The weather forecast was for rain on Saturday & sun on Sunday, so we decided to make Saturday museum day & Sunday monument day. Dan encouraged us to get out early so we met for breakfast at 7:30. Dan took the metro to the hotel to be our guide for the day, which was greatly appreciated. Sybil arranged for the hotel shuttle bus to ferry us over to the Capital Mall, but it turned out they meant the metro station so we had our first exposure to the subway which worked perfectly & by 9:00 we were at the Library of Congress. I had never been in the LOC & was greatly impressed by the ornate architecture. We took the tour & marveled at the spectacular murals & statues that each have a specific meaning/legacy from when our country was founded. Our docent was very informative & we all especially enjoyed the original Jefferson Library exhibit as well as a walk though of the iconic reading room which you may remember from the Nicolas Cage movie, National Treasure. We couldn't resist the opportunity to get a LOC library card as a souvenir of our time there. I did a little reseach while there & was surprised to learn that the LOC does not own a copy of Squatters in Paradise, the peculiar perspective of an ex-Xanterra employee about life in YNP.
From Left: Jean, Sharon, Dan & Sybil |
The rotunda is an incredibly special room. To be surrounded by statues of our most important presidents & murals of some of our country's most historic moments is truly awesome. The capital dome is 288' or almost 4 times as tall as the Old Faithful Inn lobby! Next was the National Statuary Hall. Each state is allowed to have a statue of 2 of its native sons in the Capital & most are in this room. I am no history buff, but I was surprised that I had never heard of most of the people that had statues in this room. For example the Indiana honorees are Oliver P. Mortin (no not of salt fame but governor during the civil war) &
We all know who this is |
War and formerly handed back the leadership of the country to Congress. At the time there was a concern that Washington would declare himself as king setting up a new monarchy. Of course Washington was later elected President, the only president to be elected unanimously! We had lunch on the run at the Capital Visitor Center cafeteria where I had Capital Hill bean soup, which I have to report was quite tasty. It was early afternnoon & we decided to make the National Museum of the American Indian our last stop. It is new since the last time I was in DC & it is in a beautiful building on the National
Mall. It is an impressive museum telling the stories of Native Americans from prehistoric time through the 1800s up to present time. The exhibits spanned the diverse ways of living that developed on the plains, in Central America and in Alaska, Mexico, & Canada. there was even an exhibit on the lives of the ancestors of the American Indians currently living in Chicago (no it was not about the Black Hawks). After a couple of hours of Indian lore, we were ready to head back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. Dan guided us back to the metro station & we made it back to the hotel without incident. This night we were off to Karen & Tim's house for another home cooked banquet. Karen's ham & cheese steak rolls were delicious, but her strawberries & ice cream covered in home made chocolate sauce stole the show.
From Left: Heidi, Dan, Sybil, Sharon, Karen, Tim, Patty, Jean, & Me |
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