Day 17: Arlington

Yes that's a song title!

Today was a cruisey day. Breakfast and Lunch were combined, because I slept in a lot. This trip is catching up to me.

Arlington Cemetary itself is huge and also exceptionally organised. Where ever you stood, if you could line up two headstones, the rest would all line up perfectly. But getting around the place takes forever on foot.

Statue outside of the Arlington Entry Building

Rows and Rows and Rows....

and Rows and Rows of Headstones

My first stop was the Kennedy Memorial. I expected it to be...more than what it was. It was very simple, a plaque and an eternal flame. The way up, past the other Kennedy family members buried in the area, is a large area to reflect on the view across to DC. It was also surprisingly quiet - not many people visiting the area, which surprised me.

JFK and his wife and the eternal flame

The plateau area beyond the graves

I then wandered up to the Arlington House and the Museum, but not before jamming my finger in the lever of a water pump whilst getting a drink. So now my finger hurts and the nail is bruised. I'm so talented. The Museum was very small, only took about five minutes to see it all. But it was a really good little display of the history of the space, how it was acquired by the government (and the involvement of the Confederate forces in its history.)

As I went to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, I wandered in midway through the changing of the guard. I saw it again before I left, after exploring the display they have which explains the three unknown soliders they have: World War I, World War II and Korean. The Vietnam Unknown was later identified by DNA testing and they removed him to return him to his family.

Arlington House, up the hill

Not all graves were petite white headstones

The view from Arlington House - JFK reportedly said "I could spend forever here"

Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers

The sentinel - 21 steps across, pause each end for 21 seconds

 It was time to head to the Pentagon. On my way out, I came by a funeral, which is very common at Arlington. It was full tradition, with the horse drawn carriage, band, lone bugler playing the Taps and a 21 gun salute. That part freaked me out a little because I was walking by when the guns went off. They're SUPER loud.

The Pentagon was really strange. Absolutely no photography allowed anywhere - except inside the Memorial, which is fully outdoors and you can see and potentially photograph everything. It doesn't make sense at all. But, security is paranoid there - more so than even the White House. The Memorial is very quaint and from there you can identify the section that was rebuilt after 9/11 - it is paler. The Pentagon itself is actually a yellow colour, really icky looking. I wasn't a fan. For the casual tourist, it isn't a great place to visit and I'd advise skipping it.

On the way home it spontaneously showered, for about five minutes. Just absolutely bucketed down and then stopped. The weather here is just really annoyingly humid. But I've only got one day left! And my room is a mess. I don't know how I'm going to fit everything in my bag!