Arriving late in the day from Colonial Williamsburg, we visited Arlington National Cemetery.
Overlooking the cemetery, Arlington House, beguiled me the first time I visited in 1989.
Perplexed by a mansion, around which Southern Belles in 1860s hoop skirts walked about, I learned a lot!
I couldn’t wait to share all this with my kids, but this time there were no Southern Belles.
Due to renovations, the empty home was undergoing renovations.
Built by George Washington Parke Custis from 1802 to 1818 as a tribute to his step-grandfather, he collected as many artifacts as possible from Mount Vernon when that owner sold them off to pay for debts.
We got to enjoy those George Washington artifacts at the museum a short walk from the house.
Marquis de Lafayette: finest view in the world
After walking through the house, we sat on a bench overlooking the same view the Marquis de Lafayette made in 1824, while he was on his grand tour of America.
From the Center Hall of the mansion, Lafayette stood looking at the view of Washington DC across the Potomac River, proclaiming it was the “finest view in the world.”
Civil War
Originally an 1100-acre plantation, it was here that Custis’ daughter married Robert E. Lee.
Arlington House later became their home.
When Lee made the fateful decision to join the Confederacy, the family fled. During the Civil War, the land was used to bury dead soldiers, eventually becoming a national cemetery.
Arlington National Cemetery
