Sometime or other when I was friends with the Mormon guy we were all offered a day trip to Washington DC to see the sights. I thought it would be interesting to see some museums and the Smithsonian was tops on my list. We were also going to see Arlington Cemetery.
I remember the bus going by a lot of big buildings, one of which was the BIA, the Bureau Of Indian Affairs. I'm surprised today that someone hasn't changed the name of that place. It was kind of weird seeing it but it didn't bother me much.
A bunch of us went in to the Smithsonian. The Mormon guy, I have to keep calling him that because I've forgotten his name, asked me to hold his hat for some reason. I thought they always put there hats in that loop on their shoulder but I guess not. So I took his hat and kept wandering around. He went one way and I went another.
There is a rule that a soldier can't appear outside without his hat on if he's in uniform. I kept waiting for the jerk to reappear but he didn't. I really wanted to go on to the art museums before we would get back on the bus to go to Arlington. I gave up on waiting for him and went in there. I wandered. I looked. Some artists I wasn't familiar with their work but some I really enjoyed. Some were dark and flat and not interesting at all.
It was about time for the bus to leave so I went outside and got on board. The Mormon guy was really ticked off at me because I still had his hat. He was yelling he almost got in trouble for it. Hey, it wasn't my fault he went in a different direction than me. He should have carried his own hat instead of asking me to do that.
At Arlington we saw Kennedys grave site, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and a white building up on a hillside. I forget what that building was called but I was awed by what I found inside. I think the remains of Chief Plentycoups were supposed to be there. What fascinated me was the war bonnet in a case on the wall. The sign said the little yellow hairy bits on it were human hair from scalps he'd taken in his life. I wasn't familiar with Plentycoups and I thought it odd they would memorialize someone who had clearly killed and scalped whites. It was kind of creepy looking at the hairy bits of dead people. I looked that up and could find nothing except that Plentycoups is not buried there at all but in his home state where there is a park. Maybe it was a display on loan at the time. There is a dedication of some kind about him there. I saw a photo of that online but it was too small to read.
People respecting the grave of the Unknown Soldier.
Sorry about the spots.
Kennedy's grave marker with the eternal flame
No idea on the above.
Robert E. Lee Memorial