Our final day in Washington DC centered on our tour of the Capitol building. It turned out to be MUCH better than we’d anticipated. Ready? Let’s go!
The highlight of Friday was to be a tour of the capitol. We expected it to be a long day, so we got up and started the day with another wonderful pastry breakfast at Tatte Bakery. Why mess with a good thing?
Hart Senate Office Building
Many people like to visit the Capitol building. It’s a highlight of a visit to Washington DC for many people. Like most people, I tried to book a tour but all the tours were booked up. We were there during Spring Break time and there were many groups of students touring the Washington, just as we were.
I called the office of Senator Alex Padilla and I was able to request a tour of the capitol from them. I was expecting to be added to one of the standard tours. As it turns out, we received a personal tour from one of the Senator’s staffers.
We got to the Hart Senate Office building and began an eye opening day.
The first thing we saw when walking into the Hart Senate Office Building was a massive, open lobby with this cool looking artwork named “Mountains and Clouds” by artist Alexander Calder
The Capitol building
We made our way to Senator Padilla’s office, met the staffer assigned to give us a tour, and then we were off. We worked our way through several underground corridors to get to the tram that moves people between the Hart building and the capitol building. Cool note: the tram was designed by some of the same people to built the rides at Disneyland.
Inside the capitol
One of our stops was Statuary Hall. This is a collection of statues that represent each state. It is a wonderful collection of statues define how each stated sees itself. I particularly liked a statue of Rosa Parks that was commissioned by an act of congress. She does not represent a state.
In addition to Rosa Parks, there is also a statue of Helen Keller. What I liked about that statue, is that there is some braille on the base of the statue available for people to touch. The bronze of the braille is polished by the many hands that touch it daily, much like the bronze at the FDR memorial that we saw yesterday.
Some other items that I remember is the room where the Supreme Court met before their building existed. There is also a bust of Abraham Lincoln. The bust shows the weariness he felt toward the end of his presidency and life.
Library of Congress
After we finished our tour of the capitol (sorry, photos of the House and Senate chamber are not allowed), we walked across the street to original Library of Congress. We were sad to learn that it’s closed to the public. Fortunately, the modern library is open for self-guided tours. We signed up for our timed entry tickets and had lunch while waiting for our time to come.
The Thomas Jefferson Building itself is quite spectacular. The details that went into the building are quite a sight to behold. Many installations of mosaic tile, marble, and actual plaster is used everywhere.
One of the first spaces we visited was the office of the Librarian of Congress. My wife is a librarian and I think she enjoyed seeing that office. The library also houses the renowned collection of books that were in President Thomas Jefferson’s home library. It is quite an impressive collection.
The Library of Congress is a working library and researchers are allowed to book time and access special resources. The room looks like a good place to study.
Smithsonian Museums
We left the Library of Congress and walked past the Smithsonian Castle on our way to the Museum of American History. We didn’t realize that the Smithsonian Museums are open to the public free of charge. I would like to go back to visit Washington DC again and spend an entire week visiting all the museums. There is SO MUCH to see.
The Smithsonian Museum of American History is full of items that span the history of our nation. Here is a minuscule sampling of what we saw there.
Finishing up
It took us a couple of hours to see everything. We finished up our visit to the museum and headed back to our hotel. By the end of the, we’d walked several miles and I WAS TIRED. That evening, we had dinner at Founding Farmers restaurant and went to bed early.
Finally, back home
We landed in Sacramento on Saturday afternoon. It’s always nice to see this piece of art in the Sacramento airport. It mean’s we’re home.
