Our State Senator, Marco Rubio got us all the tours we requested for our visit of Washington D.C. We did have to stop at his office in the Hart building to get our gallery passes to see the House of Representatives and the Senate in action. No photos are allowed in either one so here is the plaque outside our Senator's office.
First stop was our scheduled 8 AM tour of the Library of Congress. We visited the Jefferson Building but there are also two more buildings in the Library of Congress: The Madison Building and The Adams Building.
We were surprised to see the extreme artistic look of the Library of Congress. Its not like any library we've ever been in. It appears as if the new American government wanted to show their European counterparts that we could be cultured as well.
Only a percentage of the library has been converted to digital. But, more surprising is that every tweet is stored here! Yup, there's no privacy...every tweet. There is even a Gutenberg Bible stored here. No, you can't take a photo of the actual bible. This is a photo from the interactive display touch screen device.
We had a Capitol Tour scheduled at 11. But we had some time and it was the first Wednesday in October and the Supreme Court was in session. Starting the first Tuesday in October the Supreme court hears two cases, or 1 hour of oral arguments on each case.
We got incredibly lucky and got tickets in the 3 minute line. We actually got to sit in for about 15 minutes during the much talked about Hosanna-Tabor Church vs EEOC. It was like being a part of living history, sitting in the court room of the Supreme Court with all of the Justices in their assigned spots. We heard Ginsberg and Breyer really grill the attorneys.
We also took the opportunity to tour the Supreme Court Building. The Supreme Court did not have its own building until 1935 and, surprisingly, it is the only building to ever come in under budget. This building is also famous for the spiral staircase made from marble quarried in Alabama and milled in Tennessee. Each staircase has 136 steps that complete 7 sprirals while ascending 5 stories. The cantilevered design of the staircase eliminates the need for central support as each step is anchored into the marble wall on one end and rests upon the step below it . It is held in place by presssure & fit rather than mortar and steel.
Inside the main hall are many pieces of art in the likeness of those who have served as Chief Justice. One of the most notable is this large statue of Chief Justice John Marshall.
We had the amazing opportunity to take a guided tour of the Capitol Building. Notice the statue on the top of the dome.
We entered the Capitol via the newly constructed visitors center. In the visitors center is this plaster model of the statue "Freedom" which stands atop the Capitol Building. "Freedom" is a colossal statue added to the top of the dome in 1863. What is mind boggling is that the published weight of this statue is 8,909,202 pounds. Yes, almost 9 million pounds!!!
So many fascinating things to see, especially the ceiling in the rotunda.
This central painting is called the "Apothesis of Washington" by Italian/Greek American artist Constatino Brumidi. It is the first attempt to diefy the founding father. They built a crypt in the rotunda for Washington's body but in his "will" Washington directed his burial site be at Mt. Vernon. So, the crypt remains empty.
Brumidi also started this Frieze of US History. It is painted to appear as a stone bas relief frieze (like it is sculpted). Depicting 19 scenes from American History, it was started in 1878 beginning with the landing of Columbus (shown here) and finished in 1953 by the fourth artist celebrating the Wright Brothers flight in Kitty Hawk, NC (also shown here). It was interesting to contemplate that the final scenes had not even occured when this was started!
The National Statuary Hall Collection contains two statues from every State to honor notable persons in their history. Here is Mark with his buddy, Ronald Reagan. And yes, Mark got in trouble for touching the statue but he is actually just posing to make it appear like he is touching!
Other statues include Presidents like this one of Eisenhower. All 100 statutes are not located in this location as the floor cannot carry the weight. Some of the statutes are changed and some are moved to other areas but, the Presential statues stay on the main floor.
This bust of Lincoln was created from a 6 ton block of Marble. It remains unfinished (missing a left ear) to symbolize Lincoln's unfinished life.
But, not all the statues are of Presidents. One that I found to be inspirational is this "Portrait Monument to Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony," the pioneers of women's suffrage leading to the 19th amendment. This statue was made from a 16,000 pound block of Italian Marble.
Even the columns supporting the building are a work of art!
Whispering gallery in the rotunda is a famous example of a whispering chamber. Because the rotunda is beneath a dome it has an area where whispers can be heard clearly in another part of the building. The House of Representatives used to meet in the rotunda and it is said that this phenomena was used by John Quincy Adams to evesdrop. (see the floor tile noting the location of his desk.)
Hanging in the Capitol Building is this plaque dedicated to the heros of flight 93. The plaque contains the names of each passenger and crew member so that their names are forever etched in the halls of the Capitol. The guide explained to us the damage and fatalities would have been devistating had that plane crashed into the Capitol Building.
We visited the National Archives to see live and in person the Declaration of Independence which announced the separation of the 13 colonies, The United States Constitution which codified the spirit of the American Revolution into an ingenious, practical scheme of government, and the Bill of Rights which in 1789 added to the Constitution the first 10 amendments. The Declaration of Independence is very faded because in addition to being displayed over many decades, it was exposed to sunlight opposite a window in the Patent Office Building for 35 years.
It has been a fascinating visit to our nations capital. We also visited the Smithsonian Einstein Planetarium to see the digital dome technology of Journey to the Stars. It was so amazing we went back to see Cosmic Collisions. We took the tour in the Bureau of Printing and Engraving but no photos are allowed. Now, it is time to move on so we said our farewells to our fascinating visit to Washington D.C.!
Next stop, a visit to the home of our first President, Mount Vernon.
The National Statuary Hall Collection contains two statues from every State to honor notable persons in their history. Here is Mark with his buddy, Ronald Reagan. And yes, Mark got in trouble for touching the statue but he is actually just posing to make it appear like he is touching!
Other statues include Presidents like this one of Eisenhower. All 100 statutes are not located in this location as the floor cannot carry the weight. Some of the statutes are changed and some are moved to other areas but, the Presential statues stay on the main floor.
This bust of Lincoln was created from a 6 ton block of Marble. It remains unfinished (missing a left ear) to symbolize Lincoln's unfinished life.
But, not all the statues are of Presidents. One that I found to be inspirational is this "Portrait Monument to Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony," the pioneers of women's suffrage leading to the 19th amendment. This statue was made from a 16,000 pound block of Italian Marble.
Even the columns supporting the building are a work of art!
Whispering gallery in the rotunda is a famous example of a whispering chamber. Because the rotunda is beneath a dome it has an area where whispers can be heard clearly in another part of the building. The House of Representatives used to meet in the rotunda and it is said that this phenomena was used by John Quincy Adams to evesdrop. (see the floor tile noting the location of his desk.)
Hanging in the Capitol Building is this plaque dedicated to the heros of flight 93. The plaque contains the names of each passenger and crew member so that their names are forever etched in the halls of the Capitol. The guide explained to us the damage and fatalities would have been devistating had that plane crashed into the Capitol Building.
We visited the National Archives to see live and in person the Declaration of Independence which announced the separation of the 13 colonies, The United States Constitution which codified the spirit of the American Revolution into an ingenious, practical scheme of government, and the Bill of Rights which in 1789 added to the Constitution the first 10 amendments. The Declaration of Independence is very faded because in addition to being displayed over many decades, it was exposed to sunlight opposite a window in the Patent Office Building for 35 years.
It has been a fascinating visit to our nations capital. We also visited the Smithsonian Einstein Planetarium to see the digital dome technology of Journey to the Stars. It was so amazing we went back to see Cosmic Collisions. We took the tour in the Bureau of Printing and Engraving but no photos are allowed. Now, it is time to move on so we said our farewells to our fascinating visit to Washington D.C.!
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