It was an unusually warm Fall day for Washington, about 27C, so after applying plenty of sunscreen it was time to explore. The White House was the first port of call as it is only 2 blocks from the hotel and then onto Arlington Cemetery. It takes up an area of about 600 acres and there are more than 400,000 people buried there. They are mostly military personnel, beginning with the American Civil War in 1861, however the invitation has been extended to their spouses. John F Kennedy is buried there and his former wife Jacqui Bouvier Kennedy Onassis is buried beside him. Every week another 125 bodies are interred at the National Cemetery.
I also visited the Korean War Memorial, the Vietnam War Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. I had some lunch at the Sculpture Garden before exploring the Air & Space Museum, the Smithsonian Castle and the Natural History Museum. This evening was our farewell dinner. We dined in at our hotel The Capitol Hilton. We had a great (but very quick) meal and adjourned to the bar to finish off the night. Tomorrow would be seeing the departure of some of our traveling companions.
