The Pentagon, Arlington Cemetery, and Aunt Annie's Pretzels

      Today was the day that we were supposed to go to Mount Vernon, but our director wasn't feeling well so we had to cancel the trip.  Rats.  We took the opportunity we had to stay up late last night and sleep in this morning.  It was grand!  My roommate's sister picked us up last night and we got to experience a DC Friday night.  We went to Old Towne in Alexandria and just walked down the streets looking in all the shops.  It was a quaint, little place, just my kind of town.  They had lights in the trees still and the sidewalks were filled with couples walking hand in hand.  It was a beautiful night!  Oh and I think that Old Towne can give Provo a run for their money as being the city with the most ice cream places.  There were no less than twenty different types of ice cream/ frozen yogurt places down just one street.  I loved it! I would go back every weekend if I could, but you have to have a car to get there.
      This morning I slept in until 10.  I was going to wake up earlier but sleep felt so good.  Saturday is the only day that I don't have to be anywhere by or before 8 in the morning, so I feel justified in taking a little extra time to catch up.  Once I got up, Anna (another girl in the student teaching program) and I walked to the  Pentagon.  It's only three blocks from our apartments!  It was a beautiful day in DC.  You really only needed a light jacket and that was only when the wind was blowing and/or the sun was behind the scattered clouds.  When we got to the Pentagon we whipped out our cameras to start taking pictures and then we saw the "Photographs Prohibited" signs.  We thought it would be best to not try to sneak pictures on the nation's military headquarters.  We returned our cameras to their cases until we reached the Pentagon Memorial.  It was a beautiful memorial for the people that lost their lives at the Pentagon on September 11th.
      From the Pentagon, we went to Arlington Cemetery.  We watched the changing of the guard, went to the Arlington House, and the grave site of John F. Kennedy.  As we walked around I couldn't help thinking about all the men and women buried there.  Some of them I knew their names and saw them as extraordinary figures in our history.  As I thought about these people and learned more about their lives, I came to see them as ordinary people as well.  For the first time saw them as people that went through hard times, that lost loved ones, that had bad days.  It gave me hope.  If they could overcome trials, then so could I.  Then I walked passed the graves of hundreds of thousands of men and women that I didn't know.  These people became heroes in my eyes.  Some people might be sad thinking of the things that the fallen might have brought to life and all that they had to offer the world.  I was humbled with the knowledge that they offered their lives for me.  They gave the ultimate gift so I could live in the country that I live in.
      From the cemetery, Anna and I headed home.  On our way we stopped off at Aunt Annie's Pretzels for a snack and a little lemonade.  It's been tempting us all week and we needed to do a little refueling after all that walking.  Never has a pretzel and lemonade tasted so good and made me feel so much at home even though I was on the other side of the country.  I had a great time today enjoying the sunshine in the capital of this wonderful nation with a new friend!  Tomorrow is church (at 8 a.m.).  Let's see what friends I can make tomorrow.