It's December craziness--are you as swamped as I am??? Aye, aye, aye...I've fallen way behind on so many things. One BIG item was crossed off my list last night thankfully...so to celebrate, I'll continue with my summer trip before returning to my to-do list.
So from now on, I'm going to title these by the date they happened...much simpler. : )
On the morning of July 10th, we arose bright & early & loaded up our things into our van & drove back into DC, where we found parking (have I mentioned the totally AWESOME parking app I used on this trip??? It's simply called "BestParking" and it was everything it said it was...now if only it was available for every city...in DC, it was such a blessing!) and walked right up to the Visitor Center at the US Capitol.
*Sidenote here...I really was a bit surprised by all the new buildings and construction which had popped up in my (17 yrs?!) absence--including this massive visitor center at the Capitol. The only building I remember being built in DC during all my years living out there was the Holocaust Museum. I'm sure there were others...I was too young to really pay attention. But it does seem a little astonishing how much DC is growing & renovating while the rest of the country is facing so much economic hardship...I really hope this is not all coming out of the taxpayers' pockets, as lovely as it all is. And meanwhile the Washington Monument looked virtually untouched by any kind of repair work from an earthquake that happened over a year ago, grr.*
We got there so early in fact that we were first in line waiting outside to go in for tickets! Finally they opened the Visitor Center doors & we walked into a new line there for our tickets for a tour of the Capitol. Then we waited in another line to actually depart on our tour.
We spotted one of UT's 2 statues as we waited--here's Philo T. Farnsworth, the inventor of the television!
Finally we were off on our tour after viewing a short film. We each received a headset which tuned us in to our tourguide (who was there with us, but it's so noisy & echo-y in there with all the simultaneous tours that the headset was a really great idea.)
I don't remember what this particular chamber was called, but the ceiling was pretty wild to look at with all those arches every which way.
Then we went into the Rotunda. I wish we had had a little more time to hang out there & view all the artwork & architecture because there was so much to see:
I like this shot George snuck of all of us gazing up.
Another shot of the very top...do you see George Washington seated there? Here's more info about the artist & the painting.
Moving down from there, is a fabulous frieze of 19 scenes from American history, beginning with Columbus & ending at Wright's first flight (both are in this shot). Believe it or not, this is all painted! It really does look like a relief sculpture, especially from down below. 3 different artists worked on this...more here if you're interested.
And then there were the giant paintings around the room... This is "The Embarkation of the Pilgrims".
And John Trumbull's "Declaration of Independence". I remember reading about this in the biography of John Adams--if memory is correct, he wasn't really all that thrilled with it because the artist took some liberties in his portrayal of the event.
(There were SO many people in there...amazing how quickly everything filled up from the time we first arrived at the Capitol and stood in line.)
And then there were little reliefs like this in between the humongous paintings...not sure what this one is depicting.
And then, as you may or may not know, within the US Capitol, each state has displayed 2 statues of important historic figures...more on that below...but there in the Rotunda was one of my favorites, Ronald Reagan (representing one of CA's 2 statues):
So from the Rotunda, we proceeded into what is now Statuary Hall (formerly the House Chamber before the expansion of the Capitol Building). Here's one little corner of the room:
Due to limited space in the room, only 1 statue from each of the 50 states is located in Statuary Hall--the rest are placed throughout the Capitol whether in the Rotunda, Visitor Center, or elsewhere...
I found one of our OR statues--this is Jason Lee, who was instrumental in establishing the Oregon Territory:
Next few are just some shots from the around the room...
Next was one of the most interesting parts of the tour. Our guide had us all remove our headsets and then she demonstrated one of the strange acoustic effects of a half-dome chamber. We all stood at the spot where this plaque denotes the desk of John Quincy Adams, and then she walked to a spot across the room. Using a normal speaking voice she then started talking to us while walking toward us. From the point where she started, you could hear her voice amplified loud & clear but as she came toward us, the volume dropped off until we could barely hear her before she got within a few feet of us & we could hear her again. It was pretty cool! But it perfectly demonstrated why the Representatives were not disappointed to leave that chamber when the new House Chamber was built--the acoustics were so strange and you had to be careful even whispering in someone's ear because depending whether someone sat in just the right spot across the room, you'd be overheard!
And that was the end of the tour. It seemed a bit short...I would have loved to have seen more (and I'm pretty sure I have seen more in the past--I know on multiple field trips I got to see the House & Senate Galleries.)
As we walked out the Visitor Center, we caught a glimpse of the Supreme Court. I shook my fist at it. I'm still angry about Chief Justice John Roberts' double crossing on the Obamacare mandate ruling. Boo, hiss!
We found a beautiful little spot to get a sip of water and rest for a moment before continuing on...
I love Bub & Zac's thumbs-ups.
Such a pretty day... That warm sunshine looks so temptingly yummy right now as I sit here bundled up with a rainy view out my window...
And off we went for our next exciting visit for the day...
