St. John High School Washington DC Trip 2021 – Day 2

July 31, 2021—We had breakfast at the hotel and then loaded onto the bus at 8:15 for another jam-packed day. Our first stop was Arlington National Cemetery. This beautiful place was very remarkable and humbling. (click on pictures for full-sized version)

The Arlington House – This Greek Revival-style mansion overlooks the Potomac River and is a permanent memorial to Robert E. Lee.

One of our stops on our cemetery tour was at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The tomb is watched over by specially trained volunteers from the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as “The Old Guard.” The Old Guard watches the tomb 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, in all weather conditions. Witnessing the changing of the guards was probably my favorite part of the tour. It is very sobering and a fantastic display of honor and respect for the final resting place of the fallen soldiers who died in war and remain unidentified.

Some of the other places we visited were The Spaceship Challenger Memorial,

USS Marine Memorial,

JFK Memorial and Eternal Flame,

as well as various graves of other significant historical figures.

Next, we had a picnic lunch at Potomac Park, then spent the afternoon visiting the Air Force Memorial,

The Marine Corps War Memorial,

The Capitol Building (from the outside only, as it was closed to visitors)

and the Washington Monument. Last picture is of the Lincoln Memorial across the water.

At this point, we headed to Georgetown to have dinner. The kids went to Pinstripes for pizza and pasta while the adults ate at Martin’s Tavern. The tavern was built in 1933 by Major League Baseball player William “Billy” Martin and has served every president from Truman to George W Bush. It is also the place that JFK proposed to Jacqueline, as he just lived a couple blocks away. He also wrote the first draft of his inaugural speech here. This was a great little space chalked full of history. I will definitely come back here if I make it to D.C. in the future.

After dinner, we met up with the kids again and went to Lafayette Park. From here, we took pictures of the White House from across the lawn. This was another part of the tour that was still off-limits to visitors due to the COVID restrictions that were still in place.

We finished the evening visiting the WWII Memorial, where we found Kilroy,

the Vietnam Memorial,

and finally, the Lincoln Memorial. This impressive structure, inspired by the Parthenon in Athens, Greece, features a statue of Lincoln seated in the center. It was dedicated on May 30, 2022, and is one of the most recognized buildings in the world. It has been the site of national celebrations and the stage for rallies and demonstrations, especially ones for civil rights. Final picture – looking back across the water at the Washington Monument

We made it back to the hotel around 9:30 pm, where the kids had some time to swim or hang out at the hotel. It was another long but fun day.