DC

We pack up our room in Hagerstown. I did love that hide a bed for Trevor. We head into Dc. I tell Tom I would like to stop at Arlington cemetery before we drop off the car. he has never been which surprises me since he lived here and worked at the Arlington sewage treatment plant as an intern just out of college. I don't know what exit and the numbers change from what is on the map to what is posted on the freeway. Tom admits that he has circled the beltway before.

We take the Fort exit. The Fort circles the back side of Arlington Cemetery. You can see the cemetery as you drive down the freeway. The exit had to be somewhere along here on the right. Well, the fort exit wasn't the right one. We were pulled aside at the gate our licence plate was written down. Tom's ID was checked. We were then redirected to the next exit onto 395 and the exit after that was Arlington Cemetery by the front entrance. Tom rolled his eyes at me. But we got there. We found shaded parking in the lower lot. It was crowded the day before fourth of July. Signs were posted "be respectful" and " Silence". This cemetery has all the wars we have ever fought from Civil war to present. Acres and Acres of gave markers. Kennedy and Lincoln are buried at Arlington.

The land belonged to Lee's wife. She was a very wealthy woman with a dozen plantations and enough land combined to be bigger than DC. Arlington was her home though. she had been raised here and born and raised her children in this house. She had left when Lee joined the Southern army. The property was confiscated and used as a hospital and then a cemetery. After the war it continued to be a national cemetery. 35 burials are performed each week day even now. Special permission is granted to be buried at Arlington as it is getting pretty full.

The plantation house still stands as it once did, with slave quarters in the back and a huge underground food cellar and now empty wine cellar. People say Lee didn't have slaves, but his wife did. After the war Lee became a professor and taught at a southern university. They went to live at one of her other homes.

Since we didn't get to any other plantations I wanted the boys to see at least one. Arlington will work. The gardens are still in operation. The original house still stands with a museum room of paintings from the big house kept vacuum sealed behind glass to help them survive longer.
The big house is lovely, with foot wide planks on the floors. It is 90% original. the exterior is brick with a stucco overlay then painted to look like marble. Huge pillars two story high hold up the roof over the front portico. Riley asks his dad if we can get a house like this.

It does seem appropriate to have this lovely empty house sit on the top of the hill with a gorgeous view down the mall from the front, surrounded by thousands of graves of people who sacrificed their lives for their country. I am glad we made the effort.

tom has been showing the boys all the glories and glamour of battle and the strength of our country. I wanted to make sure that they got the sacrifice. Riley didn't want to do a cemetery, but you can't do the civil war without seeing the graves. I trip and scrape my knee on the stairs on the hill. Trevor tells me it is bad luck to spill blood in a cemetery. I think this cemetery has seen enough blood.

we cross over memorial bridge which is straight out of Arlington cemetery and into down town DC. We get lost again taking a right too soon. We end up at the water basin, admiring the yachts and sail boats. Seeing how the powerful live. We pass the Jefferson Memorial and the Roosevelt Memorial, but we don't stop. We have to turn around and catch the 1 into DC again. We hit Independence Avenue and I am back on track navigating right to our hotel. We unload our bags and Tom takes off to return the car. There is a drop off at Union Station.

Tom is impressed with Union Station. It is beautiful and old, but also functional. Subway and Train converge. It is original to the city. Think about how many soldiers have been shipped out from that location for all the wars. Tom stops to have a beer and admire the sights.

While Tom is returning the car, I get our bags inside the hotel, but we are early for check in so I text Tom we are going sight seeing and hit our first museum on the mall. We walk down to the Castle which is an information spot now. There is a quick orientation movie. The building is the first on the mall. The money $1 million dollars was gifted to the united states by an admiring British citizen to record and save our history.

Straight across from the Castle on mall is the Natural History Museum. We head there to see the dinosaurs and gems. It is packed. Everyone is inside to avoid the 90 degree heat. It is also the day before the fourth. I try to find some more obscure exhibits that might not have the crowds, but it is busy everywhere. I point out to the boys that having been to the Dinosaur Museum in Utah the exhibits here will not be nearly as impressive. The ocean exhibit is impressive though. There are some skeletons that are truly huge. I always loved the blue whale hanging from the ceiling. The elephant that greats you as you come in to the museum is also impressive.

We head to the third floor and plan to work our way down. The Hope diamond has an audience 3 deep. The boys wiggle up fro a view but I opt out. We move on to the minerals. These are the best of the best. its the Smithsonian after all. Huge quartz crystals and stalagmites and stalactites are on display. Beautiful uncut gems huge in size. The boys and I admire it all. Trevor finds a display that shows the different buildings on the mall and what kind of rock they are made of: Limestone, granite, marble. The buildings are huge with twenty foot ceilings on each floor. They would have felt even more crowded without those high ceilings.

We head back to the hotel to check in. Tom is already in our room. But the bellman would not give him our luggage as I had the check slip. When we got back to the hotel though I couldn't find the check slip, but since I could describe every bag on the cart, he let us have our luggage. The boys' bags have their names on them and mine was a floral print, quite distinctive.

The room is smaller than Hagerstown. It is also $250 a night, Hagerstown was $150. Location Location Location as they say in real estate. We are two blocks from the Air space museum. We plan on being there at the opening tomorrow, before the crowds hit. Everything is walking distance. If I could I would get Tom to take the subway places. The yellow line is only one block south at L'Enfant.

I also chose this hotel because children eat free under 12. Feeding Trevor and Riley gets expensive. starting each day with breakfast is great and it gives Tom time to wake up in peace. Well, he is up before us but it gives him time to watch the news and have some solitude.

the place keeps track of who is eating. There is a buffet. Waffles, eggs, sausage, cereals. A full selection for everyone, and a Delicious fresh squeezed Orange juice and coffee. The place reminds me of Disney world though. One of the reasons I chose Holiday In Express is it is child friendly. Other people have the same opinion. There are children everywhere.


It is the night of the third, Tom takes an evening walk. He wants to check out the best place to see the fireworks. We want to be comfortable and have a good view. We have agreed that crowds are an issue for us. Tom worries about terrorist attacks and stampedes. So he has gone off to take in the evening sights and see what our options might be. To be honest we have been surprised there are not more people around on the mall.

The pool on the roof is so packed both my boys opt not to swim. We watch a little TV then everyone reads books and then lights out. Tomorrow is the fourth.