Pentagon

Last weekend we went on a private tour of the pentagon.  My dad has a friend who offered to give us a tour  last Saturday afternoon.

We entered by a secret tunnel.

No, not really. Just a regular tunnel from the parking lot - under the highway to the pentagon.  The man who gave us the tour was in military intelligence and so I asked lots of questions that he couldn't answer.  Although he did confirm that somewhere in the pentagon someone has to use an eyeball scanner to get into a room.  I really wanted to see that, but we did not. He also says the pentagon has two underground levels, that he knows of, I like to imagine that there are many levels with eyeball scanners for each one.  I also asked him if I blogged about the pentagon if that would attract attention from the government and if they would start monitoring my blog.  He said probably. I would hate for my blog to be shut down due to national security.  If the site disappears in a few days, you'll know why.

We thought we were incredibly special to tour the pentagon. Turns out over 100,000 people tour it each year. For you math type that is over 274 people every single day. 

Although, we keep our pride regarding this tour because it was private, just for us, and on a Saturday when everything was quiet.  Did you know there is a Best Buy IN the pentagon? Over 23,000 people work at the pentagon, so it's like a small city (more people work there than live in my county). They have a gym, dentist, health clinic, shopping mall, food court, etc., and all the top security in the nation. You know, the usual.

We started with a visit to the 9/11 memorial.  It was very sad.  It is the only 9/11 memorial I have visited.  

There is a bench for each person who was killed either in the pentagon or on the plane.  

The name and the year they were born are commemorated at the memorial.  

1998 marks the year of the youngest person to die at the pentagon.  This was obviously a child around the age of three. He was memorialized with his parents and another family member, or at least that is what I gathered from their bench.

The benches are facing opposite directions, based on whether the person was in the building or on the plane.

The benches are also positioned at the same angle that the plane came into the building.

Each bench is lit and has water underneath to cause reflection. Both literal and figurative reflection.

The plan is for the trees to grow and flower, to provide shade in the summer.

It was very beautiful and very somber.

As expected they did a great job fixing the pentagon, but you can see a slight color difference between the new and old parts of the building.

Inside the pentagon there are over 17 miles of hallway, and all of it is decorated with history and awards.  Very fascinating.  Of course there is no photography anywhere inside or outside the pentagon, other than at the memorial.

Lilly's favorite part of the pentagon was the memory quilts.  After the 9/11 attacks people all over the country made quilts in honor of those lost. Those quilts hang in the halls of the pentagon.  We found a quilt from Elysburg, PA., which is a small town just down the road from us.  Jim wrote down the names of the people who made the quilt. We want to call them so they know their quilt is hanging behind a glass case in the pentagon....although they probably know.

I find it fascinating that people made quilts for these victims. I don't think it would have crossed my mind to make a quilt, but isn't it lovely?

Jack was tied down, or shall I say strapped in his stroller for most of the tour.  His favorite part was eating kix cereal and then running like a maniac through the halls.

There was a lot of war history, lots of weapons and important things like that.

My favorite part was seeing a real Academy Award.  It was awarded for a movie during WWII and it's home is at the pentagon.  I can't remember any of the details....I am sure wikipedia can help, if it's not black anymore.

Jim's favorite part was the 9/11 memorial, the inigma stolen from the Germans in WWII, and the golden AK47 stolen from Saddam Hussein upon his arrest.  I like those things too, Jim just is better with the memory and details.

My dad's favorite part was just getting to spend time with me and my lovely family.  Okay, I didn't ask him what his favorite part was but I am sure he would agree with that statement!

Very memorable day.