Our tour guide was a retired teacher of the Cathedral school and she was just so delightful! She had a wealth of information and shared so many tidbits of information that I am sure no other guide had since she had spent a good portion of her life right there! I was shocked to find out that tuition to the private school there is $50k/year! Daycare thru 4th grade is co-ed, then 5th-12th are separated with a Girl's School at one side of the Cathedral and a Boy's School at the opposite side, however they sometimes do things together.
The Cathedral was the most amazing piece of architecture I think I've ever seen - I was in awe the entire time spent both inside and outside!
This is looking toward the front of the church.
A closer look at the front alter of the church.
The back of the church with spectacular rainbow colors from the sunlight coming thru the stained glass windows and a view of the "Creation Rose" window. The circular “Creation” Rose window contains more than 10,000 pieces of glass and celebrates when God declared, “Let there be light.”
The Space Window, gift of former nasa Administrator Thomas O. Paine, symbolizes both spiritual and scientific connections to the mystery of the cosmos and is one of the best-loved stained glass windows at the Cathedral. It is also unique in appearance, departing from the traditional three-panel concept by filling all three lancets with one design. Photographs taken during the Apollo 11 mission provided inspiration to St. Louis artist Rodney Winfield for the color palette. A thin, white line among the dark spheres and tiny stars suggests the trajectory of a spaceship. The inscription “Is not God in the height of Heaven?” (Job 22:12) appears at the window’s base. A small round piece of white glass, shining from the center of a deep red upper sphere, contains a 2 3/8" sliver of moon rock as its centerpiece.
All the stained glass windows are just breath-taking!
In the War Memorial chapel, a cross made from the rubble of the Pentagon
stands as a reminder of 9/11.
This high alter is cleaned with q-tips and takes several weeks to be done!
Everywhere you look is just amazing & gorgeous architecture!
After our tour inside, we had a little time to walk thru the Bishops Garden
Next stop was getting Uber to take us to Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Kennedy Memorial
When we got to Arlington, I went to a kiosk to find out the exact location of my great uncle George's grave. After looking for next to forever, we were about to give up, when I decided we had to have passed it, so I left the other's and went on a search - I was so glad when shortly after I found it!
Next was Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
It's really pretty amazing to watch!
We then walked to the iwo jima memorial
Next up was the Holocaust Museum
This was one of the most sobering places I have ever been. To see generations of people that their lives were just erased away was sad. I learned many things that I didn't know and makes me want to dig into history to learn more.
We stayed in the Holocaust Museum until closing, then ubered to Walmart and decided to buy pizza, take it back to the house and cook it. We played cards and talked about our day, before heading off to bed early, since we had to be up and out by 6:45am for another full day tomorrow.
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