Air, Space, & Beyond

Tues. morning found us making our way into D.C. for a daylight trip. We caught the Metrobus that stops here at the campground ($1.35 each), which took us to the Metrorail system, where we purchased tickets for downtown D.C. ($3.30 each). In all the trip was 1 hr. 10 min., but we didn’t have to fight traffic or parking.

Our first stop was the Library of Congress. Physically housed in 3 buildings, we only visited the main one known as the Thomas Jefferson Building, which is incredibly beautiful inside. The marble columns, the two marble grand staircases with carved figurines, the stained glass ceiling skylights, the multitude of paintings and murals on the walls and ceilings, the bronze statues…all make this a work of art in its own right. It is, however, a working library, primarily a research source for Congress. We were able to view the Main Reading Room from the Gallery during our last visit, and it is spectacular in its art and architecture as well. The majestic dome tops the Main Reading Room, and in front of the building is the Court of Neptune Fountain. There are several corridors in the Library, and this trip we toured the “Creating the United States” exhibit showcasing documents from the earliest beginnings of our nation.

From there we walked a few blocks to the Supreme Court. After climbing the steps, you enter the Great Hall that leads to the Courtroom. It was roped off when we arrived, and we decided not to wait in the very long line for the next courtroom lecture tour. Along the walls are marble busts of all former Chief Justices, and we walked downstairs to view more displays and exhibits. At the end of the hall is a huge statue of John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice, which was sculpted in 1883. Behind the statue is a tribute to the Chief Justice telling the story of his life and outlining important rulings of his Court. As we were leaving, we noticed five young adults standing at the base of the steps with wide pieces of red tape with the word LIFE written on it across their mouths. They were obviously silently protesting, one of the rights and freedoms we have in this country.

We crossed the street to the U.S. Capitol, but even though it was across the street we had to walk all the way around to the front for access. But as it turns out there were no more tour passes available for the day since the Senate and House would be starting their sessions shortly. The guard told me that we could go to our Congressman’s or Senator’s office nearby and pick up a pass to sit in the gallery to watch the session, but gee, that would require us to know who our Congressman or Senator was in Florida! Guess we need to learn that. The photo at the left is the east side of the Capitol as we passed going around to the front (west side) with the Senate wing closest to us. By the way, do you know how to tell who's in session? If the Senate is in session, an American flag flies over their wing of the Capitol, and the if the House is in session, one flies over their wing. At this point neither were in session yet; the flag you see is actually over the east central portion of the building and flies 24 hours a day as does the one over the west central portion. The photo on the right is looking from the west front of the Capitol down the Mall towards the Washington Monument.

So we walked across the street to the United States Botanic Gardens, the oldest continually operating botanic garden in the U.S. Run by Congress, the building includes a large greenhouse and several different rooms that each simulates a different habitat. We walked through some of them, and it was really pretty and interesting, but we were getting hungry.

We decided to head for the National Air & Space Museum (part of the Smithsonian), where we knew they had a food court, so we could kill two birds with one stone. This is probably our favorite of the Smithsonian Museums, and we enjoy spending time here. There are hundreds of historic aircraft, rockets, spacecraft, engines, and flight displays including the original Wright Brothers plane (photo left below) and the Apollo 11 lunar command module (photo right below). And this photo on the left is of the Hubble Telescope taken from the second floor of the museum. You can see how huge it is, something we never really thought about! And of course I had to throw in a pic of the Spirit of St. Louis! We spent a little while here at the Air & Space Museum but decided we’d come back another day as we were both getting tired and Russ’ back was hurting for some reason.

So it was back to the Metrorail station (only $1.85 each this time cause it was off-peak time), then transfer to the bus (only 45 cents each this time cause we had a transfer for the ride back). Since we had just missed a bus, we had to wait 30 min. for the next one, which put our return trip at 1 hr. 40 min. Guess it was worth not fighting with the traffic and parking, but sure does make for an even longer day.