Arlington is not a city, but a county, adjacent to Alexandria.  It has a mix of residential and commercial districts, with a few dense urban centers like Rosslyn and Courthouse. 

Riding Metro is popular with tourists, as the place is not really what you would call "car-friendly."  Along with the high-profile attractions across the river in the District, you can see the Pentagon, Reagan Airport, Arlington Cemetery, and the Iwo Jima Memorial in Arlington.

Arlington also has eight of the original 40 District of Columbia boundary markers, a reminder that this whole county used to be part of the federal district.  Some of the marker stones are not far from a road, and are easy to get to.

Years ago, it was a terminus for the Washington & Old Dominion, and Great Falls & Old Dominion Railroads.  At Bluemont Park I found a caboose and a small shack that might have served as a station, but the tracks are long-gone.  This will be the beginning of a wild race to follow this railroad line out of town, spotting stations, tracks, and cabooses along the way.

Dedicated on September 11, 2008, seven years after terrorists crashed a plane into the Pentagon. 125 benches point toward the Pentagon, and represent each life lost there. 59 benches point in the opposite direction ("to the sky"), representing the lives lost on Flight 77. The perimeter Age Wall begins at height of 3 inches, representing the age of the youngest victim (in years), and rises to 71 inches, the age of the oldest victim. Each 14-foot long, 1100-pound bench is forged from stainless steel, topped with granite, and cantilevers over a basin of circulating water that runs its length. The memorial is separated from the Pentagon by a fence but there are no security checkpoints or metal detectors. You can't park very close to the memorial, and will need to take a moderate walk on foot to get there. Wear comfortable shoes, and on a sunny, hot day, a hat and water bottle. You will encounter many trained armed guards along your approach to the memorial, but they are friendly and helpful, and want you to appreciate the experience. The site is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I had to keep reminding myself that this is not another one of those attractions in Washington DC, like the Lincoln Memorial or the Washington Monument. This is the place where a great many people tragically lost their lives. I give it the same solemn respect as I would a cemetery.

The United States Air Force Memorial, located in Arlington, Virginia, was dedicated on the weekend of October 14 and 15, 2006 and opened to the general public on October 17, 2006. These pictures were taken on that day. The United States Air Force Memorial honors the service and sacrifices of the millions of men and women who have served in the United States Air Force and its predecessor organizations. More than 54,000 airmen have given their lives while serving in the Air Force and its preceding arms of the military, including: The Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corp, The Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, The Division of Military Aeronautics, Secretary of War, The Army Air Service, The U.S. Army Air Corps, The U.S. Army Air Forces. The site is simple and understated. It is visible from all over, including Rosslyn, Georgetown, Foggy Bottom, and the Mall. In addition to the three stainless steel spires reaching to the sky, there are interesting inscriptions and memorials around the base. Open all year, lighted at night. Parking is not provided, so if you drive, prepare to search for a parking spot along the adjacent streets. Best is to have a friend drop you off at the entrance, and come back to pick you up in half an hour.

Words can not describe the memorial. It truly is breath taking to see, even with its simple design. An eerie silent was on the grounds, even a baby that was crying a few minutes before fell silent. For each person that died that day, there is bench with his or her name on it and a reflection pool below it. There are four benches with the name on it, and three names in the pool of water below. This represents a family that was on the flight that crashed into the building. The benches face two different ways, one toward and one away from the Pentagon. Facing the building means that person was on the flight, and facing away means the person was inside at the time they died. The benches are aligned in order of the victims’ date of birth. Starting at 1998 (one of the children killed on the plane) and processing as far back as 1930, again the gentleman was on the air plane. The Air force memorial is in the background. It represents two symbols. One is in honor of all Air force men and women who serviced and died, and the second is to server as a reminder that no airplane will take that same trajectory on approach to the airport. I highly recommend seeing this memorial on your travels through DC; If not curiosity, then for the honor and memory of those who died that ill fateful day.

