NY/DC Trip - Day 8

Last day.

Woke up at 6:30am and went into the living room.  I sat on the couch and covered up with the throw while surfing on my iPad.  The alarm I had set went off at 8:30 and I packed and showered, then we met Mom at 9:30 for breakfast.  I had the same breakfast again, this time with the chicken sausage, juice and whole grain toast.  Todd had french toast, sorry, Pain Perdu, again.

Pain Perdu if you're fancy

After breakfast, Mom brought her bags to our room and we checked her out.  Then we headed out to Arlington National Cemetery by taking the Blue line train at the Metro Center station to the Arlington Cemetery stop.

Metro Center station with GLaDOS about to descend from the ceiling

When we arrived we stopped in the welcome center for a map and bathroom break.  Since we had limited time, Mom chose to visit the John F. Kennedy gravesite and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  We headed uphill to the JFK gravesite first.

Arlington National Cemetery.  The visitor's center is through the hedge to the left.

The Kennedy gravesite is marked by an eternal flame, and is the burial site of John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and two of their children:  Patrick (born prematurely; died two days after birth) and Arabella (stillborn).

Eternal flame at the Kennedy gravesite

Looking away from Kennedy site

Around the cemetery and before the Kennedy grave are signs that read simply "Silence and Respect" to remind visitors where they are and how to behave.  When we were leaving I had to laugh as I watched a woman pointing out the sign to her young daughter, who could not have been more than 5 years old.  They stopped and the woman bent down to tell the girl what the sign said and asked her if she knew what it meant.  The little girl responded quietly that it meant to be quiet and "spectful".  The mother told her good, and that's right, and then stood back up.  They took maybe 2 steps toward the gravesite before the girl started skipping and singing loudly:  "Silence and respect!  Silence and respect!"

We then moved on to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  We arrived right as the bells were tolling noon; just in time to see a changing of the guard ceremony that we weren't aware of.

Entering the colonnade, or is it a peristyle?

Amphitheater

North staircase

South staircase

The view heading back

After the ceremony we headed to the subway station to go back to the hotel.  It was 12:30 and we had a 1:30 checkout time.  We boarded the Blue line train and then walked from the Metro Center station back to the W.  Todd finished packing and we checked out right at 1:30pm.

One of the other perks of staying in the suite was a $100 food and beverage credit.  We still $40 left, so we went back to the room and raided the munchie box for the Symmetry cd Todd wanted, a box of cashews and a s'mores candy bar.  We then went back to the front desk and finished checking out.

The lobby

Reflection

We waited in the lobby until the town car arrived at 2:30 to drive us to Reagan International Airport.  The driver was friendly, but very difficult to understand; he didn't speak much English and by his heavy accent I think he must have been from somewhere in eastern Europe.  It was a short ride to the airport and he was an aggressive driver, so we made it there quickly.

We tipped the driver, checked our bags, got our boarding passes and headed to the gate.  While waiting for our 4:40pm flight I had a dinner of a piece of cheese pizza, a ginger ale and a banana.  When it came time to board the plane we were pleasantly surprised to see it was only about half full.  The flight was smooth and uneventful - watched a little tv (but there was nothing on), had a cran-apple juice, and Todd and I split the cashews and candy bar from the hotel.

We landed at 7:10pm to a light mist/drizzle.  It was about 45 degrees.  We walked to the garage to Todd's car that we had left and then drove Mom to my aunt's house where her car was parked.  We visited briefly with her and then drove home.

It was a great trip.  We're so glad we were able to share it with Mom, and while we wish that my aunt Shirley had been able to join us, we understand that sometimes life happens and has other plans for us.  Next time.

Some of the detritus of travel that ended up with in my bag

One more thing before I forget:  I added up the Fitbit data for the week and we took approximately 125,000 steps and walked 59 miles.