Jeremy Dieterich A Chronicle of My Life

Today was another all-over day.  We got up a little late and had a leisurely breakfast buffet, met Jim, Mary, and Courtney downstairs to drop off our luggage (since we checked out of the room), then hit the Metro for Arlington Cemetery.  We saw the eternal flame at Kennedy's grave, Bobby Kennedy's grave, the Tomb of the Unknowns (at noon to catch the changing of the guard and a wreath changing ceremony), the amphitheater, Robert E. Lee's Arlington House, and memorials to the crews of Space Shuttles Challenger and Columbia.  The weather made for some great walking around, although I did think I was going to lose Marci on the last set of stairs we went up!

We next headed toward the Bureau of Engraving & Printing, only to discover that they were closing at 2PM in 10 minutes (guess they keep banker's hours).  Instead, we went to the National Archives to see the Declaration of Independence (no, no map on the back) and Constitution.  Next we continued on to Capitol Hill.  It was way too late to get tickets to tour inside, but we did walk around and take pictures.  No HillDog sightings, although if I had seen her you'd probably know already because it would've made national news.

With that, we'd seen practically everything that we wanted to see, so we trekked on over to Union Station for a very late lunch and a look around at the shops.  When we were done there, we headed to the Metro station which was right inside and rode back out toward Virginia and met up with the family.  We had some greasy burgers and fries from Five Guys and then hung around the apartment until it was time to go to sleep.  The sleeping quarters were a little cramped (I think my foot was in a bookcase for a while), but it was convenient for getting to the airport Tuesday. (and you couldn't beat the price!)