Washington DC, Arlington and Gettysburg

The bus tour ended back at the same motel in Boston that we started at. We arrived there around 10:00 am. Our flight to Baltimore wasn't until 4:00. So we stayed in the lobby of the motel and played cards with a couple of women who were also on the tour until time to take the shuttle to the airport. We flew from Boston to New York then to Baltimore. The airport was about 1 1/2 hr. drive to our motel so it was about 9:00 p.m. by the time we got to our room. The next morning we took the shuttle from the hotel to Pentagon City, where we caught the Hop on-Hop off bus to tour DC. Our first stop was the Holocaust Memorial Museum. We spent between 2-3 hr. there. I can't believe how someone like Hitler was able to spread his hatred so fast to the people of Germany. It was interesting to see how he was able to force people by violence to not support any Jewish businesses. It was hard seeing the results of the Holocaust and the conditions the Jewish people were forced into. I'm glad we went and were able to see and learn the things we did, however it's not something I want to do again. I do feel it is very important that people remember the Holocaust so it never happens again. We took advantage of visiting several of the many museums while in DC. We also saw the White House. We saw a police escort of a black limo with the flags on the front and several black secret service vehicles as it entered the driveway to the White House. We didn't know who was in the vehicle but it was interesting to see how quickly they moved the people and traffic away from their vehicles as they entered the driveway. The White House museum was also very interesting. We went to the National Archives where we could see the original documents of the Constitution of the United States and other important documents. We spent a couple of hours in the Air & Space Museum as well. The first evening there we rode the bus for the Illumination tour of DC. It started at dark and they drove around all the museums, etc. We went to Union Station and met the train to go back to meet the shuttle to go back to our hotel.
While in DC, we saw the Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials as well as many of the war museums. As we passed the Pentagon, it was interesting to see the spot the terrorist drove the plane into the building. We spent 2 days in DC and could have spent many more to see everything. It is a very interesting city.
Jennifer, Joel and the kids met us to go to Arlington and Gettysburg. We took the bus around Arlington and stopped at Pres. Kennedy's grave and the eternal flame. The bus was also stopped for a funeral procession. So we were able to see the horse drawn carriage as it carried the casket to it's final resting spot. There are about 30-50 funerals a day there and they receive the up most respect and reverence. We continued on the tour to the grave of the Unknown Solider. We watched the changing of the guards twice and was in awe at the experience. I'm so grateful for the men and women who have fought and lost their lives for our freedom, as well as those who have served and continue to serve. The kids were so cute as we watched them try to walk and move like the guards did. The bus continued on to General Lee's home for a tour. He never went back to his home after the Civil War because there was a tax put on it and he never paid it. The government said they would bury their dead in Martha's (Lee's wife) rose garden. That was the beginning of Arlington.
The next day we drove to Gettysburg to see the battlefields of the Civil War. It was a somber experience to realize over 50,000 people lost their lives in that battle. There are monuments for each of the states that were represented in the war as well as the battalions and all the leaders of the armies who had lost their lives. I was amazed that it was as flat as the area was and the size of it. We also saw a video on the Civil War and visited the museum.
This brought the end of our trip as we headed back to the airport the next morning. The trip was great and we learned and experienced so much history of our great country. It was hard to go back home and return to our daily activites.