Was at DC. Super hot was a understatement…. It was burning scorching!! There were no shelters or shades along the streets so you were a buffet to the sun rays…
I should post some pics but am just too lazy to download out of the card.

Smithsonian institution have many museums in Washington. Realised there were 19 museums, 9 research centers, and the National Zoo. And admissions were all free. What a generous donation….. Pop in and out of about 4 of them… It was amazing… The home’s version is such a joke compared to these…

There were lots of monuments in the area. Mostly to commerate war veterans or past presidents. There were for Jefferson, Rosevalt, Lincoln, Washington, Nixon and Kennedy.
The president’s had statues of the person as well as famous sayings engraved nearby. They were grand. Brochures made them look eerie at night but when I saw it, they looked ok, day and night. Not as creepy as the advertisements. If I am not freaked out, doubt anybody else will. My scardy cat level is quite high. They were in fact very beautifully made.

There were memorials for Vietnam war, Korean War and the unknown soldier. At Arlington, there was changing of guards at the tomb of the unknown soldier. Kennedy and his family grave were not far off. The cemetery was huge. The tomb stones were lined up really straight, to mimic the soldiers when they were at attention in a parade. Every tomb was for a fallen soldier or his family. Even the astronauts of Challenger were commemorated. They were the astronauts in the space ship that never made too far off earth.

At the Vietnam war memorial, the list of names of soldiers who sacrificed were engraved on the wars. One by one the names are listed there… As you read , it hits that people with names have died while fighting for a cause. People traced the names on the war. I assume they knew him…. Flowers were there. People were just looking and possibly looking for a familiar name…..

Millions of people have died while fighting in a war. For a cause they believed in or for a cause they knew nothing about but just had to be in the fight, voluntarily or national obligation. War is ongoing now in many countries. The idea of world peace may never happen in my lifetime but I hope it doesn’t grow to be wider - spread and be claustrophobic. Better not to have a tourist attraction than to have a site to remember people who died due to human differences….

At JFK’s burial ground, his brother, wife and daughter were nearby. A fire was burning. Assumably to symbolize the eternal flame and memory of him. Such artifacts, it’s as a reminder for living humans and a ease of mind? Why wait when the person is no longer around and cannot know how people grieve his presence?
There is this place I want to visit. I couldn’t then but am able now. But just do not have the courage to….. myb one day…..