Potomac News Online |

plantation was the birthplace of Robert E. Lee and also served as a boyhood

home to Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee – the only brothers

to sign the Declaration of Independence. Built in the late 1730’s the

Great House contains some of the Colonial era’s most architecturally significant

rooms. The site encompasses more than 1,600 acres of farmlands and forests

and includes nature trails, a gristmill and formal gardens. Adults (12

yrs. and up): $9; Seniors, Active Military, AAA members, $8; Children

6-11 $5.

3200 George Washington Memorial Parkway

Mount Vernon

George Washington’s home allows you to experience history close up while

gaining insight into our first president. Visit the greenhouse, slave

quarters, George Washington museum, archaeology and restoration museum,

slave memorial, a working 18th century mill and Washington’s tomb. You

can also hike the forest trail or explore the pioneer farmer site. The

site is open 7 days a week, 365 days a year, including Christmas. Adults

– $11.00; Senior Citizens, age 62 and above, $10.50; Children ages 5 and

under (accompanied by an adult) admitted free.

Telephone:

(703) 780-2000; (703) 780-0011; (703) 780-8688

World War II

Memorial

Washington, D.C.

memorial is a massive bronze and granite structure, nestled between the

Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial in downtown Washington, D.C.

It honors the 400,000 American servicemen

and women killed, the 700,000 wounded and the remaining 15,000,000

that served in history’s bloodiest war – what television anchor Tom Brokaw

called the defining event of the 20th Century.

After years of battling for appropriations, raising money and selecting

an appropriate site, ground was broken in November of 2000. The memorial

has 4,000 gold stars, each symbolizing 100 Americans killed. A fountain

is at the center, surrounded by 56 pillars representing each state, territory

and the District of Columbia.

World War II Heritage Trail

Northern Virginia

This trail links 15 sites that range from the U.S. Naval Torpedo Station

in Alexandria, which built munitions during the war and now is the Torpedo

Factory Art Center, to the Pentagon, which was built during the war to

unite the military command and is still the world’s largest office building.

Pay respects at Arlington

National Cemetery, the Iwo Jima Memorial, or Quantico National Cemetery.

Study World War II aircraft at the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy

Center or World War II guns at the National Rifle Association’s National

Firearms Museum.

Look in on the restoration of Gen. George C. Marshall’s residence, Dodona

Manor, at the George C. Marshall International Center in Leesburg. Learn

more about life on the home front at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Pope-Leighey

House.

3 Overlord Circle

Bedford, Va.

suffered the highest per capita D-Day losses in the nation and is now

home to the National D-Day Memorial. This memorial pays tribute to Allied

Forces that participated in the largest land, sea and air operation in

memorial stretches over nine acres and features a luxuriant English Garden,

haunting invasion tableau with statuary and stylized landing scene, and

Victory Arch, which pays tribute to the servicemen and women who sacrificed

their lives on that historic day. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed

Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day). Guided tours and

school programs available.

Telephone: (800) 351-DDAY; (540) 586-DDAY; (540) 587-8973 (tours)

Exit 238 off Interstate 64

Williamsburg

Go back to the beginning of our nation’s quest for freedom at Colonial

Williamsburg, where the restored Historic Area presents “America.

is a series of “Streetscapes,” interactive vignettes based on

colorful characters of the 1770s. The ongoing story of the American Revolution

concentrates on the year 1774, when Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson

into the protest against the British blockade following the Boston Tea

site, Great Hopes Plantation, expands the interpretation of African-American

life by showing the roles of slaves living and working in rural areas,

Day celebrations include a salute to the 13 Colonies, a reading of the

Declaration of Independence, a garden party at the Governor’s Palace and

fireworks. Admission: from $33 adults, $16 youth, for one day to $69 adults,

$35 youth, for a year-long Independence Pass.

Church

11 Rochelle Rd.

Petersburg

An unlikely connection between Confederate ladies and a Union general’s

wife made this Petersburg church the inspiration for our national Memorial

started decorating Confederate graves with flowers and flags on June 9,

1866, two years after a militia of “old men and young boys”

held off imminent capture by Union troops, setting up a 10-month Union

of 1868, the wife of U.S. Gen. John Logan visited the church and its graveyard.

She saw the graves being decorated with flowers and flags and told her

husband about it. The general, as commander in chief of the Grand Army

of the Republic, then designated May 30, 1868, as a memorial day for all

who died in defense of their country. Confederate graves at Blandford

Church continue to be decorated on the national Memorial Day by the Sons

of Confederate Veterans. Admission: $5 adults, $4 seniors. Memorial Day

events are free.

National Cemetery

Memorial Drive

Arlington

Over 200,000 veterans and their dependents are buried here representing

every conflict in which America has fought. Memorial sites include Tomb

of the Unknowns; the grave sites of John F. and Jacqueline B. Kennedy

Challenger Space Shuttle Memorial; Mast of the U.S.S. Maine – “Remember

the Maine!”; Confederate Memorial; and the Coast Guard Memorial.

Civilian notables include boxing champ Joe Louis; actor Lee Marvin; World

War II’s most decorated soldier Audie Murphy; and 27th president William

Howard Taft. The cemetery covers 612 acres with a motorized tour available.

Hours: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., April 1 to Sept. 30; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 1

to March 31. $1.25 per hour for the first three hours, $2 each hour after

three hours.

Virginia Department of Tourism, U.S. National Park Service, the Potomac