The Great American Journey

GAP WALK JOURNALS - VII

Wednesday - September 10, 2008 Day 189 0.0 miles

Total New York miles - 33.2 Walking Days - 94

Washington D.C. miles - 4.6 Cumulative miles 1688.8

Today Norma and I went to IHOP for breakfast - it’s across the
street from where we are staying. Then from there we drove in
to Arlington National Cemetery and parked in the parking lot.
After getting our tickets for the Tourmobile, we went out to wait
for it. Soon we were off to Washington.

Armand was our tour guide, and he was delightful and very
informative. This time we stayed on for the whole tour, then
after completing the route around D.C. we were back at
Arlington where we boarded the bus for the tour of the
Cemetery. We’ll get back to Washington in a jiffy, but first I’ll
tell you about Arlington.

As the guide was putting down the bars on our tour bus I looked
out on my side and saw four planes flying overhead quite low
in formation. Then the sound came and everyone looked up.
Awesome.

As we headed to the gravesite of John F. Kennedy we had to
stop to allow a horsedrawn funeral wagon going by. At the
gravesite we got out and took pictures. This was a short
stop, then we were on to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Here we watched the noon changing of the guard. I’ve been to
D. C. three times on this walk, and have seen the changing of
the guard three times, but never tire of it.

Then to Arlington House at the top of the hill where we toured
the house, and looked at the fantastic view of Washington from
there. They are restoring Arlington House, so the furniture is
out, but they have pictures of how each room is supposed to
look.

Back at the Cemetery Visitor’s Center we boarded another bus
to go back into the city - our tickets allow us to get on and off all
day. This time we had a woman guide (I don’t remember her
name). She gave information about some things that we didn’t
get before (each guide tells the things that impress them, so you
get a variety of information this way). We had decided to get off
this time at the Castle, which is the first of the Smithsonian
buildings. We ate lunch inside then looked through the main
floor and the gardens. From there we went back to catch another
Tourmobile, and took the rest of the tour with Damien as our
guide this time. He brought out another set of information. Both
times we went around the Capitol building we noticed both flags
were flying - this indicates that both The House of
Representatives and The Senate are in session.

If you’re coming to Washington D. C. I would highly
recommend that you take the Tourmobile Sightseeing Tour. I
have taken other tours here, and this is by far the most
informative. Norma and I both enjoyed it so much.

The full tour includes the Smithsonian, the Capitol, Union
Station, the Washington Monument, the Bureau of Engraving
and Printing, the Jefferson Memorial, Franklin D. Roosevelt
Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial,
WWII Memorial, the White House, and the Arlington Cemetery.
The tour goes by these things and much information is given,
and you are free to get off and spend more time at any of these
places.

When we finished back at the Visitor’s Center we got Lady Mag
and headed back into Falls Church. We made stops at Safeway
for bananas, and IHOP for a wonderful pot roast dinner (for
seniors we bought one meal and got one free - a great savings
for us). Then back to our room to get ready for the night and for
tomorrow. It was a great day for us.