March for Life - Part 2

     This is the promised second installment of my experiences in Washington D.C. for the March for Life.  If you didn't get a chance to read the first part you can read it here.
     Well, I left off the last post with dinner in the "Vantage Point" restaurant.   A very delicious dinner, by the way.  And yes, I ate too much.  Way too much.  But it was definitely worthwhile.  I was making up for my malnourishment at school (courtesy of the crummy cafeteria food, which would make anyone lose their appetite).  The hotel was relatively near Ronald Reagan National Airport so we had a great view of all the planes coming in.  One would appear on the horizon just about exactly every two minutes.  It was quite interesting.  We all slept soundly that night, partly out of utter exhaustion and partly because we all had full stomachs.
     The next day (Saturday) we had almost the entire day for sightseeing.  My friends Scott, Abby, Eileen, Kathryn, and John, and I started the day off with breakfast at McDonald's (McDonald's has some good pancakes, for the record).  Then we headed off to Arlington National Cemetery where we watched to changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  I had been to the changing of the guard before, and I have to say that it is one of the coolest things I have ever witnessed.  To watch the soldier stand guard at that tomb, pacing slowly back and forth, is quite the sight.  When his relief finally arrived the sergeant addressed the hushed crowd in a harsh, solemn, and commanding tone.  He ordered us to be silent during the proceedings out of respect and everyone instantly fell silent.  I'm pretty sure that everyone would've rolled around on the ground if he had ordered us to do so.  The entire ceremony had a sense of awe and solemnity around it.  After witnessing that awesome spectacle we visited the tombs of Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier of WWII, and of John F. Kennedy, where I got yelled at for trying to answer my cell phone.  Apparently cell phones are strictly verboten.  After leaving the cemetery we walked to the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial, which happens to be my second favorite site in D.C., the other being the Lincoln Memorial.  We were soon joined by several more of our friends and we all walked to Chipotle for lunch.
       During the afternoon Eileen and I toured the Mall, visiting the Washington Monument, the National Museum of History, the WWII Memorial, the Vietnam wall, the Korean Memorial, and my favorite, the Lincoln Memorial.  I only wish that they would've built all those things in an area of about 4 blocks.  Your feet get sore with all the walking.
       No matter how many times I go back to DC (I've been three times now), it never gets old.  There is just something amazing about being in our nation's capital.  Every time I go there I feel like I am a little bit of a part of all the history that is there.  Standing in front of the statue of Abraham Lincoln, I always feel like I'm almost actually in his presence.  It was especially awesome this time since I had just recently seen Steven Spielberg's masterpiece, "Lincoln".
     We ended the day with Mass, before boarding the buses for the 24 hour ride back to campus.  Looking back, being a part of a 650,000 strong protest for life was an incredible experience.  I am proud to be able to add my voice to the fight for life and I am looking forward to going back next year (hopefully).