29 July 2010
College Road Trip Day 6: Washington D.C.
A day to see the our national government buildings and memorials! Our hotel was right by a Metro subway stop, so it was our primary means of transportation. Clean and convenient (most of the time), we learned to ride the subway like regulars after a couple of trips. First stop: Capitol South, dropping us off 2 blocks from the US Capitol. We had not reserved tickets for a tour of the building, so after a short queue to get into the building (10 minutes,) we entered, were screened by security and then entered another 10 minute line to get tour tickets. The tickets were for the 12:00 tour, which was starting in 10 minutes!
The Capitol tour starts with an orientation video that overviews the Capitol building, history and purpose of Congress. Once the 7 minute video was over, we queued up in lines to meet our tour guide. Our guide was a jovial fellow named Vince. We informed us that we would not be going up to the rotunda, because the police had been called in for an incident. That was a huge let down - and I immediately Googled to find out what was going on. Turns out that a small group called GetEqual, staged an informal sit-in. The rotunda was cleared, police called, protesters arrested, and all clear, back to business. We were delayed 5 minutes, but were able to do the whole tour - including the rotunda. It was a great tour, we learned more about the Capitol building, the history of Congress, and saw statues from each US state (each state can have 2 statues in the building.)
After the tour we had lunch in the Capitol Restaurant, along with every Boy Scout in the US. Turns out that the Boy Scouts were celebrating their 100th Jamboree in DC. They were all polite and respectful - even when hungry.
We took the underground tunnel to the Library of Congress across the street (avoiding another security station.) This was my first time here, and although you cannot entire the library proper, was impressed with the presentation of materials in the many exhibitions. We saw an exhibition on entertainers and media, featuring Bob Hope and the USO, but also recordings and footage of 60s protest singers and performers. We also saw one of the Gutenberg Bibles on display, an original 3-volume set, 1,000 years old!
We went to the Supreme Court building (it's called the "supreme Court" in the Constitution.) Another round of security and we were able to go right up to the entrance of the court room and look inside. Little is changed here, with hard wooden seats for the gallery and lawyers. Each justice has their own personal chair, made for them by government furniture makers. This was the lowest visited building while we were there, which is too bad, because it is an important player in the balance of power.
By 3:30 it was about 100 degrees outside the all white buildings. We tried to step into the United Methodist building, (slogan: "open doors, open minds, open hearts") located right next to the Supreme Court building, but it was locked... so we headed back to the hotel room to rest and cool down.
We had dinner a a Moroccan restaurant in the DuPont Circle neighborhood. After that we went to the National Mall. It was still hot, but managed to see the following structures: Washington Monument, Jefferson Monument, WW2 Memorial and the Lincoln Monument. By the time we got to the Lincoln Monument, the sun had set and it was fully illuminated. We walked around, reading the Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural Address, carved into the sides of the monument. Lincoln didn't way much, but what he said was inspiring for any age in American History.
Tired, hot and with swelling feet, we opted for a cab ride home. It was worth every inflated penny of DC cab rates.
Photos here.
Trip Log
Location: Washington D.C.
Departure Time: 10:30 AM
Destination: Tourist Destinations
Mileage: 0
Breakfast: Marriott (Washington D.C.)
Lunch: US Capitol Restaurant (Washington D.C.)
Dinner: Marrakesh Palace (Washington D.C.)
Lodging: Marriott Washington Wardman Park (Washington D.C.)
The Capitol tour starts with an orientation video that overviews the Capitol building, history and purpose of Congress. Once the 7 minute video was over, we queued up in lines to meet our tour guide. Our guide was a jovial fellow named Vince. We informed us that we would not be going up to the rotunda, because the police had been called in for an incident. That was a huge let down - and I immediately Googled to find out what was going on. Turns out that a small group called GetEqual, staged an informal sit-in. The rotunda was cleared, police called, protesters arrested, and all clear, back to business. We were delayed 5 minutes, but were able to do the whole tour - including the rotunda. It was a great tour, we learned more about the Capitol building, the history of Congress, and saw statues from each US state (each state can have 2 statues in the building.)
After the tour we had lunch in the Capitol Restaurant, along with every Boy Scout in the US. Turns out that the Boy Scouts were celebrating their 100th Jamboree in DC. They were all polite and respectful - even when hungry.
We took the underground tunnel to the Library of Congress across the street (avoiding another security station.) This was my first time here, and although you cannot entire the library proper, was impressed with the presentation of materials in the many exhibitions. We saw an exhibition on entertainers and media, featuring Bob Hope and the USO, but also recordings and footage of 60s protest singers and performers. We also saw one of the Gutenberg Bibles on display, an original 3-volume set, 1,000 years old!
We went to the Supreme Court building (it's called the "supreme Court" in the Constitution.) Another round of security and we were able to go right up to the entrance of the court room and look inside. Little is changed here, with hard wooden seats for the gallery and lawyers. Each justice has their own personal chair, made for them by government furniture makers. This was the lowest visited building while we were there, which is too bad, because it is an important player in the balance of power.
By 3:30 it was about 100 degrees outside the all white buildings. We tried to step into the United Methodist building, (slogan: "open doors, open minds, open hearts") located right next to the Supreme Court building, but it was locked... so we headed back to the hotel room to rest and cool down.
We had dinner a a Moroccan restaurant in the DuPont Circle neighborhood. After that we went to the National Mall. It was still hot, but managed to see the following structures: Washington Monument, Jefferson Monument, WW2 Memorial and the Lincoln Monument. By the time we got to the Lincoln Monument, the sun had set and it was fully illuminated. We walked around, reading the Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural Address, carved into the sides of the monument. Lincoln didn't way much, but what he said was inspiring for any age in American History.
Tired, hot and with swelling feet, we opted for a cab ride home. It was worth every inflated penny of DC cab rates.
Photos here.
Trip Log
Location: Washington D.C.
Departure Time: 10:30 AM
Destination: Tourist Destinations
Mileage: 0
Breakfast: Marriott (Washington D.C.)
Lunch: US Capitol Restaurant (Washington D.C.)
Dinner: Marrakesh Palace (Washington D.C.)
Lodging: Marriott Washington Wardman Park (Washington D.C.)
Labels: college, tourist, WashingtonDC
¶ 5:00 PM
