Washington DC “Part two” (Arlington Cemetery)

The first place we stopped and got off the trolley, was Arlington Cemetery. The cemetery is the final resting place to over 400,000 vets and their families. And more being added every day, there were 24 funerals going on the day we were here. Here is a description from their website about the cemetery.

Arlington National Cemetery conducts between 27 and 30 funeral services each week day and between 6 and 8 services on Saturday. The grounds of Arlington National Cemetery honor those who have served our nation by providing a sense of beauty and peace for our guests. The rolling green hills are dotted with trees that are hundreds of years in age and complement the gardens found throughout the 624 acres of the cemetery. This impressive landscape serves as a tribute to the service and sacrifice of every individual laid to rest within the hallowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery.

There is a tram that you can ride around and take in the views of the role after row of tombstone. From the rolling hills you get views off in the distance of the different monuments in DC. It’s a very peaceful and beautiful area. The first place we stopped and got off the tram, was the Eternal Flame by the Kennedy family gravesite.  It sits on the hillside and here’s a view of the city from its location. The next place we went was the tomb of the unknown soldiers, to see the changing of the guard which happens every half hour. As luck would have it at 1 o’clock the time we were there we got a bonus. They were putting a new wreath on to the tombs of the unknown soldiers. This only occurs every so often and lasts about a half hour in is quite the ceremony. Here’s a photo of the wreath that was there when we got there it was a smaller wreath donated by the YMCA. You can see in the previous photo that soldiers are starting to come up the stairs to 19 gun salute. They come up and stand on the stairs as seen in these photos. And then the band came out from the sidelines. This wreath was donated by the country of Romania. And there were military and dignitaries from their country to present. Here they place the new larger and more spectacular wreath. It was very impressive and humbling. And it was quite the coincidence we were there to experience it. Sometimes I think luck seems to follow me around. After completing our visit at the cemetery we continued back across the bridge to take in some of the memorials on this end the town. I will have more that in part three, my next post thanks for the visit, Rick

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