I paid my respects at the grave of SC Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg today

[EYESORE 9001]

in Arlington National Cemetery. I also stopped by SC Justice Thurgood Marshall and Admiral Hyman Rickover (both buried very close to RBG). In the Navy I squeezed past Admiral Rickover in a passageway on my boat when he paid a visit. I also visited President John F. Kennedy’s grave and those of his brothers. It was my first visit to Arlington National Cemetery, and I am humbled by the experience.

I had been in Washington, D.C. the past couple of days - my first trip there as well, I hope to return soon, as I didn’t get nearly enough crammed into two short days, I did get to see the cherry blossoms at peak, however, and that was what spurred my trip in the first place. I stayed in a hotel in Kalorama, but I didn’t get a sighting of President Barack Obama in his neighborhood. I visited the Vietnam War Memorial a couple of hours before President Joe Biden visited and made an etching of a soldier’s name on the wall.

Is it possible to fall in love with a city at first sight? I regret not visiting sooner. I was overwhelmed by the scale of public monuments, buildings, and projects that demonstrate our democracy in action on a grand scale. My blood boils when I think of those insurrectionists defiling the Capitol. They are traitors of the highest order, but I digress.

[spooky3]

1. Very glad you were able to visit. Nt

[Blue Owl]

2. K&R

[Phoenix61]

3. I spent a week in DC to visit the museums.

I can’t wait to go back. There’s just so much to see and do. I stayed in a funky old hotel a short walk to DuPont Circle. The elevator was just big enough for me and my suitcase. There was a super cool yoga studio a 5 minute walk away. Hope it’s still there when I get to go back.

[EYESORE 9001]

5. I hear ya

I want more already, and I just left.

[electric_blue68]

23. Glad you finally got to visit!

[electric_blue68]

24. When I was 11 my family went to visit our relatives who lived ..

I think they lived in Arlington at the time.
Now this was 1964. We (thinking back like wow, it made sense that my parents wanted to pay their respects) visited JFK'S original White Picket Fence grave.

Decades later I went to see the redone bigger and beautifully designed grave/memorial for JFK. And out of corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of the White Cross of RFK's grave. I went to visit that as well. I was 15 in '68, and that one truly shook me. They also had a quote or two that he used in a low wall opposite the cross.
Both so poignant...

[EYESORE 9001]

4. I must mention the Franklin D. Roosevelt memorial and Martin Luther King memorial as well

Both were extremely moving, each in its own way. Dr. King had unfinished business is the message I received from it, FDR was depicted life-size, and the observer is unaware that he’s in a wheelchair until approaching from the side.

[MyOwnPeace]

6. SO many sites and locations......

places where history was made - VERY impressive and awe-inspiring.

An absolutely sickening feeling regarding it all after January 6. I REFUSE to yield a single ounce of sympathy for even ONE of those GOD DAMNED Insurrectionists - I hope they ALL rot in jail - or get deported to a country that might possibly want them.

[EYESORE 9001]

8. I saw Capitol Police in groups near the fence

I wanted to say something supportive but thought better of it. I did wave cheerily, however.

[bdamomma]

7. Our nations

Capitol is humbling and has so much history. Those insurrectionists and those insiders must pay dearly for what they did to the Capitol and all those who were killed and hurt.

[WVreaper]

9. You just made me realize how privileged I have been

to have an aunt that was a government employee. I can remember my first visit to D.C. and another aunt mentioned that I might get to see Ike. Yea, it was a long time ago. Through the years, I have been back many times. There is always something new to discover.

[EYESORE 9001]

10. Good that you recognized all that Washington DC has to offer

I didn’t have anyone with a connection who could encourage me to visit, and it somehow didn’t rise high enough on my wish list to make me want to go. I had a cousin who did a tour working at the Pentagon, but he was rather dismissive of the experience.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

11. I lived there for a year and a half, downtown, a couple blocks from WH

You are so right... It's a great city!. Food, vibe, attractions, history, monuments, center of the free world.

Outside of Vietnam Memorial, which to me is the most poignant place on earth, sitting for a performance in Ford's Theater, and seeing where Lincoln was literally shot, is something I will always remember.

