Day 5 - Crime & Punishment

We all got a good night's sleep, so we were ready to hit the ground running this morning.  No sign of rain and lots of sunshine greeted us as the four of us, including Charla, drove to Arlington National Cemetery.  We met our tour guide, Steve, and walked all 150 miles uphill, or so it seemed.  Truthfully, it was an amazing sight and very humbling to see how many lives were lost so that we might enjoy the freedoms we take for granted.  Especially interesting was the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier; the presence of the Boy Scouts finally served a purpose, as we saw them assist in not one, but two wreath laying ceremonies.  Steve pointed out grave sites of the Kennedys as well as Joe Louis, Glenn Miller and Audie Murphy, who was the most decorated American soldier.  We saw memorials to the Challenger and Columbia crews.  After a long morning, we drove to the Iwo Jima Memorial, then had lunch at the Rhode House Grill in Rosslyn before Charla dropped us off at the National Museum of Crime and Punishment.

Our favorite section of the museum told the stories of mass murderers and mobsters.  We got some kind of thrill out of seeing the torture paraphernalia used through the centuries.  It was especially interesting to see how prison inmates expressed themselves through their art.

We consider ourselves lucky that we didn't get arrested and punished for our crime of posing as Library of Congress researchers!

From soldiers to criminals, this was a somewhat sobering day.  We're happy to report that we successfully took the Metro from the museum to Bethesda, where Charla, John and Charles picked us up and took us out for a wonderful Italian meal and afterwards for frozen yogurt.

Lucky Charla, she has Wanda, Amy and Tyson coming tonight to visit for a week!  Also, Carley has been gone on a trip to New York and she will be returning home tomorrow.  It's going to be a full house!

Happy Anniversary, moma and daddy!

Iwo Jima

Toes at the Crime and Punishment Museum