Washington DC / Arlington Cemetery
DC & Midwest Trip | August 2019 | Days 3 & 4
We started our first full day in DC off with a ride on the metro to Arlington county in Virginia, grabbed breakfast at Panera and walked to the Arlington National Cemetery. Knowing we had another hot and humid day with lots of walking ahead of us, we prepared ourselves the same way we would before a hiking trip: comfortable walking shoes (and by that I mean hiking boots), moisture-wicking clothing (ready for lots of sweat), and a camelback and backpack with plenty of water. I can honestly say I’ve never felt more out of place in my life as we rushed along with crowds of people in suits to the metro.
We spent the entire morning in Arlington, beginning at the US Marine Cops monument and then walking to the national cemetery. We enjoyed the monuments and saw all the notable points of interest such as the gravesite of President John F. Kennedy, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and the Mast of the Maine. We letterboxed our way around, and when we were finished we took the metro back to the mall.
Ready for some more time spent in air conditioning, we made our way to the Smithsonian museum of our choice, the National Museum of American History. We knew it was far too ambitious to do more than one since we really only had this one full day here to ourselves, and this was our top choice. We spent several hours taking in many of the exhibits.
When we were finished, we stepped outside and found that it had cooled off considerably, but it also looked as though it was about to rain. Curtis had a few more letterboxes saved around the different memorials, so we headed to the Western side of the National Mall. We made it to the Lincoln memorial just as a thunderstorm began to pass through, and took cover inside along with many others. The booms of thunder echoed inside the memorial.
Once the storm passed, we continued on our way back to our hotel. We picked up some pizza and ice cream on the way to eat in our room.
The next day, Curtis had his big interview, which was the real reason why we were in DC. This was a huge milestone for him in his career, one that he’s been preparing for for a long time. He was gone until mid-afternoon, during which time I went for a walk, grabbed some food and found a park to enjoy while waiting and praying for him. He called me around 3 with the exciting news that he passed! We met back at the hotel, then went out for dinner and one last night walking around the mall.
For dinner, we went to a place called Buredo to try some sushi burritos. We enjoyed walking around Farragut, Franklin, and Lafayette Squares and looking at different monuments before returning to our hotel and preparing for the start of our road trip the next morning.
That concludes our time in Washington DC. We enjoyed cramming in as much as we could into a few days here, but clearly we missed a lot so we’ll have plenty to do if we ever return. It was definitely fun to be able to have an expenses-paid trip (besides my plane ticket) and not having the stress of driving ourselves around made it even more enjoyable. But we were also ready to get out of the city and see a lot more of the mainland with the extra leave Curtis was given. Stay tuned for the next posts detailing our trip to the Midwest!
