Gene travels to DC for work fairly frequently, but the boys and I hadn't been since 2010 and they didn't remember it at all, so spring break was the perfect time for us to visit. We saw so many different things on this trip (since the boys are older) and in many ways, this trip was all about connecting the dots -- the boys made so many connections to things they've learned in school or seen elsewhere and it was incredible to watch those little brains click into gear.
We started off our second day in DC by once again leaving the heart of the city and heading to Virginia to visit Arlington National Cemetery. After a sunny, warm day on Friday, the rest of our trip was gray and a bit dreary, but I thought the gray skies fit the more somber tone of the cemetery.
We opted to take a hop-on, hop-off bus tour of the cemetery and our first stop was the gravesite of JFK and the eternal flame. Arlington House is in the background.
The Washington Monument is in the distance.
And best of all, everywhere we went, the cherry blossoms were in bloom!
The knowledgeable guides on the buses told us all about the monuments. This is the Air Force Monument.
Nurses Memorial
Memorial Ampitheater
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
We saw the changing of the guard.
We also visited the gravesite of a family friend.
We ended our tour with a visit to Arlington House, which was the home of Robert E. Lee and sits on a hill overlooking Washington.
Arlington National Cemetery's tagline says it all: Honor. Remember. Explore.
After a morning of contemplation, we headed to the National Mall to explore the National Museum of American History. We stood in a very long line to get through security, but fortunately, the lines in the cafeteria were nonexistent. After a filling meal, we set out to investigate the museum, which ended up being one of Will's favorite places of the entire trip.
We visited so many exhibits, from the Star-Spangled Banner and exhibits about inventions and Americans at war. Here are some other favorites:
Fantastic Worlds: Science and Fiction
Will knew immediately that this was a (replica of) an early computer (Babbage's Difference Engine No. 1) because he had read all about it in a book at school.
This is the Gunboat Philadelphia. When we were in Vermont last summer, we visited the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum and learned all about the Philadelphia and walked aboard a replica. It was fantastic to connect those dots and see the actual boat in Washington.
In The Price of Freedom exhibit, we saw a piece of the Berlin Wall (we had just seen a piece at the George Bush Presidential Library).
Day 2 in DC was all about history and remembering the past and it was just phenomenal!
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