A springtime visit to Washington, D.C.

My son-in-law, Dr. Stuart Wasser, was attending a conference of the American Society of Addiction Medicine in Washington, D.C. and since the timing was the beginning of spring break, the rest of the family took the opportunity for a brief but rewarding visit to our nation’s capital.

Even though I have l visited D.C. several times and I toured Capitol Hill, the White House, the U.S. Mint, etc. when my own children were younger, it is still a place to go back to time and again and still not see everything there is to see. It was a special treat as it was my granddaughter, Maris Wasser’s, first visit to Washington and she couldn’t wait to take it all in.

In the short time we had, we managed to cover a good part of the city, on foot and by tour bus. I highly recommend bringing at least two pairs of very comfortable walking shoes as the best way to see the city is on foot. Our first night we hoofed it from our hotel to the National Mall ending at the Lincoln Memorial. It is a spectacular sight lit up at night and a glowing tribute to the president who put our union back together.

Incidentally, as Maris is studying American History this year and it is the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, therefore, it was excellent timing to visit and pay tribute. While at the memorial, you do have to stop to read the hallowed words of the Gettysburg address. For even more history, you can take in one of the frequent lectures from the National Park Rangers.

While taking in Washington is best on foot, sometimes the weather doesn’t cooperate. On our second day in town we took advantage of one of the double-decker bus tours. Offered by Gray Line, the tour is unique in that it offers the option of hopping on and hopping off at a site you want to spend time at it as many times as you like. Tickets are valid for two to five days. It begins at Union Station at 9 a.m. and ends at the same place at 5 p.m. You can get on and off anywhere along the route. We got on at our hotel, stop 14 of 30, and eventually worked our way back to stop one. Along the way, we passed the Washington Cathedral, embassy row, trendy Georgetown and then we got off at stop 20, Arlington National Cemetery.

Arlington National Cemetery is a poignant but historic place to visit. The land encompassing the cemetery once belonged to Native American tribes and then during the colonial period became home and farmland for European settlers. George Washington Parke Custis, the grandson of Martha Washington and step-grandson of George Washington inherited the land in 1802 and in 1818 built Arlington House as the centerpiece of this 1,100 acre plantation. It was our nation’s first memorial to George Washington and a home to the growing Custis family. In 1831, Custis’ only surviving child, Mary Anna Randolph Custis, married Robert E. Lee in the home’s front parlor. For the next 30 years, it became home to one of America’s most famous soldiers and his family.

When the Civil War began, great change came with it. Lee resigned his commission from the U.S. Army at Arlington House on April 20, 1861 and approximately a month later, the Lee family vacated the property and it became headquarters to the Union Army. The Lee family never returned. It is said that Mrs. Lee wanted to return one more time before she died. She came but upon seeing her home left practically destroyed by Union troops, she could not bear to get out of her carriage and returned to her home and passed on four months later.

By 1864, even though Arlington was actually considered Union territory, it was the first Confederate burial ground. It was also one of necessity as many dead were either unknown or loved ones could not afford to send them home for interment. As the years went on and the war ended, the esteemed tradition of Arlington grew as ceremonies such as Memorial Day services were held there. We fortunate enough to catch the very moving changing of the guard ceremony that takes place frequently throughout the day.

Speaking about the ultimate honor, at the bottom of the hill below Arlington House, you will find one of the most well known grave sites of our late President John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and a son Patrick who died shortly after birth and a stillborn daughter. Just 40 yards to the left, lay the remains of Robert Kennedy and more recently the late Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy.

There are many other interesting memorials to view at Arlington, which could take up a full day alone. Following our visit, we stopped at the Washington, D.C. branch of Madame Tussauds Wax Museum where we posed with our current President Obama and First Lady Michelle and visited with other prominent American figures such as Oprah, Larry King and Tiger Woods, who seemed to be working on his golf game!

I’ll continue with our visit in my next column. Happy Passover everyone.

Copyright by Marcia Abramson

Email: mascribe@aol.com