4th of July in the Nation's Capital

In my search for an affordable hotel near a Metro line, this one seemed to be what we were looking for. The hotel provides a shuttle from Reagan National airport and a shuttle to the Pentagon City Metro Station. Some reviews on travel websites were quite good; a few were terrible. It was in the price range I was looking for and because I had waited too long to reserve a place for this 4th of July weekend, I booked it.

If friends asked for a hotel recommendation, I would probably steer them away from the Best Western Pentagon. It’s not that it was awful. It was clean. Our room certainly could have used some TLC, but housekeeping does the best they can with older facilities. The shuttle was handy, and breakfast from 6:30-10am each morning was adequate. The front-desk staff was very friendly. The beds were actually quite comfortable.

The shuttle runs every half hour beginning at 6am until 10am. Then every hour from 11am until 4pm, and back to every ½ hour until 10pm. There are a LOT of people in the breakfast room getting something to eat just before 10am. It then follows that most of them want to get on the 11am shuttle to the Metro to explore the city. We wished for a 10:30 am shuttle to help relieve crowding on the little bus. They did run 2 shuttles for a little while, but they were packed. A 10pm last shuttle from the Metro station was a bit too early for us. Especially on the 4th of July, when the fireworks don’t even start until 9:15! We twice ended up taking a $10 taxi ride from the Metro station back to the hotel.

The Best Western Pentagon is not within walking distance of anything. No late-night snacking unless it comes from the vending machine.

The hotel was fine. Nothing special.

"What’s with the geese?" my 17-year old son asked as he gazed up at the bird-in-flight above our table. Old Ebbitt Grill is decorated in the manner of a gentlemen’s club. Taxidermy, rifles, old books, statuary of hunting dogs and ducks, dark colors, dark wood. I’d been told that not only was it a great place to eat for a decent price, but you might even see a politician or two. I couldn’t say if there were any politicos dining that Sunday afternoon, but the food was very good, and the prices competitive.

The guys were unimaginative in their choice of a cheeseburger, but they were very happy. Big, cooked to order, and plenty of condiments fit the bill for them. I tried the Southwest Chicken Salad. Fresh fried chicken topped a bed of lettuce and greens with white sweet corn, red bell peppers and tortilla chips. A BBQ ranch dressing completed this terrific salad.

At around $40 for 3 of us, including soft drinks, it was an affordable, unique dining experience.

The nearest metro stop to our hotel, the Pentagon Plaza, is just one stop away from the Arlington National Cemetery. After walking our little feet off for two days, I knew that the Tourmobile http://www.tourmobile.com/ was going to be our best option for this day, and at $7.50 per person, a great deal.
The Tourmobile makes 4 cemetery stops: Arlington Cemetery Visitors Center/Women in Military Service for America Memorial, the Kennedy Gravesites, Tomb of the Unknowns (Changing of the Guard) and Arlington House/Robert E. Lee Memorial.
Over 320,000 service members, from the Civil War to the present rest on this land. It’s a beautiful spot, 624 acres, across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial. The land originally belonged to George Washington’s adopted grandson, George Washington Parke Custis, and was intended to be a memorial to George Washington. Parke Custis and his wife lived in the Arlington House until their deaths in the mid-1850’s. Their only daughter, Mary Anna, inherited the house. Mary Anna was married to Robert E. Lee. In 1861, when war was imminent and Lee resigned his commission in the US Army, they left the home and land knowing it was likely lost when he became a Confederate officer.
The government confiscated the land when Mrs. Lee did not return to pay the property taxes in person as was required. It was established as a national cemetery in 1864. The Lee’s son, George Washington Custis Lee, brought a suit alleging the land had been illegally confiscated and the land was returned to him. Congress then purchased title to the property from him for the sum of $150,000.
Since then, many heroes, known and unknown, have been laid to rest on these green hills. The Memorial and Eternal Flame at the Kennedy gravesites overlooking the beautiful city of Washington DC inspire tranquility. It’s natural to be hushed and contemplative when reading quotes from President Kennedy inscribed on the granite stones. Astronauts from the Challenger and Columbia disasters are buried and/or memorialized as well as others from the space program. A portion of the mast from the USS Maine is installed on a hillside with a memorial and another section is devoted to Chief Justices and Associate Justices of the United States Supreme Court.
Another famous area is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. Walk through the stunning, white marble Memorial Amphitheater on your way to watch the changing of the guard. The Amphitheater hosts 3 official annual memorial services every year: an Easter sunrise service, a Memorial Day service and a Veteran’s Day service. A Memorial Display Room, between the Amphitheater and the Tomb of the Unknowns displays tributes to service members bestowed by many organizations and countries. Photos are also displayed that show the processionals and pageantry surrounding the burial of each of the unknowns.

