Friday and Saturday

Friday was a day of recuperation. We slept in, then drove to Arlington National Cemetery. We saw JFK's grave, the tomb of the unknown soldier, the changing of the guard and many, many other graves. The cemetery is the second largest in the US, more than 500 acres. From there we caught the subway to the National Portrait Gallery. Before we got there we stopped for some delicious burgers at Five Guys Burgers and Fries. The burgers were amazingly good.

The Portrait Gallery, part of the Smithsonian, is a beautiful building where Lincoln's inaugural ball. The best part of the Gallery is its collection Presidential portraits, one for each President. A quick ride on the subway and we're back at the car. We head to Georgetown, a nearby neighborhood filled with cool shops, restaurants, cafes and Georgetown University.

Georgetown was great. We wanted to find an internet cafe to sit for awhile and upload the blog. It took awhile but we found one. I should have known when we walk in to an empty cafe and the only waitress is on the phone. Staci is craving a decaf coffee, but they only have regular. And there's no internet access. The waitress is completely unhelpful. Farther down the street we find the perfect place. We end up hanging out there for several hours. We walk down the main drag of Georgetown and grab a bite to eat at Garrets. Peter's roommate Richard checked in with us to make sure we're doing okay and suggested heading to the Waterfront which we do and its very nice. We turn in early because we're getting up early to hit the road.

Saturday we leave early from DC and head to Gettysburg, PA. One of the bloodiest battle's during the Civil War, 50,000 soldiers died, were wounded or missing during the three day battle. There is a very informative visitor's center, though I picked the farthest parking lot from the center. Did I mention the temperature outside was 40 degrees with a windchill making it even colder. It is safe to say it was a freezing 5 minute walk to the center. We did part of the auto tour and I climbed the 95 steps of an observation tower to get a great view of the entire battlefield. I couldn't stay too long because it was FREEZING up there. On the auto tour we stop at Spangler's Spring where a confederate soldier stopped to fill his canteen only to find a group of union soldiers already there. To help you visualize this there are several "union soliders" hanging out by the spring. Since the confederate soldier quietly snuck back to his camp to warn the troops, we also chose to sneak away without talking to the reenacters. We did stop and talk to some guys who were cutting the grass around a monument. It turns out these guys are decendents of the regiment who fought in this section. They are in charge of keeping the grounds around their monument clean. I can't remember which regiment he was with but he was from the South. He used the word "yonder" several times, which Staci liked. After a good country lunch at The Avenue Restaurant, we drive another few hours to Niagara Falls.