While I'm grateful that security is taken seriously, it's a disappointment that our nation's capitol has become such a locked-down seat of government. DC is still a major tourist destination and throngs of people from all over the world long to visit. We saw and loved all the monuments, being awed at the National Mall, at one point expecting Jenny to come running through the Reflecting Pool to greet Forrest Gump, as in the 1994 movie of the same name.
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| Senator Tom Cotton's office arranged our tour. |
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Replica of Lady Freedom
which stands atop the Capitol Dome |
Our US Capitol tour, arranged by Tom Cotton's office, was a highlight. There, we saw everything including the gorgeous rotunda. An area just outside the rotunda is set aside to honor those who gave their lives on 9/11 to save the Capitol when the plane went town in a Pennsylvania field. Todd Beamer's name (Let's Roll!) is among those engraved on a bronze wall monument.
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Capitol Rotunda where deceased dignitaries lie in state.
The story of our nation is painted around the dome area. |
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Marvin and tour guide Patrick, Intern in Sen. Cotton's office,
at the Rotunda, breathtakingly beautiful. |
Everything about the U.S. Capitol is grand and glorious, a source of pride and a place of homage to the statesmen who created our government and founded our nation.
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| Inside National Archives - not my photo |
Our first taste of heightened security was the hour in line for the National Archives where the original Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution take center stage. Once viewed by so many and shown without knowledge of what could happen to the documents with time and age, they are protected. We saw these documents, some quite faded, but they are the GEN-U-WINE items! Now they are lowered into a sealed and protected vault each evening, secured in an underground bunker.
The walking, the hopping on and hopping off buses that are on limited fall operational season schedules, plus the lengthy wait for security checks, added hours to our planned tours. We chose our most important monuments, our must-see list, and "That's all I have to say about that."
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| At National Mall Washington Monument |
We had intended to go to the top of the Washington Monument as it had just reopened. The lines for security and the tour wrapped the building and we had more to see, "miles to go before we slept."
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| Eternal Flame at Arlington Nat'l Cemetery |
Our final morning in D.C. began with a visit to Arlington National Cemetery where be boarded a shuttle and visited the Kennedy Family's area and witnessed the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns. Recently, thanks to DNA identification, the soldier who had been buried in a tomb of memory for Vietnam deaths, the remains were identified and returned with honor to his family.
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| Lincoln Memorial |
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| Lincoln Memorial |
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| Vietnam Memorial Wall with Veterans |
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While I'm grateful that security is taken seriously, it's a disappointment that our nation's capitol has become such a locked-down seat of government. DC is still a major tourist destination and throngs of people from all over the world long to visit. We saw and loved all the monuments, being awed at the National Mall, at one point expecting Jenny to come running through the Reflecting Pool to greet Forrest Gump, as in the 1994 movie of the same name.
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