First stop was Arlington National Cemetery. A quiet and imposing place, Arlington is the resting ground for 400,000 servicemen, their wives and children. Two Presidents (including John F Kennedy) are here as well. The quiet and peace are fitting, but being a tourist there jars a bit.
Next stop was the Marines Memorial – like all memorials it is imposing and evocative.
Other sights taken in were the Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, the Capitol Building and the White House (with protestors to add some colour and movement).
We filled the afternoon with Visits to the Smithsonian (Museum of Natural History and the National Air and Space Museum).
Today left us in awe. Washington is a clean and modern city with incredible architecture. Moreover, we have found the scale of everything here to be amazing. We’ve not seen anything to match the grandness of this place.
Footsore yet again, we jumped back on the bus to bring us back to the Hotel. Tomorrow promises to be quite long as we head up through Pennsylvania and into Canada to check out a waterfall.
What I'm about to say is the truth...I have a friend buried at Arlington Cemetery. Colonel David Hackworth...I may have told you about him, Debbie. David married Peter who owned "Scaramouce" a Brisbane restaurant that I worked in part-time back in the mid-Seventies. David was a highly-decorated soldier in the US Army...he passed away back in 2005...and was given a funeral and a resting place befitting his service to his country. He came to Australia after he left the Army, after becoming disenchanted with the US's involvement in Vietnam. He bought land at Uki in northern NSW and built a fabulous pole home on the 360 acres. Randall and I became friendly with David because of our involvement with "Scaramouche" and Peter...Randall worked for her at both of her Brisbane restaurants when he first came back from the States. She had "Manouche" in Toowong as well. David was a tremendous fellow. The characters played by Martin Sheen and Marlon Brando in "Apocalypse Now" were based on him. Francis Ford Coppola came out to Aus to meet with David, with that purpose in mind, before he made the film. David and Peter had a son...they divorced and David eventually moved back to the States, where he remarried. I wish I'd known you were going to Arlington...I would have loved it if you had visited his grave site. Great pictures...great blog. Take care....hugs
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