On Hallowed Ground -- Pentagon 9/11 Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia

Today we visited two memorials across the river in Virginia – the 9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon, and Arlington National Cemetery. Both are accessible via the Metro blue line. Our first stop was the Pentagon. On the train we met a woman from North Carolina who was trying to get to the same location. She was in DC attending a conference, and while her traveling companions wanted to sleep in, she really wanted to see the memorial. We decided we would all get lost together!

As it turned out, the 9/11 memorial was fairly easy to find. Exiting the subway at the Pentagon station, signs direct you through the parking lot to the back of the building. The memorial is tastefully done, with attractive angular benches and water features for each of those killed at the site. The names are inscribed on the end of the benches. Benches angling towards the building represent those killed on the plane, while benches angled away from the building represent those killed in the Pentagon. They are arranged in lines by year of birth. As it turned out, our new friend Lynn had been in New York on 9/11 also. In fact, she was on a USAir flight from Charlotte to LaGuardia, and was trying to land as the planes were striking the towers. Her plane ended up with smoke in the cabin from the first plane to hit the tower. When they were finally allowed to land, she was trapped on the island of Manhattan for 24 hours in a traffic jam before a firefighter got her through a bridge blockade so she could drive home to Charlotte.

We parted ways with our new friend and took the subway up to the Pentagon Mall for shopping and lunch. Laura bought some new clothes and then we jumped back on the subway and headed towards Arlington. By this time the temperature was pushing 70 degrees on a beautiful fall day. We walked through the cemetery to the graves of Robert and Jacqueline Kennedy, then on to the memorials for the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia. From there we walked to the Tomb of the Unknowns and witnessed the changing of the guard. The kids were amazed by the precision and timing the guards exhibit during the ceremony. Afterwards, we trekked back to the subway and ultimately the campground just before dark.

The campground celebrated Halloween a day late with a tractor pulling a large wagon of trick or treaters around the facility. We enjoyed a campfire and greeted the costume clad kids using Brian’s and Laura’s pumpkin ablaze with candle light. They took the pumpkin down to the party at the community center at 9:00, and won third place in the carving competition!