Air Force Memorial and Marine Corps War Memorial

When we left the airport, we went straight to the Air Force Memorial. This is a newer memorial that was completed at the end of 2006.

The three memorial spires range from 201 feet to 270 feet high and appear to be soaring. Its array of stainless steel arcs against the sky evoke the image of "contrails of the Air Force Thunderbirds as they peel back in a precision 'bomb burst' maneuver."

Matt is in the bottom right corner of this picture. That gives you a little bit of an idea of how huge these spires are!

 We had a great view of the Washington Monument from this memorial.

 From the other side of the memorial, we could see the Arlington National Cemetery.

From there we went to the Marine Corps War Memorial. This is also known as the Iwo Jima Memorial.

The memorial features the statues of the six servicemen who raised the second U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II, on February 23, 1945: Sergeant Michael Strank, Corporal Harlon Block, Private First Class Rene Gagnon, Private First Class Ira Hayes, Private First Class Franklin Sousley, and Pharmacist Mate Second Class, John Bradley.

 I think it's a beautiful memorial.

Taylor and Belton were all about the airplanes flying by the whole time we were there. Taylor could even tell us exactly what kind of plane each one was!

 This was a great way to start our adventures in DC!