Day 5: Arlington National Cemetery, Steven Udvar-Hazy Center

This would be our final day in Washington, D.C. and we decided to drive to Arlington and the Udvar-Hazy Center.  We knew we had our trusty GPS expert in Hunter and he would be able to navigate us today.  Our first stop was Arlington.  It was another hot day and the trams were filled.  I didn't get many pictures because of the crowds.

Kara and Hunter were first in line for the tram to take us to the Tomb of Unknown Soldier.

Arlington National Cemetery.  There were 25 burial services scheduled for the Friday that we were there.   We were not able to visit the John Kennedy and family gravesites because of burial services.

There is a small museum which shows the uniform of the guards that guard the tomb.

A soldier from the 3rd Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard).  The tomb is guarded 24-hours a day, 365 days a year.  There is a meticulous routine that the guard must follow when walking "the mat."  Everything he does revolves around the number "21"...steps south and north, steps on the mat, stops on mat, and changing weapon to outside shoulder.

Above and below:  memorial to the seven crew members of the Challenger.

Memorial to the USS Maine.  USS Maine was a Navy battleship that exploded and sank in Havana Harbor, Cuba.  The explosion killed over 250 sailors and was a major reason for the Spanish-American War.  Cause of explosion remains unknown.  This is the original mast from the Maine.

This is the most visited gravesite in the cemetery.  Audie Murphy is known as the most decorated enlisted soldier in U.S. history.  He received every military combat award for valor available from the United States, as well as France and Belgian.  After leaving the military, he became an actor starring as himself in the movie "To Hell and Back."

The Steven Udvar-Hazy Center is part of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum located at Dulles International Airport.  It displays thousands of aviation and space artifacdts in two large hangers.

The SR-71A Blackbird Reconnaissance Aircraft.  It had 24 years of active service.  It was so highly classified that at an air show at Offutt AFB in 1968, it would not land during the show. It flew over the base and after the show was over and visitors were gone, it landed.  That air show was the first time Carol and I saw the airplane.

SST Concorde:  Air France.  It could travel twice the speed of sound.

The Enola Gay carried the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, Japan.  Restoration speialists have spend more than a decade restoring parts of the airplane for this exhibition.

The space shuttle Discovery.  It holds the record for the most missions flown by any shuttle, with a total of 39 missions, 365 days in space.

Mobile Quarantine Facility.  

The orange ring and balls are the originals used in mission floation devices used by Apollo 11 Command Module when they splashed down in the Pacific after their moon landing

Stopwatch used by flight controller in Mission Control.

Thrusters of Discovery.

Papaw resting in the Udvar-Hazy Center.  He would walk a bit, take a picture, and then rest.

By Friday afternoon, I was so tired that the only thing I did was sit, and as this picture 

shows, sleep.  In my defense, I was not feeling well.  This picture also explains why people passing me would be smiling at me.

Thank you, Keegan, for documenting memaw and her visit to the center.

This was the last day we spent in Washington D.C.  It was a great week and we packed every day with monuments, museums, and magnificent buildings.

It was a slow day.  Only 2.2 miles.