Subject: Jamboree Journal Day 4
Oh, what an excruciating as well as rewarding day this was! Once again we had to leave quite early in the morning, with not enough sleep to go with it. Today we actually visited two great landmarks; the first was the Arlington Cemetery. Being there from 8:00am to the time lunch came about, we baked like potatoes as we marched through the vast landscape full of fallen armed officials’ graves, visiting the wooden crosses of the Kennedy Brothers, and sitting through a memorial service with a thousand other scouts, cooking in the most open sun I’d ever been in. Something to note, however, was we observed the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier; apparently they do their job 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, switching out every hour or so. It’s considered a great honor.
After dining at a southern oriented fast food restaurant, the scouts and I headed for the second location: Mount Vernon, the former home of George Washington. Packed with tourists and having a museum, we spent quite a few hours there just as we did at the cemetary; but the buildings had AC. Frankly, waiting outside for the next event to happen (even in shade) was testing our patience, though our prayers were finally recieved: up above the sky was getting blotted our with dark clouds and a fierce wind flew through the air, forcing the curators of the Mount Vernon site to evacuate everybody; the worsening weather ended our day with dinner and a quick trip right back to the hotel at 6:00pm. At last we have enough time to get some good shut eye and pack up for leaving to the camp tomorrow. Wait…ok, that didn’t sound too good.
Sean Malone
Boy Scout
National Jamboree 2010
Hometown Correspondent