Yesterday was our second day in D.C. and we were determined to see more on that day than on the day before. We got up much earlier and headed out on our way to the metro stop. However, there was an accident on the road before the Interstate and it was gridlock for about 20 minutes or more. When we finally got on the interstate it wasn't long before we reached the exit for the metro stop. Here the traffic was almost gridlock, and even after we got through that we had to find a parking place. Once we did find a parking place we went into the station only to find that we had no idea how to use the ticket machine. Thankfully the metro worker on duty noticed our confusion and came over and helped us get our tickets. We couldn't have done it without him. Finally we were on our way into D.C., for most of us it was our first time on a metro train. We made it into D.C. without any trouble and then discovered that it was windy and raining outside. And when I say windy and rainy I mean windy enough that one of our umberellas broke and another kept turning itself insideout, add the rain to that and it was quite the adventure getting to the Capitol Building. When we finally got there we discovered that we could only get into the Capitol through a tour; we couldn't get in and see it on our own. Thankfully we were just in time for the next tour. The tour was way too short in my opinion, we just didn't have enough time to really see everything as much as we would have liked. But at least we got to see it.
Here are some pictures of the Capitol building.
This is a statue from Colorado that is in the Capitol Visitor's Center.
The Capitol Dome from the inside.
This is a painting that circles around the lower part of the dome showing American history.
The Pilgrims praying before they set off for the new world.
Pocahantas being baptized.
The old House chambers are now Statuary Hall. The room is surrounded by statues and in the floor are plaques showing where presidents who were in the House of Representatives when they were in this room had their desks. Here are a couple pictures from there.
This is the very spot where John Quincy Adams, our sixth president, sat.
The statue in the center is Daniel Webster. He was a great defender of the Constitution in the early 1800's.
That was pretty much our tour of the Capitol building. Unfortunately the lighting made it difficult to get good pictures, and we just didn't have much time to see everything very well. So while we did enjoy our tour we agreed that it was too short.
Next we headed over to the Library of Congress. This building was amazing and beautiful. They have a Gutenberg Bible, and one of the displays that we saw was Jefferson's Library. This exhibit had dozens of books on display that dated from the Founding era or older. Then they had a circular bookshelf with what remains of Jefferson's actual library. There were hundreds of books in a 360 degree shelf. It was breathtaking. Unfortunately they wouldn't allow pictures in the exhibit. Here are some pictures of the library though.
After the Library we hurried over to the Air and Space Museum. It was still windy and rainy so we were frozen by the time we got to the museum, but it was well worth it. After a quick lunch we explored the museum. The museum was great. There is so much there that it would take at least a full day to see and read everything. Unfortunately we didn't have that much time, so we saw as much as could in a few hours. Even with the rush we still saw a ton. Here is a sampling of what we saw.
I wish I could post more pictures but I'm rapidly running out of time as we're getting ready to go to Baltimore this morning. After the Air and Space Museum we took the trolley from yesterday (we got our tickets when they were buy one day get a second day free) over to the Lincoln Memorial and this time we did catch the Arlington bus. We got there about a quarter till the turning of the hour and the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns. So we jogged the mile or so, mostly uphill, to the Tomb in order to catch the ceremony. The ceremony was very serious and now I think that I have a greater understanding of why we show such honor to this tomb and those who gave their lives in defense of our nation. We then hurried over to Arlington House, the home of Robert E. Lee before the Civil War. I'll have to continue this post later. We are going out the door on our way to the aquarium. So I'll continue this hopefully later today. To be continued...
Hannah said the same thing about not getting to see all of the Capitol Building...there is so much to see everywhere around there that I think it would take several trips to see it all! The changing of the guard was a impacting memory from my trip there as well - very amazing!
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