Monday: Arlington and the Pentagon

Yesterday was my parents' last full day in town. I ended up spending most of it alone with my mom, since the plans for the day (Arlington Cemetery and the Pentagon) struck my dad as a little too much running around. We missed him and Matt, but we also had a hilariously fun day together (the solemnity of the sites notwithstanding, of course).

Memorial at the Pentagon to those who died on 9/11/01. (The full-scale memorial is being opened and commemorated this Thursday)

My mom, doing a little dance in the subway

In front of Arlington Cemetery, with Arlington House in the background

The changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Amphitheater at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Arlington House, the Robert E. Lee Memorial

I didn't realize that the government seized the land for Arlington Cemetery from Lee and his family, and that it took a Supreme Court battle to even get the government to compensate them for it. Kind of reminds me of the history of Shenandoah National Park, in the way that the history is so totally at odds with what a beautiful place it is.

After my mom walked my legs into little bloody tired stumps,
we stopped at the Froggy Bottom Pub for a yummy and long-awaited lunch

After coming home to a dinner which my father had generously cooked, we polished off the evening with some frozen custard from Nielsen's and a visit from my old friend Hannah.