Well its been a few days and my internet connections have been sporadic at best. I apologize for the delay. I left Fredericksburg, Va Wednesday the 16th and headed North to Mt Vernon, the home of our first president George Washington. It was as I had remembered it when I was 13 visiting it for the first time, though the house was more tan than I had remembered it. The Guide told us that they have repainted the year before with something closer to the type of paint used in the 1700's and that it would be bleaching out. Here us a 360 of the front and back of the home. I was struck by the opposing contrasts of the Jefferson home in Monticello, a home of invention and the not of someone that had traveled the world, and the simpler gentleman farmer style of the Mt Vernon estate. When I queried the guides on the ground, then answer intrigued me. "General Washington was a soldier who fought battles, and Jefferson a politician who traveled and didn't know battle". Not exactly the answer I was expecting to hear, but I guess there is even competition amongst historians and the private estates of both men. I'd be interested to hear the answer to the same question at Monticello.
From Mt Vernon I road up to Washington DC. Entering from the Memorial Bridge near the Lincoln Memorial, it felt as if I was being sucked into a vortex of traffic I had no control over. Like a whirlpool spiraling me deeper into the quagmire until the inevitable end, GRIDLOCK. I sat through 3 signal changes observing how everyone else was managing and basically followed suit. Turned on my turn signal and pressed on. Amazingly the traffic parted and I pushed on until I had gotten back to the Capitol Mall and my exit back onto the Memorial Bridge. I then rode a short distance to Arlington National Cemetery where I parked and walk the grounds. The Arlington House perched a top the hill overlooking the resting place of many brave warriors and presidents. I views the resting place of JFK with 3 other markers next to the eternal flame and a short distance away the very simple makers of RFK and Teddy Kennedy. a simple white marker with a plain white cross, much different than I had thought they would be. As moving as those were, I stumbled off the main path to view a small crypt that held the body of Robert Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincolns Son. I wondered how many people had seen this or just walked by after seeing the other notable plots. After walking the ground of Arlington, I decided to again press on into the vortex of DC and see if I could get to the 3 memorials that I had really wanted to see. The Capitol Mall is now undergoing major renovation and getting to the 3 memorials was a test of patience and perseverance, but I succeeded in finding a parking spot and finally got to the WWII Memorial, Korean War Memorial and finally the VietNam Memorial. The last one probably as emotional a visit as I've had on this trip. Seeing the names of those that had fallen, and the name of one that I knew touched me more than I had expected. After the visit to "The Wall", I decided that my stay in DC had concluded and I wasn't really interested in looking at bulldozers and fork lifts any longer. I headed North west to Harper's Ferry WV the site of John Browns Raid and a Civil War battle. I will post more pictures from DC when I get the opportunity and a better internet connection.
2 Comments
Dick Carpenter
5/21/2012 06:47:52 am
Keep the post coming....Still waiting for you to get to Maine, the snow's gone the bugs are thinning out and the weather has been beautiful. (80 yesterday, 72 today). Have a safe trip......Dick
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Jim Hall
5/21/2012 08:40:06 am
I didn't have the "opportunity" to serve in Viet Nam as you did, Tim. But, when I saw the Wall, I was deeply affected as you were. To see the names of over 58,000 men and women of my generation touched me deeply.
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AuthorTim Stubbe AKA Archives
June 2013
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