Tourists for a Day

We have so many sites in the Northern VA/DC area that are on our list.  With work being calm again, we thought that we had better start checking a few off our list!

This weekend we visited Arlington National Cemetery.  They opened at 8 am and we got there shortly after 9 am.  We missed the crowd so ended up being basically alone most of thetime walking through the Site which was wonderful.  The weather was perfect (70's) which made for a great visit.

The outside walking in:

Beautiful views of DC.  You could see the Washington Monument and the Capital Building in the picture.

 The tomb of the unknown soldier.  We got to see the changing of the guard while we were there.  It was amazing and brought tears to our eyes.  The front of the tomb says: "Here rests in honored glory an American Soldier known but to God".

The Tomb Guard (Sentinel) is considered one of the highest privileges and very few ever get the opportunity.  I read they take 21 steps in front of the tomb, stop for 21 seconds, then continually repeat. Also they do not wear any markings of rank on their uniform to as to ensure they do not outrank the solider in the tomb (since their rank was unknown).

Watching and seeing this was incredibly humbling.

Memorial for the Space Shuttle Columbia:

A few pictures of us in the amphitheater near the Tomb of the Unknown.