We left Washington on our
way to Raleigh,
we were heading towards the little southern towns I was super excited about.
However our first stop was at a cemetery, not just any but the Arlington
National cemetery.
The first thing that stood out about the cemetery was how
precise and neat the headstones are placed, in straight lines and the fact that
they go on for as far as the eye can see.
There is a feeling you get when you are at the cemetery not
only are you at a place where great respect is required but there is a feeling
of peace that falls over you. The changing of the guards was like nothing I have
ever seen before.
The changing of the guards takes place at the tomb of the
unknowns, the tomb guard marches 21 steps along a black map, before pausing and
facing north for 21 seconds then east for 21 seconds, this is then repeated
throughout the hour. The reason 21 was chosen is that it is the highest
military honour for example the 21 gun salute.
We were also very honoured to see a full military funeral in
progression, including the coffin being pulled by horse and cart to the final
resting place. Our tour guide said in all the visits she had made to the
cemetery she had never once seen what we got to see.
The cemetery also is the final resting place of JFK, seeing
his final resting place was eerie yet I couldn’t help but be in awe of seeing
this place.
On our way to Raleigh
we stopped at a walmart, this was my first experience at a walmart and I have
to say it didn’t disappoint. We stopped with the purpose of people finding
things to wear for Valentines day the following day, but it didn’t stop us just
looking at everything and anything.
One of my favourite and funniest memories happened at this
stop, with the girls trying on boots we found on sale, however Carly had hurt
her ankle and it was swollen she couldn’t get the boot off, this lead to me
dragging her around walmart trying to get the boot off but just laughing way
too much.
Raleigh was our first buffet
night, I am not a huge fan of buffets and was a little apprehensive, but the
buffet offered some food which my US friends had spoken about often
such as sweet potato with marshmallows. By far though my favourite part was
they offered Smores and Cotton candy as part of the dessert selection in the
buffet.
After dinner we headed to a bowling alley for a few games,
this was also a good mingle and mixing kind of activity. I have a fairly short
attention span so only really played one game before loosing interest, but it
was a fun night regardless.
No comments:
Post a Comment