The changing of the guard is a fascinating ceremony to witness. The tomb is guarded 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, rain or shine, snow, sleet or hail. The guards chosen as sentinels must meet very strict requirements and are all volunteers. It’s a great honor to qualify to guard this tomb of soldiers "Known but to God." The ceremony is very precise and meaningful. The changing of the guard occurs every half hour from April 1-Sept 30, and every hour the rest of the year.
I highly recommend using the Tourmobile. The tour is narrated and you may ride as much or as little as you want. Tour an area until YOU are ready to go, then catch the next bus.

With ample choices for great viewing at or near the National Mall, we were pleasantly surprised at how uncrowded it seemed. The many security checkpoints around the Mall seemed to handle the crowd very well. We breezed through, with only one of us carrying a backpack, which was searched. Walking from the L’Enfant Plaza Metro Station, we entered from 7th Street. Meandering west, we finally settled on a spot near the Washington Monument.

Having flown over 2000 miles from Phoenix that morning, we were traveling light for a 3-day stay. We surely hadn’t thought to pack a blanket or towels to sit on the damp lawn. In fact, we hadn’t even thought to check the weather. Our very first purchase as we reach the top of the escalator from the Metro, in the pouring rain, was 2 umbrellas! Fortunately, the rain over the weekend was sporadic and we even used the umbrellas for sunshade occasionally.

We found a somewhat dry spot on the edge of a sidewalk from which to watch the show. The stage where the Gatlin Brothers were performing was close enough to hear the music at a level that still allowed for conversation. A pleasant chat with the people seated next to us, from Georgia, made the last ½ hour move quickly.

What a show! We’d picked a terrific spot, near enough to feel the concussion from each explosion in our chests. An amazing display, non-stop, constantly escalating toward a grand finale of continual flashes and booms. I was teary when the last explosion ended, and the crowd went wild with whistles and cheers. What a way to spend Independence Day, at the place where our freedoms were fought for and secured.

Germany, India, France, Scandinavia, Britain, Mexico, Asia. We saw people and heard languages from around the world. It gave me extra pride in my country to realize that our Nation’s Capital and its history were attractive internationally.

Francis Scott Key was a young Washington lawyer when he was sent on a mission to secure the release of a friend held captive by the British Fleet during the War of 1812. Key and others of his party watched from a truce ship in the harbor as at dawn on September 13, 1814, the British began a bombardment of Fort McHenry lasting all through the day and night. Realizing that the fort was not going to fall, the British fleet turned around and headed for its next target, New Orleans. As the British ships sailed away, the morning guns were fired and a large flag was hoisted over the fort. As the light broke and smoke cleared, Key could see the huge, proud flag still waving and was inspired to write a 4-stanza poem entitled "The Defence of Fort McHenry."

"Let the praise, then, if any be due, be given, not to me, who only did what I could not help doing, but to the inspirers of the song!" These are the humble words of Francis Scott Key as his poem was published in newspapers around the country and sunk into the hearts of the citizenry. With the opening lines, "O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light," the poem was soon being sung to the tune of "To Anacreon in Heaven." Renamed "The Star-Spangled Banner," it became the National Anthem of the United States in 1931.

