Portraits of the Planet: Memorial Day 2014: Washington DC

This past memorial day, I hopped a train to DC from North Carolina to hang out with some friends. My first night there, we checked out the newly unveiled Washington Memorial. The scaffolding had been taken down, and it has recently reopened to the public. We didn't go up to the top (the lines were OUTRAGEOUS), but we at least got to walk up to it, and my friends allowed me to photograph them doing handstands against it. With the scaffolding off, we were able to see the color difference in the memorial. The building began before the Civil War, but completion was held off until after the conclusion of the war. This disturbance in building led to a slightly different colored brick being used to finish off the memorial. From there, we wandered over to the Iwo Jima Memorial and just enjoyed the toasty DC night.

I spent the majority of my time in DC just enjoying time with friends, but on the second to last day there, I was able to go visit Arlington National Cemetery for the first time. The cemetery is absolutely massive, and I was so glad to have been able to go there. JFK's gravesite was very large and impressive, and Robert E. Lee's house overlooking the cemetery is incredibly gorgeous. We got to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier just as they were doing the Changing of the Guard. Afterwards, we ventured over to the Arlington Memorial Amphitheater. We weren't allowed to go inside (usually you can, but they were getting ready for a ceremony), so I only got a couple quick peeks. At the front of the Amphitheater is this absolutely massive marble throne that I wish I could have taken a picture of. It was really impressive. My second venture to DC was a success, and there is talk of a possible 4th of July excursion as well.