DC Wrap Up

On Wednesday morning, we headed over to Betty McCollum's office for our official capitol building tour. There were 20+ people from her district there from the tour, and it was a nice group. Curt Brown, the Strib reporter, and his family were part of our group - cool people. Anyway, the tour was quite disappointing. We had to stand in a massive security line in an underground tunnel to enter the building, and our tour guides really didn't know much. They screwed things up, so we didn't get to go on the floor of the House chamber - that was a bummer. Also, they consistently led us in the wrong direction for things; very odd experience. I guess I should have asked Klobuchar's office to set things up; next time I guess. Regardless, it was still cool to see the building, but entering from the basement kind of wrecks the feeling of it. There's something to be said for climbing the front steps; I feel that way about the MN state capitol too. Security theater I tell you; what a waste of time!

After the capitol I went over to see the Supreme Court. That is definitely an impressive building! It's bigger than I pictured, and I could climb those steps and head right in (well, after going through a metal detector of course). The court wasn't in session (they hear arguments Monday-Wednesday in the morning, and our capitol tour caused us to miss them), but it was still neat to see the chamber. Such an impressive building. I can't even imagine arguing there.

When I left the capitol, I decided on a whim to stop in the Library of Congress, since it's right there. I'm glad I did, as it was an amazingly beautiful building. I took the provided tour, and our tour guide was quite knowledgeable - a nice change after the capitol! My camera couldn't really capture the beauty of the place, but I'm glad I went. Unfortunately, the exhibit which most interested me was closed for renovations. It seems like a lot of places here are closed for renovations; I'm not sure if it's the time of the year or what. Oh well - there's too much to do and see here as is!

After the Library of Congress, I caught the Metro and headed to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. That was an impressive museum, filled with old planes (including the Spirit of Saint Louis) and rockets. However, my favorite part was the one room dedicated to the items from the American History museum, also closed for renovations. In that room, I saw the top hat Abe Lincoln was wearing the night he was killed, Dorothy's ruby red slippers, a lunch counter from the civil rights movement sit-ins, R2-D2 and C3PO, George Washington's uniform, and some suffrage movement items among other things. Really, really cool stuff, stuff that connects me to history. I would love to go back to the museum when it opens fully, as it was one of my favorite parts of the trip.

After Air and Space, I headed back to the condo and went to bed early, as I was tired. This place requires a ton of walking, and it wore me out!

Yesterday (Thursday), we went to Mount Vernon, George Washington's estate. Mt. Vernon was definitely one of my favorite places here. It was really cool to see where George and Martha lived, and the estate is fantastically beautiful, even in March. It's located right on the Potomac, and there are fantastic views all around. I would love to go back in the fall, as I think it would be amazing!

After Mount Vernon, we headed up to the Mall, as I wanted to see the WWII memorial with the water in it. It was insanely windy yesterday, so that made walking difficult, especially for Mary. However, it was still cool to see the memorial with the water, and I do love the Mall. I could spend hours there.

We ventured into Georgetown for dinner and wound up eating at a place called Clyde's. It was probably my best meal in DC. However, it was too cold to spend much time walking around Georgetown, so I didn't see much besides the fancy shops. Seems like a cool area, something I will explore more next time.

Today, our flight home leaves at 2:30 or so, as long as the weather allows. I guess it's snowing like crazy at home - yay! We've had good weather here, so going home to snow is a bit of a bummer. I just hope our flight makes it. I was thinking about doing a few last minute touristy things this morning, but instead I took it easy, finished packing, cleaned the condo a bit, and wrote this blog. :)

Hope everyone is well - see you soon!