This was to be my last day in D.C., so I knew had to make it count! I still had not seen the inside of the Capitol Building, or the Library of Congress, so that is what was on my agenda for that morning.
As usual, I got up with Chuck at 6:15 and had oatmeal and coffee at Starbucks. He went to "work" and I got ready to start my last day.
I walked over toward the Capitol Building, but this time ended up behind it somehow. It is just as magnificent on the back side as it is on the front side, so I wasn't exactly sure where I was. As I was approaching the steps, a guard asked me if I wanted to go inside. I told him, "yes, I was hoping to go in there and look around." He told me I had to go to the front of the building. I felt kinda dumb, but that's how I knew for sure that I was in the back of the building.
So I go all the way to the front side and the steps are all roped off, even though I knew enough time had passed for it to be well into open hours.
So I walked to the Visitor Center, which by the way is also pretty big and fancy, and I looked for some information there, specifically, how does one get inside the Capitol Building?
I don't know why the guard behind the building didn't tell me this, but apparently you can't just walk into the Capitol Building. You first have to go to the Visitor Center and get a pass so you can join a tour group. Yay, .....another tour group..........
But if that was the only way to get in, then that's what I had to do.
I ended up with an interesting guide. He was cross-eyed and spoke with a funny accent, separating his syllables and putting a lot of emphasis on his consonant sounds when he spoke.
Anyway, he seemed knowledgable and was very nice.
First, he took us into a theater where we watched a video about the history of the Capitol Building. It was interesting, but I just wanted to get inside the Capitol Building. After all, this was my last day, and I was burning daylight!
When that was over, we were escorted to the Capitol Building, led up some stairs and down a few fancy hallways, and entered this big spacious room. The guide talked mostly about the paintings in this room, but also mentioned that the room was used for speeches by famous people like Daniel Webster, and Henry Clay, and if I remember right, he said the presidents walk through this room and down a hallway to be inaugurated.
Supposedly, the star on the floor marks the spot where President John Quincy Adams collapsed and died of a stroke.
Then we went into the Statuary Hall, where a statue of a prominent figure from each state was lined up around the perimeter of the room. The statues are not in any particular order, and when I had a chance to look around I couldn't find Alaska or Wisconsin. The guide only pointed out the ones that represented the states where people in our group was from (before the tour started he asked where each of uswere from). He did point out the Indiana statue, but I have to admit that I didn't really care about the Indiana statue. I was more interested in the Alaska or Wisconsin statues, which I never found. And of course being part of a tour group, you kinda have to stay with your group and you have to move on when your group moves on.
After the guide rambled on about the statues, he escorted us back to the Visitor Center, made some closing statements and said "thank you for coming". I'm thinking, "that's it? That's all we get to see? Just two rooms?"
I was disappointed cuz I thought we were gonna see a lot more than that.
The guide told us that Congress was in session that day, so if we wanted to, we could get a pass and go into the Chamber of Congress, but he didn't explain very well how to get passes. I thought it would've been kinda neat to just peek in and see it, but according to the brochure that I picked up form the Visitor Center, you have to get a pass from your state's representative, or something like that. I didn't think it was worth the trouble and I didn't wanna waste any more time.
So when we got back to the Visitor Center I looked around in there for a bit cuz that place was pretty impressive too. And I found some neat things in there that I wasn't expecting to find.
Like this table that Abraham Lincoln used for his 2nd inauguration:
According to the brochure that I had, somewhere there was supposed to be a gavel used by George Washington during the ceremony to lay the cornerstone of the Capitol, but I couldn't find it. I asked one of the workers there where it was, and he said it was moved. He said it's either behind that wall, or that wall (pointing in two opposite directions), he wasn't sure. So I looked in both areas, but never found it. (.......sigh......!)
The Visitor Center has an AWESOME cafeteria with all kinds of different buffets, so before I did anything else, I had a delicious spinach salad!
And then I pursued my next goal: the Library of Congress, which can be easily accessed from the Visitor Center.
I followed the tunnel and walked right into it, which was nice because if you go to the Library of Congress from the Visitor Center, you've already been screened, so you don't have to go through the screening process again.
The Library of Congress was amazing!
Not only was it pretty to look at, but they had some museum exhibits in there as well.
Like some ancient artifacts:
Some rare books:
This one is an illustrated copy of the book of Revelation:
And the most exciting thing for me was finding Thomas Jefferson's personal library collection!
However, not all of them in this collection were original:
I paid special attention to the books with the green ribbons in them:
They also had another special area dedicated to Bob Hope:
They had a lot of stuff in there about Bob Hope, it took me a while to look at all of it.
I could've spent a lot more time at the Library of Congress, but time was ticking and I knew I wanted to get back to the Museum of American History, and I told Chuck to meet me there after he got off "work", so I headed over that way. But it was SO HOT out, so on the way I stopped in the one of the Art Museums. I still had some time to spare, so why not look at some art while I'm cooling off in an air conditioned building?
The inside of the building was big and spacious. There were a lot of interesting paintings in there, but I didn't take very many pictures in there. I actually enjoy looking at paintings and wouldn't mind spending more time in there, but I really wanted to get back in that American History Museum! So after I felt cooled off enough I finished walking over there.
And I'm glad I went back there cuz there was so much more to see!
Mary Todd Lincoln's dress:
Notice Joe DiMaggio's signature:
There was a lot to see there and time was going by fast. Chuck was supposed to get off at 4:00 and meet me there, but for some reason he had to stay at work late that day. The museum closes at 5:30 and he didn't get there until just after 5:00, so he had less than half an hour to look around. He told me to take him to the section where he would be most interested, so I showed him where the Wars section was. It had exhibits starting with the Revolutionary War up to the present, but we didn't get to see the whole thing. Chuck was just starting to enjoy the exhibits when they started chasing people out.
Amputation kit. Ew......!
I wish we could've stayed there longer cuz there was a LOT of neat military relics to see in there. Next to the Ford Theater and Petersen House, the Museum of American History is one of my favorite places in D.C.
So after we were forced out of there, we got a bite to eat somewhere and then spent our last evening going into an area where we hadn't been yet, down by the waterfront.
There was a lot of "night life" going on there as we walked through and made our way down the sidewalk. People sitting in outdoor cafes, live music here and there......
We kept walking to the end where there was this really big fish market. They were selling every kind of fish and fish parts imaginable. It stunk really bad.
Then we went to West Potomac Park where we followed a trail to the Jefferson Memorial.
It was a really nice walk and the temperature cooled off enough to feel perfect. On the way back up the trail, it was getting dark so we were able to see the Jefferson Memorial and the Washington Monument lit up.
So that is basically how the trip ended.
Overall, it was an awesome week! I think every adult American should go there at least once in their lifetime. I don't know if I will ever get back there again, but if I do, I hope to take my time in my favorite places and not rush through them (Ford Theater/Petersen House, American History Museum, Art Museum, Library of Congress, National Archives), and if there is a next time, I hope I will get to go to Georgetown - that is one area that I really wanted to explore but didn't get to.
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