington D.C. - Day # 9 - Arlington National Cemetery

We had planned to head back to the National Museum of American History Friday, but that bowl of Jello got in the way.  Actually the lack of free parking got in the way.  We arrived at the National Mall just before 11 am....pretty early start for us.....and cruised by all the places where we had been able to snag a free 3 hour parking spot in the past, but everything, everywhere, was jammed.   After making a couple of loops around the Mall I suggested "today" might be a good day might be a good day to go and see Arlington National Cemetery.  We knew we would find parking there, even if we had to pay for it, which we did.

We arrived just before 12 pm and got a parking spot on the first level of the parking structure in the shade.  We headed for the ubiquitous visitor's center to get oriented.  I'm not sure "oriented" is what we got.....it was jammed with school age kids......wall to wall...seriously.  I managed to get a picture of the plaque below giving basic information on when the National Cemetery was established.  The property...a little over 600 acres, was the estate of the Custis family until the Civil War.  General Robert E. Lee married one of the Custis girls, and lived in Arlington House until the beginning of the Civil War.  Arlington House stands on the highest ground of the Cemetery, and you can see the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument and the Capitol Building from the front porch of the large home.  Ironically, General George Washington also married a Custis girl many years before, so through marriage Lee was related to Washington.....I did not know that before.

The (General) McClellan Gate was the original entrance to the National Cemetery

Arlington House

General Lee's office at Arlington House

The view of the National Mall from the front porch

On the site of Arlington House is a small museum honoring General Lee.  It was interesting to see that Lee's first assignment after graduating West Point was Fort Pulaski near Savannah, GA.  You will recall we spent part of a day at Fort Pulaski in early March.

I did not realize when we were at Harpers Ferry that Lee had been sent there to command the troops after the John Brown raid on the armory.

Of course a visit to Arlington would be incomplete without visiting the burial place of John F. Kennedy.  You can see the "eternal flame" in the background.  His wife Jackie is buried next to him.

We headed over to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier getting there in time to see the "changing of the guard", as well as the "wreath ceremony".  While listening to "Taps" being played it is difficult not to get a little misty eyed.

After our visit to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier we walked around Arlington for about 45 minutes......below, as you can well imagine, is what you see everywhere.  It is sobering to see how many have given the ultimate sacrifice for our country.  Wherever you walk in the park people speak in hushed tones.  

By the time we got back to the car it was after 2 pm....we thought briefly about heading over to the American History Museum again, but the traffic was already getting heavy, so we headed home arriving around 3 pm.

We had heard about a local Mexican restaurant called "Alamo" Mexican Restaurant, so we decided to head over there at 5 for dinner.  Yelp gives Alamo a 3.5, but we would give it a 4. One of the nicer Mexican restaurants we have eaten at on our journey.

We stopped by Jonathan's home to pick up an Amazon Prime shipment of the Howe's diesel additive I have come to like so much.  I got a gallon this time.....good for four tanks of diesel....that should last me a while!

Tomorrow we head to Mt. Vernon, and then to Alexandria for dinner with friends.

Thanks for stopping by!