DC Day Three

Wednesday we were up bright and early so we could make it to our tour of the capitol building, which we'd arranged through our Senator's office. We went to his office (he wasn't there, bummer), and an intern took us through the underground tunnels to the capitol building. 

I didn't include many pictures of the capitol biulding, even though we took quite a few. It was definitely an interesting tour. I'm sure it would have been nice to go through with one of the actual tour guides because they probably know their stuff quite well, but it was also nice to go through with just Joel and I and the intern, because we could move quicker and go to more places in the building. We got to see the old Senate chambers, where the Supreme Court used to meet, the Old Hall of the House, the Speaker's balcony, and some other cool stuff. The rotunda was really quite impressive, and would have been even more so if there hadn't been huge plastic sheeting around most of it to protect it from the construction going on on the outside of the dome. Bummer, but oh well.

After our capitol tour we took some quick pictures at the Supreme Court building which is right behind the capitol building, then took more pictures of the capitol building. I was pretty sad when I found out before we left on our trip that the dome of the capitol building was all covered in scaffolding because of the construction. I mean, what are the chances. 

Next we headed to the Air and Space Museum, which was awesome, of course. My favorite parts of it were when they had the actual pieces: an actual spacesuit worn on the moon, the actual command module from Apollo 11 (both pictured below), stuff like that. Very cool.

Next was the National Gallery of Art. Lots of cool stuff there, for sure. Many, many famous pieces of artwork. Too bad it's a killer on your feet, to walk slowly from picture to picture.  Those are the kinds of museums I wish I could see from a wheelchair or something. I want to see it all, but it's just too painful. :)

We stopped off to check out the sculpture gardens after that, which is pretty much just what it sounds like: a bunch of sculptures outside in a garden setting.

That evening we went to a show at the Kennedy Center called "Shear Madness". It was quite hilarious! It was a murder mystery, and the audience is also involved. It made for a very interesting show, and I would love to go see it again because it has the potential to be completely different. Very fun!

This is called the Freedom Bell. It's across the street from Union Station.

We were told that this spot was the exact center of DC, and they built it out from this very spot. But from the research I've done, that's a bunch of hooey. Oh well, a fun picture, anyway. :) It's in the crypt.

One of the many statues in the Capitol building.

The view from the Speaker's balcony. Quite lovely, I thought!

If the lighting were better you'd be able to see the Washington Monument behind us.

This is the inside of the dome from the rotunda. Too bad this was all we could see. However, apparently George Washington is painted up there (he's upside down in this photo), and he's actually sixteen feet tall, but looks tiny because it's so far away.

The back (?) or side facing away from the mall.

I'm frowning because I'm sad that the dome was all covered up.

The front.

The Supreme Court building.

I can't seem to stop posing like the statues.

The Smithsonian Castle from the side not facing the mall.

This was the view from the balcony at the Kennedy Center. You can see the Washington Monument on the left, and the Lincoln Memorial just right of center.

This is the Potomac River facing towards Arlington National Cemetery.