DC: Arlington, the Lincoln Memorial & the White House

 Arlington National Cemetery was only kind of on my list of places to see when I was mentally planning my trip to DC. While I’m sure most history buffs wouldn’t consider a trip to the nation’s capital complete without a jaunt to Arlington, I was 50/50 on it. After talking with my friend in DC, however, I was quickly convinced that a trip to the National Cemetery should be on my list of places to see. With a number of historic sites to see today, I made Arlington my first stop so I could work my way across the bridge and through the monuments.

I used the maps below when I was planning my route. It definitely helps if you’re doing a self-guided tour:

Luckily, the Foggy Bottom-GWU Metro line (the closest to my friend’s flat) makes for an easy ride to Arlington — just a few stops on the blue line and I was there in less than 15 minutes.

My first order of business was to check out the site of the JFK Memorial. The site is touching and the views from the top of the hill are gorgeous. While I had a hard time capturing it in the photo, you should be able to see the eternal flame that’s part of the memorial.

Afterwards, I decided to head over to the Tomb of the Unknown Solider where the changing of the guard happens at the top of each hour.There’s something about seeing traditional ceremonies and soldiers in their dress suits that makes me feel incredibly patriotic. After spending a couple of hours exploring, I decided to head across the bridge to the Lincoln Memorial for my first DC stop.

Being that I’ve seen the memorial a thousand times in photographs, it was exactly what I expected. Still impressively massive, mind you, but exactly like every photo I’ve seen. One of the coolest parts was actually the view from the memorial. From the top, there’s an incredibly clear view of the Washington Monument straight down to the Capitol building. It happened to be an amazing day, too, so there were loads of people sitting on the steps soaking up their Vitamin D while taking in the sites.

After passing by the Vietnam Veterans Wall (which is really awesome), I grabbed lunch at Clara Barton’s Cafe (try the wraps — mmm!) and then headed to the White House to snap a few photos. I’ll be touring the White House on Monday, so I’m sure I’ll get some good snapshots then!

It wasn’t until a few photos in that I realized that the fountain water was green. Cheers to celebrating St. Patrick’s Day! (I now wonder, do they dye it pink for Valentine’s Day? Pastel-colored for Easter?)

It was definitely an eventful and gorgeous morning in DC. Check back later to see some photos from the Botanical Garden, the Capitol and some other great places that I stumbled upon along the way. Up for tomorrow: New York City!

Love from DC,