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Washington DC Wednesday
On Wednesday we started by visiting The Library of Congress. It is a beautiful building. There was an exhibit on the Declaration of Independence, we saw Thomas Jefferson's library and there was an exhibit on a political cartoonist, Herblock. This was the youngest's favorite stop because you got to use special passports to download information to look at later. Computers=FUN
After a rather rushed time at The Library of Congress, we headed to the Cannon Office Building, to our representative's office, for a tour of this building, the U.S. Capitol.
Sam, the intern that gave us the tour, did a great job. She knew her stuff. On the way from the office building to the Capitol there is an art exhibit. Each representative chooses a work of art from a student who has entered the contest. Sam pointed out the picture below. It looks like a photograph, but it is done with colored pencil. Amazing!
The Capitol is very beautiful too. I guess I pictured it as much more utilitarian.
There are lots of stories to tell. In the rotunda, there are paintings everywhere. Congress told the artists that they couldn't sign their work. To get around that, the artists painted themselves into the pictures. At one place in the Capitol is the very center of Washington DC. There are also whispering spots in the old chambers. If you were in the right place you could hear someone across the room just as clearly as if they were right next to you. That is why that room is no longer used for congressional sessions! One website that has a lot of information regarding the Capitol is AOC.gov. I intend to explore it.
In the afternoon, we went to the National Zoo. It is a nice zoo organized in a line. We went to the end first so that we could see the big cats while they were still out. We then worked our way uphill and back toward the beginning. It was still in the upper 80's so the misters along the way were quite welcome. I even went through a couple.
On Wednesday we started by visiting The Library of Congress. It is a beautiful building. There was an exhibit on the Declaration of Independence, we saw Thomas Jefferson's library and there was an exhibit on a political cartoonist, Herblock. This was the youngest's favorite stop because you got to use special passports to download information to look at later. Computers=FUN
After a rather rushed time at The Library of Congress, we headed to the Cannon Office Building, to our representative's office, for a tour of this building, the U.S. Capitol.
Sam, the intern that gave us the tour, did a great job. She knew her stuff. On the way from the office building to the Capitol there is an art exhibit. Each representative chooses a work of art from a student who has entered the contest. Sam pointed out the picture below. It looks like a photograph, but it is done with colored pencil. Amazing!
The Capitol is very beautiful too. I guess I pictured it as much more utilitarian.
There are lots of stories to tell. In the rotunda, there are paintings everywhere. Congress told the artists that they couldn't sign their work. To get around that, the artists painted themselves into the pictures. At one place in the Capitol is the very center of Washington DC. There are also whispering spots in the old chambers. If you were in the right place you could hear someone across the room just as clearly as if they were right next to you. That is why that room is no longer used for congressional sessions! One website that has a lot of information regarding the Capitol is AOC.gov. I intend to explore it.
In the afternoon, we went to the National Zoo. It is a nice zoo organized in a line. We went to the end first so that we could see the big cats while they were still out. We then worked our way uphill and back toward the beginning. It was still in the upper 80's so the misters along the way were quite welcome. I even went through a couple.
We waited in a short line to get in to see this fellow who mostly kept his back to us. He was busy eating. The female panda was being kept off exhibit on a pregnancy watch. She might be pregnant, but pandas also have pseudo pregnancies so the zoo is not sure which it is.
We then took the Metro to Union Station. In the lower level there is a food court where we ate and some shopping. You can also catch the Amtrack. We briefly looked at the upper level. There appeared to be some more shopping and restaurants. It looked nice. Everything was definitely more upscale than the Old Post Office Pavilion.
Hot and tired we returned to our hotel after a fun day. What's up for Thursday? A couple more museums and the Washington Monument. 
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