Arlington National Cemetery

We are staying at the Raddison here in Virginia - which although very well priced, didn't provide breakfast. As we slept until about 9:30, it only gave us about 30 minutes to sneak across to the Hampton Inn next door to cash in on their free breakfast. We then hopped on the Metro to go visit Barrack at the White House. Unfortunately we couldn't get the perfect shot of the family lined up in front of it since they were doing renovations and there was a scissor lift in front of the building. Fortunately though, we did see enough protesters to last us a life time! One protest (an anti-nuclear protest) has been going around the clock since June 3, 1981. Now that is commitment.

Next on the agenda was the Arlington national Cemetery. I wasn't sure about this going in, but I came out feeling very moved. We took a bus tour of the place, and judging by the size and the angle of the hills, I am very glad we took that option! First stop on the tour was John F. Kennedy's grave site, along with his two children, his wife, and the eternal flame.

As soon as we stepped off the bus, it started raining, fortunately though, it had calmed down by the time we reached the Auditorium, and the Temple of the Unknown Soldiers. Just watching the changing of the Guard was moving. I think it was just about of the highlights of Gena's trip.

A guard has patrolled the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers every minute of every day since 1937

To finish of the tour we drove to the top of the hill to visit Arlington House, home of General Robert E Lee (leader of the Confederate Army in the Civil War). It was also in his front yard where the Union Army buried 2111 unknown Confederate soldiers in a bid to prevent Lee and his family from returning to the property.

This stone is a symbol commemorating the 2111 Confederate soldiers buried beneath it lost during the War

General Robert Lee, through marriage, was also related to George Washington tying together two famous families. After an hour at Arlington House, we jumped back on the bus, and just before the tour finished we got one last look at the graves, and how great they look, with them all placed in formation, what I thought was the most impressive part of it all. This was a great experience.

There are more than 400,000 Military personnel buried at Arlington National Cemetery

A view of Washington DC from Arlington House

On the Subway back Bluey and I stopped at the Pentagon to take a look at this famous military facility.

Later that night we went and had dinner at the World Famous Ben's Chilli Bowl, a DC institutiion. A lot of celebrities that come to D.C visit this place. Names including Barrack Obama, Oprah, Snoop Dogg, Denzel Washington, Shaq, Michael Jordan, you name it, they've been there! We ate with Bluey's buddy Rich, who as I mentioned, gave us our battleplan for DC. After having some Chilli Dogs, Chilli Fries and Chilli Cheese Burgers.

Bluey & Rich outside Ben's

We then made our way to Nationals Park to see the Washington Nationals against the Chicago Cubs. Although the game was no contest, we had front row seats and we saw Washington hit about 6 home runs! Even more of a bonus was the seats only cost us $1, (of course the seats we bought for $1 weren't front row).

A family shot at Nationals Park

We made our way back to the hotel, watched the end of the football and hit the sack, as we had another driving day ahead of us tomorrow.

~Riley.