[mountain grammy]

20. I lived there a year and a half too

1965 to 1967. American University No subway then and no Vietnam Memorial, but I’ve experienced them both. Last time I was there was for the Women’s March. I love that city and will never forgive Trump and republicans for what they did.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

29. Wow that must have been such an interesting time

To be there! Vietnam protests just heating up? and University such a beautiful campus.

I was there right after 9/11 so it was a pretty scary time. I remember one morning Bush had leaked out an Al Queda map of the subway station I took to work. I was shaking like a leaf seeing all the military there, but I took it anyway. That night the news announced that the map was 6 years old. Everyone was so mad that he and his Administration put us through that just to scare the general public.

[mountain grammy]

32. One thing about living in DC

It was never dull but that had to have been the worst time to be there.

Yes, mid 60's things were just getting started. I ran out of money and left school, but always treasured my time in DC. My mom was stationed there during WWII while in the Marines. Being a Brooklyn woman, she was shocked at the segregation.She's in Arlington now with my dad. Hope to visit this year.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

30. Did you go to either Obama inaugurations?

[mountain grammy]

31. No but I sure wanted to and was glued to the tv at work.

Did you go?

[Laura PourMeADrink]

33. Yes both. I will never experience the utter joy of walking

toward the Mall on the first one. There were hundreds of us walking down the street and everyone was so utterly elated it was like we were all walking on air.

One of my fondest memories though was how great it was in DC before 9/11. We went one time for 4th of July when they would shoot fireworks off at night. My husband and I bought a cheap blanket and walked up to the Washington monument and laid it down that morning next to the monument thinking if someone stole it it wasn't the end of the world. That evening we walked through hundreds and hundreds of people on blankets and there was our blanket untouched laying there

There was such freedom in life back then that I sorely miss and not just in DC. 9-11 took that away and then covid another devastating blow.

[mountain grammy]

34. great memories.

I'm hoping for a few more for us all.

[panader0]

12. That was an interesting experience I'm sure.

I've been to the cemetery at West Point, where Westmoreland and Custer and many more are buried.
And the one on Oahu called Punchbowl with the graves of so many casualties of the war in the Pacific
rest. My dad is buried on Ft Huachuca here in in SE Az. There are graves there of Apache scouts and
very young children, dead from disease. It may seem weird, but I like old graveyards--so many stories.

[notinkansas]

13. The Vietnam War Memorial is -

I don't even know how to describe it. Chilling? Eerie? Heartbreaking for sure. How could we have let that happen?

[BobTheSubgenius]

14. From everything I've heard and seen, it's a pretty great city to visit.

I'm glad it met and exceeded your expectations.

[ailsagirl]

15. Did you make it to the Smithsonian?

That would be a whole day’s visit.

[Hekate]

17. There are quite a few of them, all glorious and worth the time!

[ailsagirl]

21. For some reason, I recall seeing Archie Bunker's chair

And Jackie Kennedy’s Inaugural gown.
This was quite a long time ago.

[Hekate]

25. They used to call the Smithsonian "America's Attic," but I don't think that still applies...

Just before my friend retired I toured the Native American museum. She was full of information, as her work had brought her into contact with the people who’d developed the collections.

The African American museum came along after she moved away, but I “saw” it thru Obama’s eyes, so to speak.

One year I saw a fabulous travelling exhibit of Japanese art and objects. It is just endless.

[ailsagirl]

27. It would take a good week to see everything

We did go to the White House, which was interesting but far too short a visit. This was when Jimmy Carter was President. And the FBI building.

[Hekate]

16. One of my oldest friends & her husband ended up in Civil Service careers there, so I got to visit...

...several times by staying with them. The first time was in May and I was in my mid-30s. I used the Washington Monument as my gnomon and walked everywhere. I know schoolkids get to go — but not if you grow up in Hawai’i! It was a wonderful experience.

When my own kids were 13 and 11 there was an air-fare promotion, so I took them from SoCal to DC. Our local congressman’s office was able to help with tickets for tours of various government buildings. Unfortunately it was the end of July, beginning of August, so the heat and humidity were killer. There was a brief thunderstorm that literally made the stone buildings and asphalt streets steam. I took full advantage of air conditioned buildings, especially the various Smithsonians. I made sure the kids got to see Space & Science. My 11 yo son got so enchanted with the African art we lost him for awhile and then had to scramble to get a taxi to meet my friend on time.

