Arlington Cemetery

This spectacular view of Washington D.C. is from the Robert E. Lee mansion at Arlington Cemetery. Arlington House was the property of Lee's wife, Mary Custis, the great-granddaughter of Martha Washington and step-great granddaughter of George Washington. The Lees lost their beautiful home and plantation during the Civil War because they were unable to come in person, as required by law, to pay some $90 in taxes that were due. The union army, bitter that Lee had resigned his position in the U.S. Army to serve in the Confederacy (Lee was actually invited by Abraham Lincoln to take command of the Union Army, but he declined out of loyalty to Virginia, his home state) turned the plantation into a cemetery, ensuring that Robert E. Lee would never live there again. After the war, Lee became president of Washington College in Virginia, and that's where he and his wife are buried (it was renamed Washington and Lee University after his death). The plantation was later returned to Lee's descendants, but they had no desire to live in a cemetery, and they sold it back to the U.S. government for $150,000. Arlington Cemetery was a must-see on Scott's list of things to do -- it is a beautiful and solemn place.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier: "Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God"

Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

This impressive building stands opposite the tomb -- Bruce and Scott watching the ceremony

P.S. Lest anyone get all too serious about this, I have to share a memory of our time living in Virginia. We had just visited Arlington Cemetery and David, at age 8 or 9, was quite impressed with The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. A short time later, his pet hamster died -- so he dug a grave in the flowerbed alongside the house, fashioned a small wooden cross, and wrote on it: "Here lies an American hamster, known but to God." Do you remember this, Dave?