Our tour began with a 15-minute film about the history of the fort. At the conclusion of the film a men’s choir begins singing a beautiful a capella version of "The Star Spangled Banner" as the audience rises. As we stood there listening to the beautiful music, the large curtain covering the picture windows opened revealing a view of Fort McHenry and the 15-starred American Flag of 1812. Usually, a replica of the very large (42x30 feet) flag is flown and I imagine it’s a very impressive sight. On the day of our visit, inclement weather forced the flying of a much smaller replica. The original flag that inspired our National Anthem hangs in the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington DC.

Our tour guide was a historian, instrumental in refurbishing the original flag. Pieces had been cut from the fabric and he and his team was able to track down the story of the missing pieces and have them returned to the museum for the restoration of the flag. It turned out that the commander of Fort McHenry, Major George Armistead had kept the flag in his family, and swatches had been cut as souvenirs for friends and family.

This was an unplanned tour for us and turned out to be one of our favorite sites.

How can you pick a favorite?
The Washington Monument is recognizable around the world. Standing just over 555 feet high, it’s the tallest stone structure in the world. A flag of each of the 50 states surrounds the marble, granite and sandstone obelisk. Tickets to tour the inside were no longer available for the weekend we were there. They can be obtained in person (but sell out quickly early in the morning) or by going to http://www.reservation.gov and purchasing the normally free tickets online for a very small fee.

Isn’t Abraham Lincoln the favorite president of every American child at some point? His marble memorial is stunning. Over 19 feet tall, this statue of the beloved president gazes between marble columns across the reflecting pool to the Washington Monument. Inspiring inscriptions from the Gettysburg address and Lincoln’s 2nd inaugural address are carved into the walls. Words that are as applicable today as they were when uttered in 1863: "It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

The Jefferson Memorial is situated across the Potomac River from the Washington Monument, in West Potomac Park. In 2 days of traversing the National Mall, we were just too tired to walk that last 20 miles (slight exaggeration) over to this memorial. Fortunately, an unexpected need to rent a car and drive to Baltimore (BWI airport) took us right past Mr. Jefferson and we took a detour to see his marble Memorial. Of all the wonderful and inspirational quotes from our nation’s great leaders, Thomas Jefferson’s struck me as most progressive and pertinent to our time:

"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

"I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions. But laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors."

"Almighty God hath created the mind free...All attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens...are a departure from the plan of the Holy Author of our religion...No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship or ministry or shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief, but all men shall be free to profess and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion. I know but one code of morality for men whether acting singly or collectively."

Below the monument is a small museum and gift shop. Be sure to stop there for more interesting information on this great man. Oh! And be sure to take a look at his really cool copy machine in the display of his desk and writing instruments.

These Memorials are open to the public 24 hours a day. I highly recommend seeing them both in the daylight, and lit up at night. Park service employees are on duty during the day to answer questions.

The WWII Memorial is simply beautiful. Brilliantly white columns, cooling fountains and a view of famous monuments to the east and west make it visually stunning. 400,000 men and women who perished and 16 million who served during this war are honored in this memorial. The Memorial was funded almost entirely by private donations.

The Korean War Memorial statues of soldiers represent the Army, Navy, Marines and Airforce working together. A mural stands to their right, with sandblasted photos honoring those who gave support such as medical, supply, and spiritual. Over 54,000 American lives were lost, and honored with the inscription, "Our nation honors her sons and daughters who answered the call to defend a country they never knew and a people they never met."

More than 58,000 American men and women were killed in the Vietnam War. The sheer number of names inscribed on the granite Wall is overwhelming. The personal notes, photos and mementos left at the base of the wall make this Memorial more personal than the others. This memorial was designed to be a place to reflect and contemplate, and it achieves that goal. The crowd gets quiet and thoughtful as each person slowly walks along the wall, feeling the names etched into the Wall. Tears of sorrow and gratitude can hardly be held back.