Matt & Dani

Well, today is our last day of vacation but there’s still so much to do! We decided to start it off by meeting up with Dan & Martha for coffee at Union Station. After getting some caffeine and pastries into our systems, we walked around the building to get some photos of the interior décor. We then headed outside to stroll through the park that lies between the station and the Capitol building. Dani and I found this park on Friday morning and thought it was so relaxing to walk through and enjoy all the different flowers, trees and little creatures. Dani even found a furry little friend to share her croissant with! Anyway, after about an hour we had to bid farewell to Dan & Martha as they were off to church and then home. We had such a great time hanging out with both of them, it’s been a couple years since we last saw Dan and this was our first time meeting Martha, we hope we can see them again real soon! Dani and I hung out at the station for a bit longer before heading back to the hotel to checkout. Our plan was to take our luggage to the airport early, check in, then head back out to Arlington Cemetery which is only a few Metro stops away. Apparently you can only check in luggage up to 6 hours before your flight, but the lady behind the counter was nice enough to override that and checked our bag. We quickly jumped back on the Metro and made it to the cemetery in about 10 minutes. This was part of the trip I had been anticipating since we first started planning, it did not disappoint! The sea of over 300,000 white marble tombstones mixed with the beauty of the grounds made for a humbling experience… So many great Americans, brave soldiers and influential presidents are buried here; JFK, Robert Kennedy, W.H. Taft and soldiers of every U.S. War. Of course, one of the biggest attractions is the Tomb of the Unknowns. We showed up to the tomb a few minutes before the changing of the guard began. This is an extremely choreographed event that involves 3 guards; the one who is on duty, the one who is replacing him and the relief commander who manages the change AND the spectators! He barked orders at a few people in the crowd who didn’t follow orders; one who wasn’t standing during the change and another who was hanging over the railing!! We actually found the one and only Tafoya buried at the cemetery, Eloy Tafoya. He is no relation to me (as far as I know) but it was cool to find! Anyway, we walked around a while longer before making our way back to the airport and eventually… back home & work. -M

Trip Highlights
Top 3 (in order):
Dani – Civil War play at Ford’s Theater, Jefferson Memorial, National Archives
Matt – Jefferson Memorial, Civil War play at Ford’s Theater, Arlington Cemetery

Bottom of the list:
FOOD (didn't have one good meal!!), Capitol Building Tour, Tour to top of Washington Monument