In July of 2013, we went to Washington, D.C. and visited the Arlington National Cemetery. We had 2 places we needed to visit while we were there and we did. The Tomb of the Unknown, and the final resting place of John F. Kennedy.
During our stay, our hotel was out in Alexandria and we took the met line into the city. This allowed us to get around to different places by foot, but on the day we visited the cemetery, we got off at the stop in Arlington. Just a short walk from the station is the entrance to the cemetery. Arlington National Cemetery is located in Arlington, Virginia (just over the memorial bridge from Washington D.C.) You can check out the Arlington National Cemetery website for details on directions, operation hours, and tours.
Then entire cemetery is a dedication to our Veterans. There is a strict guideline used to determine who can be buried in the cemetery. You can review that information here.
Historically, the property that the cemetery is upon today was once the estate of Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Lee. When the Civil War broke out, the Lee's fled the property and Mrs. Lee buried some of the families belongings on the property. They never returned to the property again, but you can find out more history on how this became the National Cemetery in our video below.
Our main goals or place we wanted to visit in the cemetery, where the Tomb of the Unknown and the grave of John F. Kennedy. We decided to not take the tour, and thought we could just walk out to these locations, which is what we did. Our first stop, was the tomb of the Unknown, to witness the changing of the guard ceremony. We did another blog post and video about that location which you can see by clicking on the image below.
Click on image to see more about the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown.
Our next stop was the grave site of President John F. Kennedy. I have been a fan of Kennedy's for a very long time, and I wanted to see the grave site very badly. I have seen pictures and read about it and it was just an amazing "bucket list" experience to be there. Again, we did another blog post about the Kennedy brother's graves that you can find by click on the image below.
Click on image to find out more about the Kennedy brother's graves.
Now like I said above, we walked out to these places in the cemetery. It was an impatient move, and we should of just went on the tour; however, in our video below we provide you more information about our experience and some tips if you plan on visiting the cemetery yourself.
UPDATE: We did find out more information about the Tram system after recording our video:
Tour buses depart continuously from the cemetery's Welcome Center between 8:30 a.m. and 6 p.m., April through September, and between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., October through March.
Tickets may be purchased at the Arlington National Cemetery Welcome Center or online at www.arlingtontours.com. Point-of-sale tickets, by credit card only, are available at the Welcome Center boarding area and the John F. Kennedy Gravesite, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and Arlington House stops, or through www.trolleytix.net. Discounted tickets are offered for veterans and active duty military members with ID. Visitors with disabilities may ride for free, with one companion.
For a full list of tour stops, ticket prices and additional information, visit www.arlingtontours.com.
We did enjoy the time we spent at the cemetery and do plan on going back again in the future. Please be sure to click on the links below for more pictures and information about our visit. Let us know in the comment too if you have visited the cemetery yourself in the past and share your experiences. We would love to hear about them.
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