On one of my trips sans kids, I met up with a cousin who was working in the city, and he took me to visit the Vietnam War Memorial. I did not expect it to have the impact on me that it did, but I cried and cried for the young men of my generation.

I went for several protest marches. One was against Dubya’s invasion of Iraq, where I looked up friends from the Vets for Peace, with whom I was working back home; and one was the March for Women’s lives, which my by-then-grown daughter insisted we go to. There were indeed a million protestors for the women’s march — the organizers were counting, not fantasizing. May I say that in both cases there was no violence and no vandalism.

And here’s the thing about protesting in Washington, D.C. — it is very much our right to do so. We have “the right to petition the government for redress of grievances,” and we were loud and noisy and in the case of the anti-war protest we were very angry. But none of us (as far as I could tell, or I would not have been there) wanted to overthrow the US government by other than votes, nor did we want to harm or destroy the jewel that is OUR city. The city that represents in its very architecture the core of our Founders’ aspirations. And as much as I despised BushCheney, they didn’t set troops on us and try to kill us, the way Trump did to “his” protestors when his turn came.

The Jan 6 insurrectionists are nothing but thugs and murderers — and how dare they.

My friend and her husband retired a number of years ago, and now divide their time between Florida and Tennessee, leaving me without a free place to sleep near DC. I doubt I shall return, as much as I would dearly love to visit all the Smithsonian museums, the old and the new.

[LittleGirl]

18. I love DC!

Hubby and I went to the Rally to Restore Sanity and that was his first time there. I had been there as a kid so there was so much to see again. We were only there a couple of days so we missed a lot and I want to return to go to the Smithsonian. Someday, I hope!

[cilla4progress]

19. Yes, the various FREE museums

of the Smithsonian are one of my favorite places on earth!

I spent a semester there in college.

I've also been up the Washington Monument in the middle of the night - barefoot! No security!

Decades ago.

[electric_blue68]

22. So many Great Memories of DC!

I've been there about 15 times between '71 -'12.
Practically half for marches, protests, and the other
half for fun!

? '81 Labor March. At least 2 Renewable Energy Marches in the '80's. Two or three Pro-Choice Marches -'90s, '00s. The second Anti-Iraq War March. The Twenty-Fifth Anniversary March of The Civil Rights March.
Usually after a protest - we'd go to a museum. You'd see fellow protestors also visiting w signs rolled up. Lol.

For fun.
First visit '71 - Cherry Blossoms time! So glorious. I've gone by myself, and with one or two others.
My sis and went to Bill Clinton's first Inauguration. Then both of Obama's !

One of my other favorite visits was The Clinton's -Celebrating American Crafters at Christmas presentation. The main Christmas Trees - each tree had
ornament crafts done in a single main medium.
There was Metal, Ceramics, Wood, Paper, Fiber, Glass, and maybe two others. So inventive, and pretty!

A couple of other visits I went in Late Spring - Early
Summer. I'd carefully track the weather before I booked a hotel so it'd be low-humidity, low '80's.
I love walking The Mall all lush greens, the glory of incredible spaceousness all around there! The Refecting Pool (sometimes with swans!). Visiting the various Smithsonian Museums, the "old" Smithsonian building has lovely gardens on the side, the Art Museums. Lincoln Memorial, FDR & Dr King's Memorials. Also The Vietnam Memorial. The Library Of Congress. The Capitol.

I feel blessed I got to be there in Late Spring, Early Summer in the years before they stated beefing up security around The WH (traffic used to past right by it- including a local bus route), at the GW Monument with barriers, and everything.

I sure hope I'll get to visit while President Biden is in office at least once!

[mnhtnbb]

26. DC is a marvelous city. I've visited a number of times in the 20 years since moving to NC

because it's close enough to either drive or go on the train.

Seeing the cherry blossoms at peak bloom was on my bucket list for years and I finally got there in 2015. What a sight!

My husband and I even attended Clinton's second inaugural when it involved traveling from Nebraska.

It makes my blood boil, too, to see the desecration of the Capitol by the insurrectionists spurred on by Trump. Traitors, every last one of them.

[sinkingfeeling]

28. I like to remember DC from decades ago. Before the barriers,

fencing, and snipers on roof tops.