Homeschool Travels - Arlington Cemetary

There was two places when we were visiting Washington D.C.  I was debating whether or not to take the kids too.  Our oldest is especially sensitive when it comes to the topic of people being hurt or death.  But we had been talking about the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with the girls Landmark study, so we decided to visit Arlington Cemetery, and I reminded Joey to ask me any questions he had.

First off, I highly recommend taking the tram tour.  There is a lot of walking at the cemetery, and the guides on the trams give a nice tour about the areas of the cemetery.  So we learned more about our surroundings without being too exhausted.

 The older section of Arlington does not set markers.  It was not until years later when they realized that space was going to be limited that the same size markers were required.

 They are all in straight rows.  It was just amazing to see all these stones.

 Visiting John F. Kennedy's grave.

 The eternal flame.

 Arlington Memorial Amphitheater

 Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

 We got there just in time to see the changing of the guard.

 The trees were beautiful.

This memorial was made of part of the ship's mast that was lost during the Spanish War.

Visiting Arlington House, the home of Robert Lee and Mary Custis...this property was originally owned by the grandson of George Washington, George Washington Parke Custis.  Mary and Robert lived here until the Civil War started.  When that started, they both went south.  They never moved back due to the fact that a member of the Union started using this property to bury soldiers.  The government took the property as part of unpaid property taxes.  If you haven't read the story, it's quite interesting.....

 The slaves quarters

 It is a beautiful home.  The family eventually received money from the government for the loss of their home.

 This was the original Amphitheater built by the Custis family

 A memorial to the Civil War soldiers

 The welcome center has beautiful exhibits to show the history of those buried there.

The kids and I enjoyed learning more history.  The Arlington House was the favorite.  We learned so much about the family.  The National Park employees there were wonderful.  They answered all the questions we had.

For the best experience, I do again recommend paying for the trolley ride through.  It was worth keeping happy children, because even though we were tired, we had plenty of breaks.