The morning dawned clear with bright sunshine, but cooler temperatures.  Our plan for the day was to take the Metro to Arlington National Cemetery and visit the sights there, take a tour through the Mint, and visit the FDR memorial.

    We headed to the Metro and thirty minutes later were walking through the front gates of Arlington.  Arlington as you may, or may not know, began as the home of a relative of George Washington, and, by marriage, was passed to Robert E. Lee. 

    At the beginning of the Civil War the Union immediately occupied Arlington because a bluff, where the mansion is located,

overlooks the Potomac River looking towards Washington.  In 1863, in a spirit of anti-Robert E. Lee sentiment, the Union decided to begin burying the dead from the battles in the gardens around the Lee mansion, a burial garden that has grown from that year and now encompasses acres upon acres.  Fortunately, the mansion is still fairly well intact. 

    We toured the mansion and were able to see the room where REL drafted his letter of resignation to President Lincoln.  The house is in the process of being renovated, so it is really a shell, but you still get the feeling of the events that happened there.

    We walked the grounds and moved on to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 

    The changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown is a show of splendor, reverence, and precision.  Military exactness never ceases to amaze me.  Every movement was exact.

    The guards are on thirty minute shifts during the summer and one hour in the winter.  The tomb and surrounding area is white marble with a rubber mat laid out for the soldiers to walk upon.

    After the changing of the guard, we left Arlington and made our way towards the Mint.  Unfortunately, unbeknownst to us, tickets were required to enter the Mint and they were sold out for the day.  Bummer.  So, the Mint would have to wait until our next trip. 

    We moved on towards the FDR memorial and stopped back by the Jefferson Memorial and took in the sights and sunshine. 

    The FDR memorial is a bit different from others, in that it’s more of a documentation of his years as president.  It’s broken into sections defined by his presidential terms.  Conveniently for historians, and memorial designers, each of his terms had their own challenges.

 

    Unfortunately for us, the memorial relies heavily on fountains and pools.  Since winter was still at the doorstep, none of these were working or filled. 

    Still, the effect was still there.  The most haunting image was a bronze casting of a soup line during the Depression.

    Our trip was winding down.  We made our way back towards the Mall and took in the views for one last time. 

    The next day, we would ride a bus back to BWI and board a plane taking us back home. 

    Little did we know that our ride home would include a four hour layover in Little Rock International Airport(which I must say is severely lacking in necessary amenities) and a fairly wild ride into Dallas Love Field trying to beat the next deluge of rain into town.

    I would call it a whirlwind vacation, but that’s almost too true.