DC: Arlington Cemetery

We also had never visited Arlington National Cemetery before. The conference was in Crystal City, near Arlington, connected to the cemetery by the Mount Vernon bicycle path. That was an easy decision - never been there, easy bike path, cool sunny day - let's go biking!

We didn't have great hopes here either, but it turned out to be a profound moving experience. To see the large memorials of the famous surrounded by endless, neat rows of headstones, memorials to so many who had served their country as they best understood it, we felt the history and the sacrifice of the group enterprise our country is.

The earliest headstones were from the Civil War, pointing to the origins of the cemetery as Robert E. Lee's home. We were fascinated to discover that this was the plantation his wife, of the wealthy Virginia Custis family, had inherited, and they had lost as a result of his anguished decision to join Virginia in succession.

It was subsequently occupied by federal troops, and soon became a cemetery for both Union and Confederacy dead. The Lees were compensated for the loss of their home after the war, but never returned. The views from the front porch across the Potomac River are spectacular and the grounds beautiful and peaceful.