DC Part 1

Today was a great day.  I didn’t plan on blogging every day of our vacation, but both yesterday and today have been so eventful I want to write it all down before I forget what happened.  We slept in this morning and then went to Arlington when we woke up.  The only good thing about the government being shut down is that we can sleep in on vacation without feeling guilty because we aren’t worrying about all the things we would be missing.

Arlington was awesome.  The first time I went to Arlington when I was 9, I was bored to tears.  I couldn’t understand the significance of it.  The two times I’ve been back since then, I’ve absolutely loved it.  It’s such a special place with so much history, ceremony, and honor. 

 One thing I always seem to forget is that Robert E. Lee was married to one of George Washington’s relatives.  George and Martha Washington didn’t have any children, but Martha had 2 children from her previous marriage.  Her son had 4 children, one of which built Arlington House.  His daughter (Martha Washington’s great-granddaughter) lived in the house and married Robert E. Lee.  When Lee because the General of the Confederacy during the Civil War they evacuated their home because it was so close to the Union.  The Union took over their home and began burying their dead at his home for 2 purposes.  First, because they needed a national cemetery (they actually made a few and one of the others is at Gettysburg) and second, to make it so Robert E. Lee could never return to his home following the war.

The result of their actions is Arlington National Cemetery.  I always seem to forget how huge it is.  There are rows and rows of graves and there are about 7,000 new soldiers buried in the cemetery every year.  It’s so special.  We got there and started walking around and came across JFK’s grave and his brother Robert F. Kennedy.  Even though I’m a staunch Republican, I have a TON of respect for the Kennedys. 

The next thing we did was go to the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  I love the ceremony there and I love that the tomb recognizes that even though we don’t know who they are, God does.  The changing of the guard was awesome as usual and then we headed up to the mansion.  Because of the government shutdown, we couldn’t go into the home, but it was fun to walk around, the view of the city is amazing.  I just loved being at Arlington.

After Arlington, we headed to Mount Vernon.  We bought our tickets and then took a tour of the slave life at Mount Vernon.  George and Martha Washington had several hundred slaves that ran Mount Vernon.  Overall, their life was better than other plantations, but of course, that is a relative term.  I don’t know why I never put this together, but slaves were absolutely dependent on their masters for EVERYTHING – their food, shoes, clothes, homes, and even being close to their families.  Both George and Martha Washington were overall fair with their slaves and treated them well as far as slave life goes.

Our guide told some interesting stories about how George Washington was friends with some of his slaves including one slave that fought alongside him in the Revolutionary War.  When George Washington died, he freed all the slaves that he owned.  This was really interesting for us because it kind of goes to show that Washington couldn’t live without his slaves, but that he also wanted to free them.  It kind of sends a mixed message regarding what he thought the slave's roles should be.  One interesting thing is that he and his wife had separate slaves so even though he freed his slaves, his wife's slaves were not freed and she didn’t free them when she died.  Rather, she passed them down to her children. 

There was one particular slave named Sambo who was one of George Washington’s slaves, but his wife and children were Martha’s slaves.  After George Washington died, Sambo saved up and eventually purchased his wife and children into freedom.  Several of the slaves were buried in unmarked graves and there is a memorial to them now at Mount Vernon. Overall, it was really interesting to learn about the slaves at Mount Vernon.

After learning about the slaves we went to Washington’s tomb at Mount Vernon and saw a wreath-laying ceremony.  They brought up people from the military who were there including veterans from WWII, the Korean War, and then a current military guy who has fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.  They read a prayer written by George Washington for the country and we said the pledge of allegiance.  It was really special – I definitely had goosebumps. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the Mount Vernon estate and touring the mansion.  On the back porch facing the Potomac, they have a row of chairs lined up so you can see the view George and Martha Washington would have seen from their backyard.  It was so relaxing to look out onto the river.  The mansion was pretty cool as well – there was quite a bit of original furniture and artifacts from when the Washingtons lived in the home.   

After Mount Vernon, we went to old town Alexandria.  I went there with my sister the year I graduated high school and we had a great time.  When we went, we found this adorable candy shop that had every flavor of taffy you can imagine.  I found it on google and Eric and I went there today.  It was as great as I remembered.  It was almost as good as Christmas morning.

We finished the day by eating at the Hard Rock Café in downtown DC and then walking around for a bit.  We love the Hard Rock so we try to go whenever we are in a town that has a Hard Rock.  So far we have been to Las Vegas, Chicago, New York, San Antonio, Phoenix, Niagara Falls, and now DC!  Later this week we will hit up Boston as well.  Ford's Theater is next to the Hard Rock so we walked by it but due to the shutdown, it's not open right now.  Lincoln actually died across the street from the theater the morning after he was shot, so we went over to the house as well.  

Overall, it was a great day in DC – we’re off to Boston tomorrow!

Side note from Eric: Today I accepted an internship from Ernst & Young. I wasn't planning on accepting this quickly, but I am glad that I did. I wrapped up recruiting just before we left on this vacation. I made sure to tell all the firms that I was going to be out of town for a week and that I didn't want too much pressure while I was gone. I told them I would start making my decision once I returned. Before we took off Shawn Goff, the office managing partner at EY gave me a call congratulating me on my offer. We played phone tag for a couple of days after that. Alison and I talked a lot the last two days about my offers and what decision I should make. At this point, it was done to Deloitte and EY. It is a really difficult decision. We have been really impressed by both firms.

As we were walking around Mount Vernon today I got a call from Mantyla McReynolds. They wanted to let me know they were not going to give me an offer because they knew I was going with one of the big 4 accounting firms. I talked with my contact there for a few minutes and he asked me about the other offers I received. When I told him they were from EY and Deloitte he asked me why the decision was so difficult. He explained that after meeting me and getting to know what I wanted out of my career from his perspective it seemed like EY was a no-brainer. This really got me thinking. I quickly agreed with his assessment and decided I would sign with EY.

That night back at the hotel I had to make a few phone calls. My first phone call was to Mark Peterson to tell him I was accepting the offer. He was very excited. Next, I called Shawn Goff to let him know as well. My next phone call was to Peter Mann from Deloitte. This was one of the hardest calls I have had to make. The disappointment in his voice was palpable. I just didn't have much to say he kept asking why and my best explanation was that EY was a better fit. I was very relieved when it was over. I called a few of the other firms I interviewed with to let them know I was no longer looking for a position.

After all of these calls, I felt relief and I am glad I made this big decision. I feel confident that it was the right decision for me.