Day 13 – Lost souls

It was a somber start to the day as the first stop on our Washington sightseeing tour was the Pentagon. The Metro station brought us out in to blazing heat right next to Pentagon memorial to 911. Near where the plane it the building there’s now a beautiful and serene memorial. It features benches set over water and date lines for the birthdate of victims. You can clearly see rebuilt section of the main building, I was shocked at its size. We left the site, like many others, in silence.

Next stop on the Metro was the Arlington Cemetery. Nothing can prepare you for the site head stones every where you look. Walking up the hill we visited JFK’s eternal flaming memorial and took a look around Arlington house. The views of the city from the grounds are stunning but overwhelmed by the uniform rows of graves. Away from the main house is the Memorial to the Unknown Soldier. Guarding the site is a lone soldier who marches across the site. His steps are so perfect that you can see lines in the ground where he and others before him have marched. The site left me feeling very somber.

Leaving the cemetery we headed over the river to Abraham Lincoln’s memorial and the reflecting pool. Sitting on the steps of the memorial conjours up memories of so many films and the view didn’t disappoint. Its definitely a place to sit and let the world go by for a while.

We didn’t have time to visit any of the Smithsonian Museums as we planned to get back on the road. Leaving route 1, the only road we round multiple motels on, we headed out of the city towards Annapolis. The route took us over the bay bridge just as the sun was setting – stunning is all I can say.

We’ve stopped for the night not far from the East Coast and plan to drive south tomorrow. Ended the night watching Gone in Seconds on HBO; a mind blowing program about massive explosions and disasters. First watchable TV program we’ve seen!