Arlington House

It's been a super busy couple weeks.  Because of that, I have tons to blog about.  The bad news is I've had no time to do it for the same reason.  A few weeks ago we headed out to Arlington National Cemetery to visit Arlington House. Arlington House use to belong to the wife of Robert E. Lee and he occupied it right up until the Civil War. Worthy has been very interested in Civil War history and particularly he's been reading some biographies on Lee.  We recently discovered we had a contact at the church that was married to a guide there.  He kindly invited us up for a private tour. 

He took us around the outside, showing us the immediate and first graves that the Northern army dug in Lee's yard.  We also saw the slave accommodations and heard about the heroic acts of former slaves that helped to preserve the historicity of the house. 

Lee House overlooking downtown DC

hearing about JFK's grave at the bottom of the hill

magnificent view of the DC landscape

Our guide would regularly quiz Worthy with obscure history and inevitably Worthy would respond with the correct answer. I anticipated Worthy growing "bored" or "antsy" and was so delighted that he was fully engaged and interested for the two hours that we lingered.

We also toured inside the house and many others joined up with us for our private tour, but the guide continued to select Worthy out for special trivia questions. 

Here is the desk that Lee signed his resignation letter to the US Army prior to the Civil War.  This is also the desk that Gerald Ford signed a letter posthumously granting Lee his US citizenship which had been revoked after the war. 

 We had such a fantastic time and are so grateful for the time and energy of our guide.  

Worthy is beaming after receiving a Junior Park Ranger badge.  

He's still showing off his flair :).