Washington, DC – 3/8/2017

March 8, 2017 (Wednesday)

What an awesome day! We got up early, had our breakfast (cereal and coffee) and then left at around 8:30 AM. The drive today was from Williamsburg, Virginia to Washington, DC – about 150 miles. I was a little afraid of traffic but the road was clear and, other than a few short construction slow downs, it went fast and only took 2-1/2 hours. The weather concerned us a little at first as it was raining, but by the time we got into DC, the skies were blue and the temperature was in the 60’s.

A sunny nice day.
Nice drive into the city.
Didn’t know there was a FLW house around here.
Ferris wheel on the way.
Our first good view from the road.
The granddaddy of all the Capitol buildings.

Last night I had gone on line (spothere) and gotten a parking spot for $12.00 for the day. Parking in Washington, DC is quite expensive (something like $40.00 for the day). We found the parking lot (Patriot’s Plaza), parked, and walked the almost mile to the Library of Congress (close to the Capitol) – after stopping for a quick bite and potty break. We had gone on line a few days earlier and gotten a General tour at the Capitol for 2:40 PM but wanted to get there earlier and try to see the Library of Congress.

Just outside the garage – we split a pretty decent sandwich.
Food trucks all over.
Indian.
Asian Fusion next to tasty fried.
We walked past the FBI building.
On the FBI building; between the “no bicycle riding” and “no rollerblading”, a bold fellow drew a swastika and wrote, “No Fascist.”
Another day.

Our Congressman’s office is in this building.
Where we would find Congressman Panetta. Leon Panetta’s son.
The Library of Congress.
The detail begins to mesmerize immediately.

Ben!

Fantastic doorways and doors.
Reminiscent of Pam’s front door.

Wonderful detail.
Just beautiful doors.
I walked inside and oh my, so hard to take it all in.
Ceilings, so beautiful.

Sky lights.

We went inside and asked about a guided tour and were told one started in about 15 minutes. We walked around and looked on in awe at all the beauty around.

Curved surfaces, painted, real talent at work.
There is so much to look at, it is hard to walk.
The detail is fantastic.
High relief.
The detail is fantastic in all four corners of the ceiling. The maze pattern that borders the glass looks like silver. It is not and in it’s day cost more than gold. It is aluminum and was chosen because it would look great for a very long time and not need polishing.
Pretty woman looking at the ceiling.
Wonderful thoughts above the doors.
The floors are great.
A quote from Ovid.
“Nature is the art of God”

In the left of the photo, one of the eight virtues: Courage.
The beautiful surfaces reflect light nicely.
It is grand.

After a few minutes we went downstairs and waited for the tour to start. At first there was a short informative video, then our tour guide, Ed, took us around. What an absolutely stunning building. Ed gave us so much information and Michael and I loved it all. We have been to Washington, DC many times but have never taken a tour. So glad we decided to this time.  We got so much history and fun facts. Ed even decided to go off the regular tour and took us into another part that showed Jefferson’s library, with some of his actual books. LOVED IT!

Our guide, Ed.
So much information, we could not retain it all. I think this is north, south, east and west.
Every painting is an excellent work of art.
Love it.

The Library Ceremonial Room.
Pretty woman photographing one of the most valuable books in the world. We each own a little tiny piece of that.
Latin, circa 1450.
The inlaid work on the floors is wonderful.

Brigadier General Casey, Chief of Engineers, is memorialized in the top inscription. Finished two months early and $160,000. under budget. And he created one of the most beautiful buildings ever completed in 1894.
Better view of the maze patterned border made of aluminum, and still shiny after all these years.

The mosaic tile work is everywhere and simply fantastic.
The domes, curves, paintings and perspective are mindbogglingly beautiful.
Beautiful women representing the five senses, this one taste.

“They are never alone that are accompanied with noble thoughts.”
One of the first buildings pre-wired during construction for electricity. An original light fixture.
“In books lies the soul of the whole past time.”

