Day 47

Vacation Day 5- Got an earlier start to the day. Enjoyed a hotel breakfast of sausage, scrambled eggs and shared my daily bagel with Cass. Shuttle to Union Station and then the Metro to Arlington Cemetary. Metro goes outside on this trip which is pretty cool.


Arlington was amazing. We started at the Tomb of the Unknowns. On a daily basis they put wreathes on the tomb and play "Taps". Pretty powerful. Gotta admit it brought a tear to my eye. The changing of the guard was great too. Carson and I stayed for a second changing and stood right down in front of the guards. The incoming guard has his weapon inspected and then he is looked over. Carson was in awe. OK, I was too. Then as we hiked over to JFK's burial we stopped for a horse drawn wagon that was taking the body of a soldier to his grave.


As a family we talked about walking to the Lincoln Memorial rather than taking the Metro. The "vote" was 50-50. The parents won and we walked. Not a popular decision at first. Used the Arlington Bridge to travel over the Potomic River. Went to a local eatery and used their nice table and umbrella to eat our sack lunch. PBJ and chips. Sal also brought lemonade packets we poured in our water bottles. That is pretty awesome. It sprinkled a little and we were glad to have the umbrella table.


Lincoln Memorial was overwhelmingly big. On the wall it had the Gettysburg Address. When I was in 5th grade living in Bluffton, Ohio, Mr. Shaner had us memorize the Address. I memorized the whole thing then, but only could remember the first line now. By the way, Mr. Shaner is the teacher I remember the most from growing up. He taught and demanded respect in the classroom. He had a paddle he used when we got out of line. Wonder if he could do that today? Nope. Too bad.

Followed the Reflection Pool down to the Washington Monument. Ran into some people from Newton at the "Kansas" pillar along the way. They knew the McMullen's so we knew they weren't lying. Also took pictures by the "Alaska", "Nebraska" and "South Dakota" pillars. We are diverse.

Another highlight from today was watching all the joggers. They are everywhere. Tried to pick out which ones were the secret agents and FBI. If you live in DC it must be a requirement that you jog.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped to do some shopping at Union Station. Got back early so showered, ate and took a nap. Hopefully I can sleep tonight. It was a super day.