Brothers Across America – Days 10-15

Figured now was as good as time as any to get back to writing these. As you may see, there are not any state sign pictures for our travels north to Connecticut. For anyone who doesn’t know, the route along I-95 North does not lend itself well to stopping at all the borders and getting pictures, so I elected not to do so, and didn’t do so again until we crossed into Indiana. 

We arrived in Virginia a little worse for wear. My car decided to have a few minor problems crop up along the way, and the drive from South Carolina to Virginia was pretty taxing because of the wind. But arriving in Arlington, where we were able to stay with my sister Jen, was a nice pause to the trip, allowing us to rest up and reset before continuing on.

We didn’t do a whole lot while in DC. I tried to write some, Billy studied a bit, but we generally just hung out. On Friday, I had the seemingly minor repairs made to Pamela at the local VW dealership, spending a bit more than expected in the process. Hopefully, she’ll be able to hold up the rest of the way as we make our way back across the country.On Friday night, we went and saw Oz the Great and Powerful, taking a step away from Jen’s small computer to see something on a bigger screen. The movie was okay, but started what should be quite a run of movie viewing over the next few months for Billy and I.

After a lazy Saturday, we finally went out and about on Sunday, stopping by the Museum of Natural History before walking along the mall by the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial. The Lincoln Memorial is always an awesome sight, and one of my favorite places to visit while in DC.

There were a lot of folks there per usual, hence the weird angle, but I still needed to get the pic nonetheless.

While sitting on the stairs outside and resting, I took a picture of the Washington Monument and the Reflecting Pool. Though moments before I was cursing the length of the pool as we walked to see Lincoln, it is still pretty neat what it does and why they built it:

Monday morning, Billy and I went to my favorite place in DC, Arlington National Cemetery. For the first time after many visits, I saw a horse drawn carriage bearing a casket, as well as heard a 21-gun salute and Taps in the distance from one of the funerals that was happening that day. That was pretty intense I must admit, as Taps is one of those things that almost immediately prompts a response from my heart.

Since we arrived at the cemetery close to closing time, we really didn’t get to spend that much time there, though we did hit the “hot” spots:

But everyone knows the real reason why everyone goes to the cemetery: the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers Guards. I could easily get hypnotized by these guys as they do their thing, and every single time that I see them, I can’t tell them apart. We caught the changing ceremony, which is always a treat, and I decided to just enjoy it and not try to document it with pictures as it happened like everyone else there. However, I did steal a pic from the guard before we left as he was pausing in his duties:

I always like to go to Arlington, and I always try to do so every time that I am in the area. If you haven’t been, I suggest that you go. If you do, just watch the guards as they do their thing during the changing; there are things that you will see if you aren’t focused on just getting a picture over someone’s head.

We departed DC on Tuesday night, waiting for my sister to get home from work. I figured that the drive to Connecticut wouldn’t be that difficult, especially considering that I made it many times in the six months that I lived in Alexandria. My arrival in Connecticut was met with many emotions, which I will touch on in my next post.

Until then…