Arlington House ~ The Robert E. Lee Memorial
Arlington House was built by George Washington Parke Custis and his slaves between 1802 and 1818. His daughter, Mary Custis, great-granddaughter of First Lady Martha Washington, married Robert E. Lee. The Lees inherited Arlington House when her father passed away. Arlington House has a long, interesting history ~ it’s been a home for the Lee Family and Custis Families, a plantation estate and home to 63 slaves, a monument honoring George Washington, a military headquarters, a community for emancipated slaves and is currently a National Cemetery.
Old Guard Soldier at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.
We stayed for the changing of the guard ceremony which takes place on the hour (Oct-March) and every half hour (April -Sept). Note: the ceremony may seem “over” but don’t start talking until you leave the site of the “Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.” We were “shusshed” for whispering after the ceremony. I cringe at that as I would never want to be disrespectful in such a place of honor.
Eternal Flame at the John F. Kennedy gravesite
Quote at the Women’s Memorial at Arlington Cemetery
Gravestone of George W. George ~ I tried to find more information about him but there wasn’t much on the internet. One of the fascinating things about Arlington Cemetery is all the famous people buried there. It reminded me of when I went through the National Portrait Gallery in London. I wanted to look up the stories of all the names I saw. I’m sure there’s an interesting life story behind all of those graves.
Burial site of Pierre L’Enfant, a French-born American civil engineer who designed the streets of Washington DC in the late 1700s. His grave has sweeping views of Washington DC ~ including the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol.
The family photo at Arlington Cemetery
If you visit Arlington Cemetery, check out their site here. The cemetery is open 7 Days a week, 365 days a year. The hours are 8am – 7pm (April – September) and 8am – 5pm (October – March). The parking garage closes 1 hour after cemetery. From the Arlington, it’s an easy walk over the Memorial Bridge to the Mall and the monuments.
What a great post! I’ve not seen the amphitheater before.
My father was stationed at the Pentagon when I was in HS and we visited so many landmarks in DC. It’s been ages, though, and I need to get back to seeing some of this historic places.
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Thanks so much! I hadn’t seen the amphitheater before either ~ always went around to the front. It’s a beautiful building.
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Great post! We visited Arlington Cemetery when we toured Washington, DC. Sadly we couldn’t do an elaborate tour of the cemetery. Beautiful pictures, especially the one of Amphitheater 🙂
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Thanks! Hope you get a chance to come back and do a longer tour. I’m going back just to peruse the older grave sites. I like to read the names and dates… hope that’s not too odd sounding 😉
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No it isn’t sounding odd – only shows you are a detail-oriented person – love your descriptions!
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Very nice post, and the descriptive information was excellent. I too was intrigued by the marker for George W. George. Didn’t find much on him but his unit, the 5th NH Infantry Regiment apparently had the highest battlefield casualty rate of any Union regiment in the Civil War.
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Thanks for your kind comment. I thought there would be more information on LT George since he has such a great burial spot at Arlington. I’ll do more researching when I have a little more time…
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Arlington Cemetery is one of my favorite DC landmarks. It is so peaceful. And beautiful. My husband’s Battalion Commander, who was KIA on their deployment, is buried there so we make it a point to visit when we can. Walking along the ‘new’ section, it is amazing how many names we recognize. Very sobering.
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Sobering is a good word for Arlington Cemetery. Sorry to hear about your husband’s Battalion Commander. Unfortunately, being a military family as well, we know too many who didn’t come home. Even though they aren’t buried at Arlington, I thought of them a lot as I walked the cemetery.
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