USA! USA! USA!

We arrived in Washington DC on Saturday late afternoon. Pete took the shuttle bus to the Convention Center to register for the Urology Conference while I unpacked and settled in at the Beacon Hotel. We had a pleasant room and a nice place to stay. When he returned we went walking and looking for a place to eat--not an easy task. We passed a few places that looked marginal, and finally settled on a restuarant at the Marriott Hotel not too far from our hotel. The meal was delicious, but I think they expect you to stay all night and drink and party, so the service was slow and it took a long time to finish the meal--and we were starving!  We enjoyed a restful and relaxing night back at the hotel.

Sunday morning Pete went to his meetings and then we decided to go sight seeing in the afternoon.  After getting help from a kind subway worker, we purchased tickets for the metro and found our way to The Mall, planning to walk around and see all the important places:  capitol, White House, monuments, etc.

As we embarked on our "walking tour" we soon discovered that the space between sites was huge and before the day was over we had practically walked ourselves to death.  But the weather was beautiful and thankfully there were lots of benches along the way for MANY much-needed breaks.

Peter and the Washington Monument (at the beginning of our walk)

 Arlene at the Lincoln Memorial

The Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial

I was VERY disappointed that the reflecting pond
was under re-construction.

A guide told us that it wouldn't be complete for another 14 months. 

The Korean War Memorial was very impressive with statues of Soldiers in the field

A sobering message . . .

World War ll Memorial

surrounded by pillars representing each state of the Union

The White House (from a very great distance . . .)

When we finally made it back to our metro stop, we were totally exhausted and our feet and legs were nearly numb with pain.  But we "sucked it up" and walked a few more blocks to the Old Post Office Building where we found a wonderful food court in the basement (we had been directed there by a nice man who thought we looked "lost.")  We had a great meal, got revived a bit and then took the elevator to the top of the building where there was an observation deck and we could see the whole Mall area.  It was sooooooooo awesome.

We finally made it back to our hotel (after another few blocks of walking from the metro stop).  We were bushed and literally fell into bed.  Next morning Pete returned to his meetings and I relaxed at the hotel and ordered room service breakfast ($30).  Pete called around noon and said he had had enough of the meetings and was ready to leave.  Besides, staying there was sooooooooooo expensive ($300/night).  So I packed up and we walked to a car-rental about a block away, got a very nice bright red Chevy Cruz and headed out of town.  Our first stop was Arlington Cemetery.

The Marine's Monument--Iwo Jima Statue

We were lucky enough to get there while the Marine Band was practicing for some upcoming event.  We watched them perform their maneuvers several times to a wonderful drum beat.  It was impressive and inspiring.

Arlington National Cemetery where rows and rows of grave markers stretched as far as the eye could see in every direction for what seemed like forever.

So peaceful and beautiful.
(we saved our feet and did this on a tour tram)

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier--representing soldiers who have died and their bodies not able to be identified.  We also watched the "changing of the guard" at this place which takes place hourly, no matter what the weather.  Impressive and sobering.

We left Arlington and drove to Mount Vernon (George Washington's home).  We got there just as they were closing for the night, so we went into The Mt. Vernon Inn for supper.  We were served by people dressed in colonial costume and had a very delicious and enjoyable meal surrounded by a colonial atmosphere.  Way fun!  It was raining when we left so we decided to find a hotel for the night and come back in the morning to see Mt. Vernon when they opened at 8 o'clock.  Well, next morning Pete was ready to get on the road and said, "We've already seen Mt. Vernon--we ate there!"  I couldn't talk him into staying for a house tour.  Usually he is not so stubborn.  I finally gave in, but never let him forget my HUGE disappointment about not being able to see George and Martha's home on the banks of the Potomac!!!!!

So we drove to southern Virginia and visited the town of Williamsburg--very quaint--and had a wonderful lunch there at a cute little cafe.  From there we drove to Jamestown, which was the first permanent American settlement on the James River, and then on to Yorktown about 20 miles away which was the site of a significant Revolutionary War battle.  They had an auto tour there and we followed arrows and visited several battle sites.  Very interesting.

Old Church at Jamestown

Statue of Pocohontas at Jamestown

Peter joins the CANNON REUNION at Yorktown

We left Yorktown in the evening and drove north and east toward the freeway which would take us to Kingsport.  On the way we came to the town of Charlottsville which was near the home of Thomas Jefferson.  We stayed in a hotel overnight so we could visit Monticello early the next morning when they opened for tours.  I guess Pete was tired of my complaining about Mt. Vernon, so he agreed to go on a tour of Monticello.  That was a good choice.  We had a wonderful time there and enjoyed seeing Jefferson's amazing home and learning more about him.  He was a great person with much vision and creativity.

Peter at Monticello

We left there and headed for Kingsport.  It was a very beautiful drive.  We did go through one area north of Bristol where a tornado had recently come through and left a path of destruction.  I've never seen anything like that before "up close."  Amazing how much damage can be done in a matter of seconds by good old Mother Nature! 

We drove to the airport where we left our rental car and Marilyn, Peter, KK, and Clark picked us up in their van.  The rest of the family were at church activities.  It was great to be with them again and enjoy some much needed rest and relaxation and loving hearts and open arms to welcome us.  We loved being there.  Our plane trip home worked out nicely and it felt really good to be home again.  After a nap and shower, we headed up to the hospital to visit Mom for a couple hours.  It was a GREAT TRIP.  I love my country and all those outstanding people who have fought and worked so hard to make it all possible.  We can't let them down!!!!