Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Capitol - Library of Congress - National Air and Space Museum

Today we were up and out by 6:45am - driving again to Walmart to park the truck since street sweepers would be coming thru again. We had tickets to tour the Capitol,and arrived there plenty early, so we had time to walk down to Union Station to have a look.

 As we were walking to Union Station, we passed The Supreme Court, 
 then arrived at Union Station...
 ...kinda sad to see homeless sleeping on the stone benches outside Union Station...

 The inside of Union Station was breath-taking...almost felt like a walk back in time!
 All the architecture in Washington D.C. is so detailed with attention to detail - truly amazing work!
Union Station had the feel of an airport with stores inside, baggage check stations and food courts.

It was getting close to time for our Capitol Tour, so we headed back there and got in line.
Once we got thru security, we were placed in a group with a guide. We all were given headphones which made it great for listening to our guide. I wished we would have had this at the National Cathedral b/c it can be so difficult to hear a tour guide in such massive buildings.
We started out in a beautiful, light-filled lower level, which is named Emancipation Hall, in remembrance of the slave labor that went into constructing the Capitol building and the United States as a whole. Around Emancipation Hall there were many statues ranging from a native Hawaiian king to an astronaut. These statues are overflow from Statuary Hall, which was our next stop on the tour.
General Lee

 Patti with Jefferson Davis - Mississippi
As you can see, the statues are massive - they rotate them often and can only have a certain amount of them in the hall at the same time otherwise the floor will buckle.
 Once again, architecture was amazing and beautiful, along with paintings on the walls and all the statues.
 

I really needed a wide angle lens for this shot - this is the dome and there is just so many details for your eyes to feast on!
 Painting at the top of the dome


On the floor in the Hall, were desk markers for the location each state Representative

Our tour last about an hour and was full of history and interesting tidbits of information. We were told that there is a tunnel we could take to the Library of Congress to avoid going thru another security checkpoint. The Library of Congress is a place I really wanted to see, since my Dad's World War II Memoirs are there. I promised Patti I would not hunt them down, I just wanted to have a look inside. I am sooooooo glad we did b/c it was sooooooo amazing! It seems like with each building we go into, the architecture just blows my mind in a whole new way...and THIS place was beyond amazing from top to bottom and everywhere in between! 
Be prepared for LOTS of images...no matter where your eyes took you, it was breath-taking beauty - an architectural masterpiece!!




We then made our way to Thomas Jefferson's Library within the building...


 The books with the green markers are from the original Jefferson Collection...

 ...and there are many of them!

More images from the Library of Congress...







We then made our way over to see the Gutenberg Bible.
The Gutenberg Bible is the first great book printed in Western Europe from movable metal type. It is therefore a monument that marks a turning point in the art of bookmaking and consequently in the transition from the Middle Ages to the modern world. Gutenberg’s invention of the mechanical printing press made it possible for the accumulated knowledge of the human race to become the common property of every person who knew how to read—an immense forward step in the emancipation of the human mind.
After the Library of Congress,, we went back to the Capitol and ate lunch with what seemed like 100-million school children, then headed on foot to the Smithsonian District, passing many statues of sorts outside the Capitol.
After making our way to the Smithsonian District, we had planned to go to the Department of Engraving and Printing, however it was at the far end of the District from where we were. We were standing in front of the Space and Air Museum and decided to go ahead and spend time in there, then make our way thru the Smithsonian District and pick up tomorrow where we leave off today.
We split up as couples in here and just picked a time and meeting place, however, we kept running into each other, as we walked the entire museum. Each room was so interesting as we learned about space and air - I think the Apollo was the most interesting tho b/c it impacted so much of our lives growing up!



This exhibit was interesting for Steve and Patti

After we met back up, I was glad that Steve said his legs were spent, b/c mine were too. We all admitted that to try to visit another museum today would be too much even tho it was early in the day, compared to previous days. We decided to uber back to Wal-Mart, the drive back to our Row House and relax for awhile.
It started raining, so we were glad we cut our day short. Patti found a Mexican restaurant not far from our place, so we ventured out using google maps to navigate our way there. As usual, parking was a huge issue - no where to park - we finally found a street several blocks away with a space to park, and walked the several blocks in the rain to the restaurant. It was a tiny place, but the food was excellent! I have never been one to eat guacamole, but after having some from this place, I think I have found a new love for it!
After dinner, we headed back and played cards then headed to bed.  Tomorrow would be our last full day in Washington D.C.

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