Sleep came easily, and we were glad that our noisy neighbors
must have checked out because it was much quieter this time around.
Today we slept in a little later than I’d planned because I
didn’t realize my alarm was set to only go off on Saturday, and this is
Sunday. Oh, well. After grabbing some coffee, milk, chai tea,
and muffins at Starbucks (First-World problem – How am I going to carry a
backpack, camera, muffin, coffee, and water bottle?), we caught the Big Bus and
rode it over to the Jefferson Memorial where we got off and walked around. It was gorgeous and iconic. Jefferson stands in watch over D.C.’s Tidal
Basin. The memorial exemplifies
Jefferson’s love of columns in architecture.
Next, we boarded the bus again and rode it to Arlington
National Cemetery. We opted to take the
tour bus within the cemetery, a good choice, which stopped at the Arlington
House & Kennedy grave site, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and the visitor’s
center. The Kennedy grave site is a sad
place. It is one of only two presidential
grave sites at Arlington. Overlooking the
National Mall and Washington Monument, t is a tribute to the tragedy that
plagues their family and is the final resting place of not only John F. and
Jackie, but also two of their children.
We walked from the Kennedy grave site to the Arlington House which, along
with the entire property on which the cemetery now sits, was originally the
homestead of General Robert E. Lee. That’s
a whole interesting history in itself that is worth the time to investigate if
you don’t already know it. Arlington National Cemetery itself is pure tragedy. Pictures don't do justice to the sheer number of grave sites that dot the landscape. You stand in one spot and look all around you and there are white markers as far as you can see - literally as FAR as you can see, between trees, over adjacent hills, row after row after row after row. That seems like an astronomical number. Then you get on the tour bus and drive for ten minutes each between three different stops, and the rows never end. The sacrifice made by our military can never be numbered, but the visual of Arlington brings a pain to any American's heart.
Following Arlington, we headed back to the DC side and went
through the Holocaust Museum, which we had pre-purchased tickets for. (They were only $1 each, but had a
timed-entry, which helped to keep the crowds down.) Unfortunately, I had left our tickets in our
hotel room, but they were able to look up our name and let us in anyway. Amazingly, in the first gallery, someone in
the crowd received and answered (!!!) a
cell phone call. I embarrassed the kids
and made the lady behind me laugh when I turned around and said, “Seriously?” It was ridiculous. But, it didn’t stop us from appreciating the
heartbreaking museum, and feeling ashamed that humanity could stoop to such
lows. It was sprinkling a little when we
left, but it felt great considering it was another 100 degree day.
We realized that it was after 5:00 and we hadn’t eaten
anything since our First-World muffins that morning, so we hit the hot dog cart
(which was actually a van). Sarah
ordered a pretzel with cheese sauce, something she’d seen in many other carts
around the city. Well, she got the
pretzel alright but, rather than being served with a little cup of cheese on
the side, the entire top was covered with a squirt of Cheez Whiz from a
can. Hee hee. Brian’s order was easy – his daily dose of a Sponge
Bob Popsicle. Mine, not so easy
apparently. A chili-cheese dog seemed
simple enough. But, since the proprietor
had only arrived 15 minutes before, she hadn’t “defrosted” the chili. Hmmm.
That made me want it with ketchup and relish instead. Can you blame me? Frozen chili?
But the cute lady was so sad and said, “I really wish you could try my
chili, it’s delicious and homemade!” Aww
. . . that made me want the chili! That’s
when the cart’s power went out. I got
the hot dog and it was cold, so I asked if the power would be going back on
soon and, if so, could she heat it up a little more. After some finagling and switch-throwing, she
did indeed restore the power, heated up the hot dog, defrosted the chili, added
cheese and onions (to the previously added ketchup and relish) and served up an
unintended hot dog ‘with everything.’ It
was delicious, as promised, but with the added toppings, it was a little much
for my taste buds to handle. I downed
about half of it before we headed off to our next stop – the hotel pool.
After swimming, we headed downstairs and had dinner in the
hotel restaurant, which was nearly as expensive as the Old Ebbit Grill and not
nearly as charming, or delicious.
However, it was good, and we were starving – despite the hot dog
incident. So, all in all, it was a
welcomed meal. We were glad to finally
be back to the hotel after another busy day, and were looking forward to
sleeping with no noisy neighbors (fingers crossed!).
