Monday 24 August 2015

On The Road Again - Day 3

We left Hershey, PA at around 9am today to continue our journey South.  Before making our way to Washington, DC we had a stop in Gettysburg.  Gettysburg is the location of one of the deadliest battles during the civil war.


The first place we explored on our self guided tour was the Soldiers' National Cemetery.


This is the location where Lincoln gave the famous Gettysburg address.

We saw quite a few markers and monuments along our tour.  But got out and stretched our legs on a hike up to the top of Big Round Top.


Then saw the amazing view from the top of Little Round Top.

After a picnic lunch, we made our way through Maryland, and into Virginia.  Our hotel is across the Potomac river from Washington in Arlington, VA.  We were excited to see the Washington Monument in the distance, as we approached our hotel.

Arlington is home to the Arlington National Cemetery: a huge national military cemetery.


I had no idea how many things in this cemetery were important monuments that I had heard about.  We stopped at the John F. Kennedy (and Family) burial.  Arlington House, Pan Am Flight 103 memorial, World War 2 memorial, Space Shuttle Columbia and Space Shuttle Challenger Memorials.






We had gorgeous views of Washington from the top of the hill! We could see the Washington Monument, the Pentagon, and the Capitol Building.



One of the coolest things we saw was the tomb of the unknown soldier.  We happened to be there during the changing of the guards, which is quite a traditional ceremony.


One thing that was quite interesting was how big the memorial is for the United States Marine Corps.  We expected it to be much smaller than it was...it's huge!

After a busy day with tons of walking in intense heat, we headed back to the hotel for dinner and a rest.  Tomorrow we cross the river into Washington, DC!


No comments:

Post a Comment