DC Trip Highlights – Monuments and Memorials

These were all from our day out with Ane.

We had actually begun our day very early with her out on the National Mall, where we went to go see the major monuments and memorials.  In the course of a couple of hours, we visited the Washington Monument…

… the World War II Memorial…

… which was a very big place.  We took our time wandering around.

Then we went to the Korean War Memorial…

… the Lincoln Memorial (which was another highlight for Ane)…

… and the Vietnam Wall.

We also found a little hidden memorial to the signers of the Declaration of Independence on this island….

There was a bridge leading to the island…

… and on the island, grouped by state, was each signer’s name, etched in stone, highlighted in gold, with their hometown and occupation listed.

We then walked over to the Smithsonian Museum of American History, and saw the Star Spangled Banner exhibit (no photography allowed inside).

We also walked through the First Ladies exhibit.

Then we had to hustle over to Ford’s Theatre.  After Ford’s, we headed to the Pentagon on the Metro to meet up with the Major.  He gave us a guided tour of the Pentagon, which was SO cool.  Not everyone gets their own personal tour guide through there!

However, there are only a few spots where you can take pictures, so most of our tour was “eyes only,”  including the 9/11 Memorial Chapel, and meeting General Dempsey, the current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  He greeted Ane first and shook her hand, and then the Webmaster and I each got to shake his hand as well.

After our tour at the Pentagon (and the stop at the gift shop) was over, the Major drove us over to Arlington National Cemetery.  Even though Ane was wiped out, this was our chance to see the Kennedy gravesite…

… and the Tomb of the Unknowns.

When we left Arlington, Ane was dead on her feet.  She stayed in the car when the Major took us to our last stop for the day, the Marine Corps War Memorial – aka the Iwo Jima Memorial.

As we drove back to the Major and Q-Bee’s house, Ane fell fast asleep.  We had seen so much in one day!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 30th, 2014 at 1:09 am and is filed under Children, Family, Vacation Tales.
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