New England Day 2: DC

Rachel and her roommates all work and go to school during the day, so Jaime and I were on our own to explore DC. Rachel assured us that the metro stop was only a few blocks from her house and from there we could get wherever we wanted to go. So we started on our way, only to realize fifteen minutes and one billion degrees later that the metro stop was in fact one mile from her house through the stifling, blazing sun. For the record, that is not a short walk. We were already sweating by the time we got to the metro station and it was only an indication of the greater misery to come.

We hit Arlington Cemetery first, and it was there that I realized I am a descendant of the Wicked Witch of the Wast. (That's the one that melts, right?) We walked around the cemetery hitting the most important spots, starting with JFK's grave and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It's an impressively sacred place, and it's humbling to see how many soldiers have served our country, and to know that it is only a fraction of the number to whom we should be infinitely grateful. Still, it's hard to enjoy anything when your entire body is covered in sweat. As we were climbing the hill to JFK's grave, I heard a girl behind me crying (she was probably nine or ten years-old) because she was so hot. Her mom was trying to instill in her some gratitude and respect by explaining that our service men and women have to work and fight in full gear in all conditions, including extremely hot weather, and we can show our gratitude by honoring them, even for only a short time in the sun. I was proud of the mom for teaching good principles to her child, but I also commiserated with the girl. When we were huddling under some shade next to JFK's grave, I showed Jaime my arm and it looked as though I had just stepped out of a pool. Absolutely no dry spots. A lovely way to start any day.

JFK's grave has some stonework around it with some of his greatest quotes. Our presidents (and their staff writers) have an impressive way with words.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a particularly special place which honors those who have died in battle without recognition. There's always a guard positioned there and they change each hour (or on the half hour during the summer) by way of a special ceremony.

While we were there, we were able to see a funeral procession with a small army band playing "Onward Christian Soldiers." I love the order and respect that are present in this cemetery.

We very happily got back on the air-conditioned metro and rode into the District to the National Archives. Inside we got to see the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of rights. You can't take pictures inside, but you can enjoy the very intense air conditioning. I think I actually got too cold in there. Something about preserving the documents.

I'd been to DC once before in 2005 with my brother, Isaac, so a lot of these things were repeats to me. We decided to go to one of the Smithsonian museums, though, which I hadn't been to. We chose the American History Museum, which I really enjoyed. There were a lot of interesting artifacts, including the original American flag which inspired the Star-Spangled Banner (That's not it in the picture. You can't take pictures of it) and one of the sunstones from the Nauvoo temple.That was a fun surprise.

Built in 1776, the gunboat Philadelphia is the oldest American fighting vessel in existence.

Dorothy's ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz and a clock that I believe belonged to John Hancock.

From there, we set out to tour the monuments. We hit the Washington Monument first then headed to the White House. By this time, by divine intervention, some clouds and breeze had rolled in and taken the edge off of the heat which was a huge blessing. We didn't have time to do any tours so we just admired from the outside.

 

 

We had planned to rent some bikes to tour the monuments, but the one closest to us at the time didn't have two available. So we continued walking to the World War II Memorial. We had walked so much already and our feet were killing us, so the pool at the memorial was a welcome relief for our aching feet.

That's the Lincoln Memorial in the background.

A lot of the area around the reflecting pool between the WWII Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial was blocked off for construction or something, so we had to take the long way around (great for our tired feet) to the Vietnam Memorial and then the Lincoln Memorial. When I visited DC previously, I especially loved the Lincoln Memorial, but by this time in the day we were both tired and hot and cranky, so I was pretty over the memorials. Maybe Jaime was too, based on her expression in this picture.

 
To end our day, we planned to get some bikes (there were more by the Lincoln Memorial) and ride through the remaining memorials, but mine wouldn't come out of the holder so we ended up on the phone for about 20 minutes trying to get a bike or my money back. We ended up running out of time so they just refunded the money and we walked another mile to get to the metro station. But they have air conditioning, remember, so we were happy once we got there.

We took a train out to somewhere in Maryland to meet our friend Emily Petty at an Argentine restaurant for dinner. It had been so long since I'd had good Argentine food, so we ordered all our favorites, including empanadas, tarta, milanesa, choripan, and alfajors. It was so, so good. And it was good to see Emily, too. :)

 

When we got back to Rachel's house, we waited excitedly for her to get home from her "special date" with her boyfriend. She was pretty sure he was planning to propose, and she was right! We got to hear all about the night and celebrate with her. It was really fun to be there with her on such a special night.