Tour of Washington DC, Part 3

Next we viewed the memorial to the Vietnam War. There are some beautiful sculptures and a wall with many, many names on. I took some photos for a few friends who served in ‘Nam.

Part of the Vietnam War Memorial

Another sculpture in the Vietnam War Memorial

We also visited the controversial WW2 memorial which was only completed a few years ago. Senator Bob Dole was apparently instrumental in getting the memorial completed after such a delay. He is also instrumental in organising for busloads of veterans to visit the memorial. The day we were there, there were quite a few busloads of these vets. It was so sad to see how frail and infirm some were but I bet they were proud to be there!

Veterans and carers waiting for their charter buses after a long visit to the memorial

The wall from a distance...all those stars!

 This memorial is also huge and a fitting tribute to all those service people who served in that war. It consists of many pillars that represent states and protectorates where the soldiers came from. The various theatres of the war are also represented on pillars. There is also a wall covered with stars. Each star represents 200 personnel who died or who were MIA during the war. These personnel numbered 405,399; to me, an incredible number to die in one war!

Our tour then took us to the state of Virginia and more specifically to Arlington National Cemetery and what a privilege that was to visit. Because we weren’t in a big tour bus, our tour could drive through the cemetery and I think we saw more because of this. Did you know that this cemetery is the ‘front yard’ of General Lee’s (of civil war fame) former home called ‘Arlington? The first section we toured was from the civil war and of course there were just so many little white headstones. Most were ‘standard’ headstones with a curved/rounded top. Some though, were pointed and we were told this story. They are confederate graves and they didn’t want ‘Yankees sitting on their headstones’ so the pointy bit is supposed to prevent that! Lol

Looking through the trees at some of the many service personnel graves

We visited the Kennedy plot which has JFK, 2 small babies who died very early after birth and Jackie. There is a memorial flame there which burns all the time...very sad and poignant and I watched with interest a group of high school students who were also visiting...they displayed a very dignified and respectful demeanour. We also visited Bobby and Teddy Kennedy’s graves.

The Kennedy grave plot, with the 2 babies on the outside of their parents

Then we were driven towards the tomb of the Unknown Soldier and we walked the last little distance. It was time for the Changing of the Guard Ceremony. One of my blogger friends, Claud from the 'Casa del gato' blog had previously told me what an impact on her the ‘Changing of the Guard Ceremony’ always had so I was really looking forward to seeing that. It was to be the last part of our tour and what a finale! It was also poignant and dignified. Apparently these guards wear a special and smart uniform too. And I’m so glad we got to see it, even though it was raining through a lot of the ceremony.

On the right of the photo are seated some veterans

Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

As we were driving through the cemetery to exit we were to witness something very special. That day there happened to be two ‘big’ funerals at Arlington. Bill, our guide said, to get the military bands it would have to be someone with a rank of general. As well as the bands, the people who were being buried also had the honour of their coffin being placed on a caisson which was drawn by a team of magnificent horses...it was such a spectacular sight!

A coffin being carried on the caisson

Washington D.C. Part 1...

We drove to Washington DC from Lancaster along a number of busy freeways. The motel we stayed at was actually 15 miles from DC. It was in a town called Rockville and it obviously is a historically significant area. Some of the homes were magnificent. By staying out of the city we saved quite a lot of money on parking fees, as it was free to park at the Rockville motel.

There was an excellent train service from Rockville into the centre of Washington DC which we used a number of times. You have to buy your tickets via the machines; there is absolutely no human help. Let’s just say that we had quite a time working out how to buy a ticket...and we are both educated too! Lol

The week before we arrived had been the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC and by the time we arrived there were hardly any blossoms left...obviously all ‘dropped’.

On our first full day we got up at 5 am, showered, dressed, ate a muesli bar each (motel breakfast wasn’t until 6.30am) and headed off in a taxi to Rockville station, caught a train and we were in the city by 7 am. At 7.15 we were picked up by our tour guide. At first there were 5 of us but later on 2 Dutch tourists joined the tour. The vehicle was like a SUV and this was to be an advantage as it could get us closer to places than a regular tour bus could.

Our first stop was on Pennsylvania Avenue, outside the Visitor Centre from which we could walk up to the south gate of the White House. Even though that was the closest we got, we could still see the beautifully manicured lawns, flowering trees, shrubs and garden beds. One endearing thing I noticed about the grounds was the large vegie patch. I do remember hearing the Obamas starting a vegetable garden so it was great to see it...albeit from a distance. There was also a bee hive near that garden too.

The pathway to the South gate/fence of the White House

The Whitehouse vegetable garden

The 2 armed guards on the roof are to the right of the  fence post on the right

This pic shows the expanse of lawn

The other thing I noticed while looking through the fence was the 2 armed guards on the White House roof. I bet someone was filming me trying to get a photo of these guards. We were to see a lot of strict security in the capital and had our bags checked in all sorts of places. From the walkway to the south gate of the Whitehouse we saw the Jefferson monument and also the Washington Monument. The former is like a little Greek or Roman temple and the latter is a huge obelisk! Before we had to meet our guide again, DH and I had a quick look in the Visitor Centre after going through security. In the museum there it was impossible to look at all the displays about government and other historical items.

The imposing Washington monument

A street scene across the road from the Visitor Information Centre on Pennsylvania Ave

The next stop on our tour was the Capitol Building. Since ‘9/11’ a special visitor centre was built under the eastern side of the building. This centre has fairly strict security and if you tour the building you have a sticker on which says exactly what tour and the time the tour started. Bags etc are checked, jackets must be removed, jewellery removed before you walk through the scanner. It would be very hard to stray off the path you are allowed on as there are guards everywhere. Bruce misread an exit sign and was quickly intercepted by a guard wearing an earpiece ( and probably another ‘piece’ under his jacket). I expect everything is observed by CCTV.

This is where we first lined up to get our tickets to tour the Capitol (2 rooms only)

Very soon these queuing areas filled with school groups

The tour starts in a theatre with a film about the building of the capitol. Apparently the construction wasn’t without its own dramas and completion took many years, especially the cupola. Then the tour went into the first of 2 grand rooms. I was overwhelmed with the grandeur and the workmanship of these rooms. The first room we looked at had a magnificent ceiling, huge paintings around the walls, depicting scenes from US history and a wonderful marble floor. This room was also used for ‘lying in state’ of various presidents. The second room was also very grand and it features many statues. Some statues were presidents but not exclusively. One feature that the Capitol tour guide showed us was the acoustics of this room; the group stood while the guide moved away from us and spoke to us from a distance with his back to us. We could hear what he said very clearly. The tour finished then so we moved outside and took photos of the building, the library of Congress across the road as well as the Supreme Court.

Looking up towards the dome

The magnificent ceiling

I can't remember if this statue is called 'Freedom' or 'Liberty'! It is in the Capitol visitor centre

Looking back at the building from the street

DH photographing the Library of Congress. It is connected by tunnel to the Capitol building

The morning finished with a quick trip to the Smithsonian. DH and I knew that we would return there on our own. (we ended up spending 2 whole days there!)

In the afternoon we visited a number of memorials but I will talk about them in a separate post, to do them justice.