Pros of Quality Inn Iwo Jima: -Great location! Walking distance from subway, wonderful view of Arlington and DC -Small hotel (in my opinion this is a good feature because it means more quiet and less crowded in general) -Underground, safe parking -Great restaurant across the parking lot (can't remember the name though) -Generally safe area. We walked the streets late and never had an issue. Cons of Quality Inn Iwo Jima: -Fire alarm went off numerous times in my short stay. Sometimes during day hours and sometimes in the middle of the night. They would claim to have it fixed and then it would go off again without fail. -Finickly about their air conditioning. It's an old system and it was a hot april for DC. they were refusing to have it on, but did offer to put fans in rooms if they had any. -Worn down location. If you want an upbeat part of town, do not stay here. It was an old part of the area, but still safe. -Worn down rooms. Could tell the place needed a remodel, but then again you pay for what you get!

While visiting the Pentagon Memorial, you couldn't help but notice the Air Force Memorial in the background. So after paying my respects and taking my pictures at the Pentagon, i headed to the Air Force Memorial to see what that was all about. The Memorial is located in Arlington, Virginia on the grounds of Fort Myer near The  Pentagon, at the intersection of Columbia Pike and South Joyce Street. The Memorial itself is 280 feet high and appears to be soaring; its array of stainless steel arcs against the sky evokes the image of "contrails" of the Air Force Thunderbirds as they peel back in a precision 'bomb burst' maneuver." Only three of the four contrails are depicted, as the absent fourth evokes the missing man formation, traditionally used at Air Force funeral fly-overs. Well, enough of my yapping. I hope you enjoy my pics.

Follow my progress as my plans ramp up for a trip around the world. 

Join me for the adventure at GoBackpacking 'Round the World

The Sheraton National Hotel Arlington was much better than the Hilton Crystal City for duty at the Pentagon and Metro access. Although the government paid for most of the nights we were in DC, they had a great weekend rate of $107 per night if we were able to stay through the extra days, which would be a great value for a 3-star hotel in the DC area. The location is actually misleading from the name: you are pretty far away from National Airport compared to the Crystal City area, but there is still good shuttle service between the hotel and the airport which does not require getting on the I-395 freeway (critical during rush hour). The hotel is a 16-story monstrocity in a small residential area (see foreground of photo) overlooking the Pentagon, the Navy Annex, Arlignton National Cemetery, and the fields of suburban DC in Northern Virginia. The hotel is well-maintained and we had no problems with anny of the ammentities. The bed was extremely confortable and the selection of various-sized pillows made for a very comfortable stay. I knocked my head into the eye-level soap dish in the shower, but it was a good shower with descent water pressure. The sink area is outside the bathroom, but this seems to be a trend in 3-star hotels nowadays. The best part of the Sheraton National Hotel Arlington was the shuttle service. We could call the front dewsk and get a shuttle directly to the Pentagon, and they would even pick us up on a 15-minute wait from the time of our call, just enough to walk outside to the pick-up area. The phones seemded to get busy around 0600 and it may take a few tries to reach a guest services person to schedule a ride on the busy mornings, but we never had a problem catching the shuttle to the Pentagon. They also have regularly scheduled service between the Pentagon City Metro Stop/Pentagon Row Restaurants and the hotel every 30 minutes until 11:15PM. This makes getting to downtown DC a breeze via Metro and provides several options for food and shopping. Overall, we thought it was better than staying at Crystal City where we had to walk several blocks to the Metro just to ride it for 2 stops to get to the Pentagon. The Sheraton National Hotel Arlington has large banquet facilities, a bar, restaurant, room service and helpful bell hops. There's even a WiFi and computer kiosk area for guest use. Great place to stay when duty calls!

Located on a street filled with all sorts of restaurants and bars, Carlyle is in an fun, vibrant area. With wait times upwards of 90 minutes, you need to call ahead on weekends. We arrived and only had to wait 10 minutes after having called in an hour and a half before. For appetizers, my coworkers and I scarfed down some crispy calamari accompanied by delicious seared Ahi tuna. I ordered a clean Grey Goose martini with three olives to wash it all down. Later followed by a gin and tonic. For dinner I had the "fish of the day", which happened to be Rock fish which was served with asparagus and wild rice (but I opted for Parmesan mashed potatoes instead of rice...very good!). For dessert I shared Apple pie with vanilla ice cream, also a great dish. The entire restaurant was packed and had a great atmosphere. It has two levels and we sat upstairs in a booth. I highly recommend this place even if you are staying in DC. It's just 10 minutes south on 395.