Arlington National Cemetery

It was a jam-packed Wednesday. This blogger must tell you we did not have great Internet access at a single location today. Thus, I had to wait until now to update the DC trip blog. So...here goes.

Our day began at Arlington National Cemetery. A light drizzle was nothing for this crew. We prepped the students with a brief history of the Cemetery, including a preview of one of the sites on the grounds: the Arlington House. Known better as Robert E. Lee's house (yep..that Robert E. Lee!), the home was a place for family gatherings of the Confederate general's family, and was also the site of Lee's formal resignation from active military service.

Arlington House, or Lee Mansion.
That structure in the foreground is a memorial to Pierre L'Enfant, city planner of D.C.

One of the highlights was also standing to watch the famous Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We stood in silence (and boy were our kids good!) to observe the highly choreographed procession, replete with a solemn speech by the Honor Guard on watch. Each guard must memorize 7 pages of Arlington National Cemetery history and pass a rigorous test in order to become part of the Honor Guard.

On guard and ready to defend.
Each guard's duty stands watch for one hour a few times a day, and serves this post for close to 1 year. 

Directly following the brief but meaningful ceremony, we spotted the laying of the wreath by an ROTC group from a high school in Illinois.

ROTC group from IL (left) salutes the memory of all fallen U.S. soldiers yet to be identified.
A member of the Honor Guard occupies the structure to the right during this ceremony, awaiting his return to duty.