The Capitol Is Capital!

We spent a beautiful Sunday in Washington, DC. Our morning started with our friend, Kendra, driving to the RV park from Columbia, MD. Kendra recently moved to Maryland and hadn't been to DC, yet, so in a sense, we were her tour guide. She picked us up at the campground and we drove to the nearby Greenbelt Metro station. We rode on the Metro to Union Station, where we had a fortifying breakfast before we boarded the Tourmobile Tour Tram. One of first sights was that of the Capitol dome that is shown in the above photo. There was so much to see that we didn't know if we should look left or right first. Right on the Mall, there were stages and tents for the George Washington University graduation ceremony, where the President was giving the commencement address-boy, the security.
Our first stop was the Jefferson Memorial. The various memorials on the Mall are spectacular buildings built to honor the great men and now, women in our country's history. Since Thomas Jefferson is one of my favorites, it was wonderful to visit the memorial. It is interesting that visitors to any of the memorials and museums truly honor these majestic places with respectful, almost reverential behavior. Nice to know that there are manners and courtesy still practiced, as appropriate.
Another of my favorite Presidents is Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Here, he is depicted with his dog, Fala. His memorial is another impressive, yet low-keyed, exhibit that honored his many achievements as President. It has been awhile since we have had a President of his caliber. It would be nice to have a statesman, leading the country. Ah, but I can only dream.

The best part of the day was spent at Arlington Cemetery, particularly, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It was getting late in the afternoon and our last stop of the day. One cannot help but be moved by the constant sentinel posted at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where the remains of three unknown soldiers, one each from World War I, World War II, and the Korean War, are interred. There used to be one from the Vietnam War, but a few years back, by using DNA processing, the remains of the Vietnam War soldier was identified and returned to his family.

Anyway, we stayed for the changing of the guard that is always impressive. However, there were so many people that it was hard to see everything. So, Mel suggested that we wait for the next ceremony and move up to the front. That was fortuitous because in adddition to seeing the changing of the guard ceremony up close and personal, we were able to see the changing of the wreath ceremony sponsored by the 29th Infantry from WWII, in which "Taps" was played, bringing tears to many eyes, including mine. Then, a second wreath ceremony, sponsored by a grade school, was accompanied by "Taps," also. As we left the area, the survivors from the 29th Infantry were assembled on the amphitheater steps for a group photo. Many of us took pictures of them, including me, and were able to thank the men for their service to our country. All of this was quite touching and we were so happy to have been part of it.

We finished our tour back at Union Station, which is an impressive building, also. Since we are all Chicagoans, we decided to have pizza at Uno's. Ahh, pizza!

Addendum 5/22/06:

Today, I was so exhausted from our past two days of activities that I begged Mel for a day off of touring. So, we did lunch and a movie, Art School Confidential, a strange little artsy-fartsy movie (as Mel would say) with John Malkovich but appropriate for a college town. Mel, bravely, drove US 1 right into the middle of DC at rush hour. The man has no fear (and doesn't listen to his navigator). But we made it home safely, even though we ran into a traffic jam three miles from the RV park as the University of Maryland's School of Communication commencement ceremonies ended. Yikes!