Exceedingly Mundane

We got up early this morning and took a very uncrowded subway train out to Arlington Cemetery. We had to change trains at the Rosslyn station and we just barely missed our connecting train out to the cemetery and then had to wait 18 minutes on the next train. Argh, that’s the most we’ve had to wait so far!

We took a Tourmobile through the cemetery, with stops at the Kennedy gravesite (saw the eternal flame and graves of John Fitzgerald and Jackelyn Bouvier), and also the gravesite of his brother Bobby. Our tour guide told us that Bobby’s simple white cross was stated in his will, and it’s the only cross like that in the entire cemetery. One of the reasons that Kennedy is buried where he is, right below Arlington House (the Custis-Lee mansion), is that he stood up there 11 days before his assassination and was heard to remark “I could stay here forever”. We next stopped at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. When we first arrived, we watched in silence at the lone guard standing his post, going back and forth along a rubberized mat in silence, in front of the white marble tomb. Then we watched the changing of the guard. It was very precise, very somber, very respectful, and Tim and I thought, incredibly moving. I think it’s the highlight of our trip so far. I think it’s extraordinary that these guards stand out there, in wool suits and full dress uniform, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, and have continuously, never missing a minute, dating back to 1937. They stand there in hurricanes, blizzards, blazing July summers, watching their post and guarding the tomb. Extraordinary.

We got back on the Tourmobile for the last stop, Arlington house, which is the pre-Civil War home of Robert E Lee and his wife Mary Custis Lee, who is the great granddaughter of Martha Washington. We could take pictures inside this house, unlike the interior of Mount Vernon, so I snapped some pics of the antebellum furnishings.

We’ve just gotten back to the hotel after our cemetery trip, and are going to shower and change into dress clothes for our White House tour. Kirk and Nichole will be here soon to pick us up, so I’d better go get ready. Check back later for more!