Virginia Vacation - DC Sights Pt. 1

I've been to Washington, D.C. twice before this trip, and every time I see something new.  This trip my something new is the following...

After we left our friends at the Air and Space Museum, Dave Drew and I went into DC to hit up the sights before the three hour drive back to our time share in Williamsburg.  Since we'd never made it to Arlington National Cemetery before, this was our first stop.

I heard how moving this visit was, and it really was true.  After figuring out the lay of the land, we decided to make our way first toward John F. Kennedy's grave and the Eternal Flame.  On our way we saw a horse and carriage carrying a casket.

Drew watching the casket pass by.

Here I am in the courtyard where Kennedy is laid to rest.  In the background you can see the Washington Monument.

And here's the Eternal Flame and Kennedy's gravesite.

JFK and Jackie's graves.

Bobby Kennedy's grave

After the Kennedy sites we walked toward the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  The 2 big thing we wanted to see here.  We were on a time limit so we couldn't stay too long - we had a long checklist of other sites to get to. Plus it was ridiculously hot and humid.

Unknowingly we arrived to the Tomb of the Unknown for the Changing of the Guard.  This was quite the site to see.

And here's Drew paying his respects...

Behind the tomb (or in front of it technically) is an ampitheater.
Can you make out Drew at the chair in the center (Dave is off to the left side).

After leaving the Tomb we made our way back to the front entrance, but not before spotting a cardinal.

As we left Arlington National Cemetery, the rain finally broke through.  And it was quite the storm!  There was a severe thunderstorm that moved through and we parked the car and waited it out for about 20-30 minutes.  When we got out to make our way to the next "first for us" monument/memorial this is what we found.

The ducks were enjoying the remnants of the flash flood that swooped in.

Equipped with umbrellas and ponchos we decided to take the risk and walk the 1/2 mile to the next Memorial.  Here's a view from the Jefferson Memorial overlooking the Washington Monument.

 

 We finally neared the Jefferson Memorial...

And we're inside the Memorial where it's soaking inside.

 Another view from inside the Memorial overlooking the Washington Monument.

Dave pretending he's a statue or someone important at least.

 Shortly after we decended the stairs and started walking back to the car, the clouds started dumping on us.  Out came the umbrellas (I wore the poncho since I had the backpack with all the valuables.

Here we are waiting out a bad part of the storm.  Notice how you can barely see down the road?  That's how hard it was coming down.  We all were soaked!  Thankfully I had a pair of flip flops for our short Northern VA trip, but Dave and Drew only brought socks and shoes.  They toughed it out for the remainder of our visit.

I'll continue with the other half of our sightseeing another day.