Today is our last day in Washington, D.C. We're all exhausted, but fall into the car and take off about 8:30 a.m. Our first stop is the ticket booth for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Yesterday afternoon we all walked from Ford's Theatre to the Bureau to see about a tour. We learned that, although the tours are free, tickets for the entire day are available at 8 a.m. and could be gone by 9. Traffic was awful We this morning and it took us almost an hour to get into the City. I jumped out of the car and snagged tickets for the 5:15 p.m. tour.
Then it's on to our second stop, Arlington National Cemetery. Yes, we've been here, but we didn't see Robert E. Lee's Home, Arlington House, and Vicki wants some photos. John and David waited at the Visitor Center while Vicki and I hiked up the hill. It's hot today. I'm glad we're here at 10 a.m. rather than 3 p.m.
Arlington House sits high on a hill above the cemetery and is visible from various places. Robert E. Lee and his family lived here for 30 years and he said "Arlington...here my affections and attachments are more strongly placed than any other place in the world." Vicki and I walked through the house. All the furnishings have been removed and there will be a major restoration project beginning soon.
When Civil War casualties overflowed hospitals and burial grounds, the Quartermaster General proposed that 200 acres of the Lee family property at Arlington be taken for a cemetery. Some of our Battlefield guides have suggested there was a bit of spite in this. Union troops buried in the front yard of the Confederate general was thought to be poetic justice. Robert E. Lee never lived here after the War.
We walked back down the hill, joined the fellas and drove back across the Potomac.
We had promised Vicki a drive-by of the Jefferson Memorial so she could get the tape of patriotic songs for kids. We did and she did. Then it's on to the Air & Space Museum, our primary goal for today.
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