Justice.
Fortitude.
Providence
Temperance
Patriotism
Everywhere I look, so grand.
Out a second floor window.
The place is crowded, just past mid day, and this is the main floor. Can’t believe there is only one person in the picture.

Beautiful tile mosaic. We loved the symbolism.
Our selfie in the Library.
Reading room door.
Statues of giants in science and art.
Reading room with stacks on the walls.
Great job General Casey!

When the tour was over we walked through the tunnel from the Library of Congress to the Capitol, through security, and then to the tour station.

The tunnels.
Nice ramps.

Headed to our Capitol tour.

Well marked if you get lost.
I like the light fixture.
Pretty woman standing next to a picture of the tile mosaic with Minerva, goddess of Peace,(through victory) with Nike, aka Winged Victory, with her shield, sword and helmet on the ground and her spear still in her hand, just in case.
Almost there.
Big place, pretty full.
So many statues.

We walked up and the guy asked if we wanted to take an earlier tour, to which we said YES! We immediately went to a large stadium to watch a short history of the Capitol, and then were broken up into groups.

I got yelled at for taking this picture.

Our tour guide was Scottish and was great! We got to walk into the assembly room, walk past Speaker Ryan’s office, go into the rotunda, and just learn a whole bunch. Lovely building but our favorite is still the Library of Congress.

A. Smith, our guide, sounded like Sean Connery.

The center around which the entire Capitol building was built.
The columns show tool marks. Slave and free labor was used to build.

Grand historical paintings.
Iron works above.
Beautiful dome, Pantheon type pattern inside. Kind of wish Frank Lloyd Wright had been consulted before we did the copycat classical Greek and Roman thing.

Three defenders.

Pocahontas marriage to John Rolfe.
Ike.
Identical to the one we saw in Virginia State Capitol, with the plow behind, sword leaning against the post. This one is bronze and the one in Virginia is marble.
Hallway to Speaker Ryan’s office.
What Shakespeare could do with the conversations that have taken place in this stairwell.
Huey Long, we reflect how we stood on the spot where he was shot in the Louisiana State Capitol.

Very lovely.

Charlie Russel has a statue!
I am not sure what the symbolism is in this work but I would have much rather seen a life sized marching representation of Martin Luther King Jr. It is oddly made and out of keeping with every other statue in here. He was a man of action and should have been portrayed as such.

We started walking back to the garage where our car was parked, but along the way we got to see some more lovely statues, another reflecting type pond near the Capitol, and then we walked into the United States Botanical Garden at Bartholdi Park. So beautiful. Would be fun to go there on a hot day and just sit and read.

The Visitor Center has huge statues as well.

Helen Keller, no relation.

Twin pools.

United States Supreme Court.
“Equal Justice Under Law”
Nice pond.
Tried to short cut through the Botanical Gardens.

Lots of information about plants.

Nice tour but the short cut failed. We went out the same door we went through.

Neat cactus.
Love plants that grow on rocks.

We found the garage, got the car, and headed out to Annapolis. We were a little concerned about the traffic but it wasn’t bad at all. We got to see some beautiful areas of Washington, DC. We think it was Georgetown. Lovely red brick homes stacked side by side.

We were glad to see the car finally.
Nice neighborhood just a few blocks outside the Capitol complex.

Sure don’t see any roofs I’d want to patch up.

We got into Annapolis and were hungry. We found our “home” for the next two nights, Crown Plaza, and noticed that there were several restaurants nearby from which to choose our dinner. We finally decided on Red Lobster (love their rolls). We both got the four course dinner, and both of us could not eat it all.  We ate before we checked in.

Into Maryland.
Very comfy bed.
Lots of available outlets on the table, lamp and wall. Really liked that for the phones, laptops, fitbit and our alarm clock that projects on the ceiling.
Nicely tiled bath tub.
Edie’s favorite mirror.
Lighted all around the edge.
Big TV for the size of the room. Micro and fridge in the cabinet and the table has electrical and USB outlets on the front left.

We are now full to the gunnels and in our lovely room (Priceline for about $70.00 per night). That was our totally awesome day. Hope yours was great!