D.C. '11: The U.S. Capitol Building

On the same day we toured the White House, we also got a tour of the Capitol Building.  Because it was a Saturday, the House & Senate galleries were not open, but apparently it was all our congressperson could get us (tours of the Capitol building are free and open to the public, but through your congressperson you can get a set time and circumvent the line, which we did, and also get passes to see the galleries where the House and Senate meet, if they are in session, which was not available to us on the day we got the tour).

The tour consists of shoving a large (a couple hundred by my estimate) group of people into an introductory movie explaining a little about the history and workings of Congress in a very overly dramatically epic and patriotic way, then bringing the group upstairs and corralling everyone into four or five tour groups with earpieces to hear the tour guides speak through their microphones.  Once you get out of that entrance hall things are a little better, more spread out through the building rather than in that giant group in the echoing hall.  Our first stop was the Rotunda (aka the dome).

We were shown the Rotunda in detail, then also taken over to the House side and saw the old chamber, now called the National Statuary Hall.  This is where Congress used to meet, and there are plaques showing where notable peoples' desks stood, like Lincoln's.

In the main visitor's entrance, open to anyone who walks in off the street, is Emancipation Hall.  It is lined with statues given by different states (each state is entitled to 2 statues of people they feel represent their state, distributed throughout the entire Capitol building).  Behind Emancipation Hall is an exhibit containing many historical artifacts, including the spade and mallet used by George Washington to lay the cornerstone of the building in a Masonic ritual as well as Lincoln's table from his 2nd inaugural address, along with many other really neat items throughout our country's history.

Next time, we will do our best to secure gallery passes - it would be cool to experience all the drama and excitement that is CSPAN (no, I'm not being wry, why would you say that?) in real life.  In all seriousness, it is really cool to see these places that in essence run our country.

(Unlike the White House entry, these are all my own photos).

D.C. '11: The White House

Wow, have I had a difficult time getting through my photos and sitting down to write in here.  My apologies, I really intended to keep this blog real-time as I traveled.  Some trips just won't pan out that way, I suppose.

I've decided to do these D.C. posts as they come to me, rather than as a chronology of each day, since the trip is enough removed now that you're not reading to recap real-time what each day entails.

So, this post will start outlining our visits to the three branches of government.  Saturday, June 4th we visited the White House and the Capitol building; Monday, June 6th we visited the Supreme Court.  The Capitol and the Supreme Court are available to the public easily enough, but the White House tours usually have to be secured by your congressperson weeks in advance.

The White House tour is self-guided these days, though the Secret Service members stationed throughout the rooms do provide running commentary and information as you pass through their rooms so there is still the benefit of added information as you view the mansion.  During the public hours, rooms like the Red/Green/Blue rooms, the State Dining Room, and the Entrance Hall that contains that red carpet leading to the East Room are all open (essentially, the entire ground floor) - I'm not sure if tours ever include things upstairs like the Oval Office, since that room is needed more regularly than the State Dinner room, but it was still really neat to be inside the mansion.  It is much smaller in person - though, that's typical of things normally viewed in a TV.  Looking down that red carpet into the East Room, where the president walks every time we have that favorite shot leading into a press conference, actually being IN the East Room and seeing what we normally see through the cameras... it makes it seem much more real.

 Floor plan of the first floor, most of which we walked through.

Aforementioned view of the Entrance Hall's red carpet from the East Room

Blue Room

There is so much beautiful art in the White House, mostly but not exclusively relevant to America's history (portraits of people like Ben Franklin, etc.)... but what I fell in love with was the piano in the Entrance Hall (which is sometimes kept in the East Room).  I asked the Secret Service if I could play it and they said no.

1938 Steinway currently in use in the White House.

1903 Steinway given to the White House during the Teddy Roosevelt administration, currently in the Smithsonian's American Art Museum.

A little about the White House pianos: Several presidents have been pianists, including Nixon and Truman, as well as many White House daughters.  While many of these pianists preferred typical black grand pianos made by such manufacturers as Baldwin, the big name in the piano world has for a long time now been Steinway & Sons (think Stradivarius for violin, only Steinway is still fully operational and making instruments today), which is an American company.  In 1903, Steinway gave their 100,000th piano as a gift to the White House during Teddy Roosevelt's administration, and it was commissioned to be beautifully decorated with artwork and gold.  In 1938, Steinway gave their 300,000th piano to the White House, and that is the one currently in the Entrance Hall / East Room (depending on the day).

No cameras are allowed inside, so other than the ones I looked up on Google images, the only photos I have from the experience are outside the North entrance after the tour (taken on Loren's iPhone), and of the South Lawn at night later in the week.

Dad, Loren, Me, and Mom outside the north side of the White House

Of course, no visit to a capital city would be complete without sit-ins strategically placed in wonderfully photogenic locations (we had similar luck in London outside Parliament last year).

The South Lawn at night (taken by Loren).

In another entry, I will continue with our Capitol Building tour.

Photo Journal: The Rest of Virginia

I took so many pictures, I couldn't get them edited in time to do daily posts.  We did so many amazing things in our time here in Virginia... unfortunately, I'm just going to have to do a photo journal of them all in a blur, rather than day by day.  We are now in Washington, D.C., and I am going to try to do daily posts (already a day behind!), so this is my last chance to finish up Virginia!

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Luray, Virginia:
Caverns, Main Street, Car & Carraige Caravan Museum, Garden Maze

The caverns in Luray are pretty sweet. Still actively forming formations, and someone had the awesome idea to make an organ out of some choicely-pitched stalagtites and some mallets. Hokey but awesome.

Luray's historic old town has a very charming Main Street, along with a lovely little place to have lunch called Artisan's Cafe.

There is randomly this really amazing collection of old carriages and automobiles next to the entrance to the caverns, and we saw some amazing old cars. I asked my daddy if we could take home a 1932 Rolls Royce. He said no.

There was also a garden maze, which is always fun.

 

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Charlottesville, Virginia

Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, University of Virginia

We visited Thomas Jefferson's famous estate (no photos allowed inside the house, Google some, it's amazing) and learned a lot about him, then went over to the University of Virginia (which he founded, along with James Madison and James Monroe) to check out some historic architecture and past students' residences (Edgar Allan Poe and Woodrow Wilson being the most notable, their rooms at the end of the section respectively).

Monticello: 

 

University of Virginia (including lunch at The Virginian, a pub around the corner):

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Staunton, Virginia

Woodrow Wilson's Presidential Library, Museum, and Birthplace

We went to see Woodrow Wilson's birth house, where his museum has since been built next door.  Again, no photos allowed inside the house, which is a pity, but we learned a lot about him we didn't know before as well.  And, it was neat to have the connection of seeing Jefferson's home the day before, then seeing his university which Wilson eventually attended, then seeing Wilson's birth home.

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Shenandoah Valley, Virginia

We went canoeing on the last day we stayed at the resort.  It was beautiful, calm, and peaceful... well, until my parents capsized in the middle of a rapid and Loren and I had to fish one out while the other got the upside-down boat safely to the side.  You know, just a typical day.

And, I couldn't end a travel post without photos of food.  So:

Romano's Italian Bistro: McGaheysville, Virginia (closest decent restaurant to our resort - delicious!)