Adventures Across America 2012: Thurs. April 12th: WASHINGTON DC: Arlington Cemetary; Jefferson Memorial; Air & Space Museum; Federal Bureau of Printing & Engraving (Money)

This morning Shelley and I got up really early to get tickets to the Federal Bureau of Imprinting and Engraving. Basically if you don’t get into the line by 8:30 am you won’t get a ticket for the tour that day. Everything is doubly crowded these last two weeks in DC because of all the school groups and spring break. We wouldn’t have chosen this time to come but it just happended that we ended up here during that time. But we did it . . . we got tickets by being here early! That’s why I’ve been so behind on my blog – going to bed late, getting up early, travelling an hour into the city, and doing it again for 6 days!! It’s been wonderful though to see all that we’ve seen in DC.

Dave was miraculously able to get the kids going early too and met us off the subway stop right at 9am. So we decided to get back on the subway to Arlington Cemetery. Wonderfully the subway takes you right to the cemetery and we literally walked right into the visitor center. We decided to take the tram tour around the cemetery because it tells you all about the important people laid to rest there.

The Arlington property was originally owned by George Washington Parke Custis who was the grandson to Martha Custis and George Washington. In 1802 the Washington Memorial was starting to take shape right across the Potomac River to honor his grandfather George Washington.

When his grandmother died in 1802, George Custis inherited her estates and slaves which included the 1,100 acres on the Potomac. Custis called the estate Mount Washington but later named it Arlington after an early Custis plantation. He modeled his house on a Greek temple and gathered many Washington treasures in their mansion. In 1804 he married Mary Lee Fitzhugh. In 1831 their only surviving child, Mary Anna Randolph Custis, married Lieutenant Robert E. Lee, a childhood playmate and distant cousin. Mary and Robert Lee had seven children and divided their time between Arlington house and Lee’s duty posts. With the coming of civil war, Arlington House ceased to be a home of the Custis and Lee family when on April 19^th , 1861 Robert E. Lee learned that Virginia had secceeded from the union, he resigned his position with the Union Army and made the difficult discussion of fight for his home country of Virginia realizing that he could not “raise his hand against my relatives, my children, my home.” Mrs. Lee left the house in May of 1861 just as Union troops prepared to occupy Arlington House in defense of the Capital. She entrusted her house keys to a close friend who kept a close watch over the house and when items began disappearing, Mary’s friend insisted that their furnishings be moved to Washington. In 1863 the U.S. Government demanded that the Lee’s pay their property taxes and when Mrs. Lee didn’t appear in person to pay, the government took possession of the house. As it became necessary, Union soldiers were buried in the back yard of the house during the Civil War and eventually became a burial ground.

The bus first dropped us off at Kennady’s burial site with his wife Jackalyn and his two children who died in childhood. Over Kennady’s tomb is eternal flame. . . and in front of all the tombs is Kennady’s famous speech . . . “Let the word go forth from this time and place to friend and foe alike that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans.” Also buried to JFK’s right and left is Roberty and Ted Kennedy.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was the next stop. This is where the military do the changing of the guard every 30 minutes.

The army soldiers guard the tomb 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and the tomb honors all the men who have been killed or missing in any war that have not been identified. They do the present arms as they change guards and they pace back and forth in front of the tomb exactly 21 steps each way. The soldier may not get distracted or disturbed at any time – they are highly trained for this position and consider this to be one of the highest positions in any military branch. The soldier must be between 5’10” and 6’ tall and weight no more than 150 (they are very thin) .