The first time I visited Arlington Cemetery (back in April 2021), I didn’t go inside the gates because I wouldn’t have been able to pass security check. Stupid me, I didn’t think there would be an airport style security check at a national cemetery. My problem was: I had a stun gun on me at the time and couldn’t put it back in a car because I didn’t have a car. I had taken the subway to Rosslyn, Arlington and walked to the cemetery (which was the reason for the weapon – I was a girl alone in the city). Well, this time (June 2023), I made sure that I was Arlington National Cemetery ready. I was with my family and we drove to the cemetery, nice and proper to pass the security check.
It was hot as hell this time around. Wretchedly hot. My husband and I were on a mission being that we only had an hour or so before the park closed. So, we high tailed it out of the airconditioned Welcome Center and made our way through the rolling hills, along the path through the gravesites. The mood was solemn with people talking only in hushed voices.
A little history of the cemetery: The land that it sits on belonged George Washington Parke Custis who was the grandson of Martha Washington and step-grandson of George Washington. George’s daughter, Mary Anna Randolph Custis inherited the property, and she was Robert E. Lee’s wife (Confederate general during the American Civil War). Just before the Civil War, the Lee family vacated the property and shortly after, troops used the land as headquarters. The first military burial took place in May 1864, and as the DC area graveyards filled up with Civil War dead, more and more soldiers were buried on the Lee property. That June, the US War Department officially set aside about 200 acres to use as a cemetery. By the end of the Civil War, thousands of service members and former slaves were buried in Arlington Cemetery. Today it has about 400,000 gravesites.
Our main goal on that hot day in June was the top of the hill: The Lee Family residence. But along the way, we came upon the JFK’s gravesite (as well as, his wife Jacqueline and brother Robert Kennedy). We stood before the Eternal Flame for a bit with a few other strangers. No one spoke. The seriousness of the spot is enormous. The importance: still not known. After the Kennedys, we continued up the hill along the beautiful green lush path in heavy muggy heat.
The view from Robert E. Lee’s house is tremendous. You can see a straight view to the Capitol, there’s the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial, a beautiful spot high above the swamp. (DC, as many of you probably know, was built on a swamp). The giftshop behind the home was closed. But there was a drinking fountain! I had finished my bottled water long ago.
We toured the kitchen garden, which was poorly kept. Then made our way down the hill stopping to look at sculptures and detail along the way.
Lee Residence: View between the pillars on Lee Residence front porch:
Down the hill from the Lee Residence, and then up another, we made our way to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Arriving just a few minutes before 5, we stayed until closing so that we could witness the changing of the guard.Though the spot was packed (I know it doesn’t look it in the pictures) the place was silent. If there was talking, it was in whispers.
Not sure what I’m doing here, maybe getting in position to take a photo:
The entire process of changing guards is lengthy, a little over ten minutes. It’s an amazing ritual, standing guard over this tomb 24 hours a day, 7 days a week like this. It’s kinda of maddening though to sit there and ponder the number of unknown soldiers. Breaks my heart.
Leaving Arlington National Cemetery as it closes: