Historical Studies Tour - Day 6

Okay, nevermind about yesterday being a long day. Today was a LOOOOOOOONG day. I'm told that we walked about 8 miles today. My feet think it was longer, and my ankles and knees agree.

Our morning (after breakfast and a bus ride) kicked off with a visit to the Washington Monument. If I have any criticism of it, it's that it's too slim on information about Mr. Washington himself. Other than that, it's pretty cool. We went up to the top and looked out all the windows at the city of Washington, D.C. I liked the panels that showed what each view looked like in the early

1900's, the mid-1900's and in 1999. Quite interesting to see the changes in the city. I could have spent a lot more time up there, but we could only keep the kids interested for so long!

On the way down, the windows in the elevator doors go from opaque to clear, so you can see many of the commemorative stones sent by each of the states. While the stones were neat, the windows changing was really cool too!

We then walked over to the World War II Memorial, just to the west on the Capitol Mall. Mr. Pfister pointed out the symbolic elements, such as the 4048 stars, the two wreaths on each state's pillars, and the like. It's a beautiful monument to see.

From there, we went to Union Station for lunch at the food court. The last time I was at Union Station, it had not yet been developed into a shopping center. I liked going into the Main Hall, to see the part of the building that really hasn't changed much. Mr. Pfister pointed out to me something that I had never known before: The statues of Roman soldiers overlooking the Main Hall were originally sculpted as partial nudes -- below the waist! They were given shields after their delivery, in order to give them some modesty!

From Union Station, we walked in the rain along First Street, and stopped as we went past the Supreme Court Building. It was interesting to be there just after the announcement of President Obama's nominee for the open seat on the Supreme Court. It gave Mr. Pfister a chance to mention some of the political dealings that go along with that.

Further south on First, we went into the Jefferson Building, housing part of the Library of Congress. I was excited to see that they have the Gutenberg Bible on display there! Pictures weren't allowed... but I didn't know that until after I had already done so!

OOPS! We looked at some of the statuary in the building, noting the symbolic meanings of the various characters depicted, and the quotes from various thinkers and leaders from U.S. History along some of the upper windows. We were able to go into the viewing gallery above the main reading room, as well -- but we couldn't take pictures there, either. This time, I knew I wasn't supposed to.

Then we went across First Street to start our tour of the U.S. Capitol Building. That was quite a production! They've got it down to a science, though, moving different groups through with amazing efficiency. The primary thing you see in the main tour is a LOT of statues. In the entrance area are not only the replica of the Liberty statue from the top of the dome, but several of the statues sent by the states to the Capitol. More of these statues are in the Crypt, which is beneath the Rotunda. Still more are in the Rotunda itself, including the newest one from California, of President Ronald Reagan. Then there is Statuary Hall, the original assembly hall of the House of Representatives, now used for formal functions. It is lined with many more statues, including one of Father Junipero Serra, the other statue from California.

After this part of the tour, we were able to go into the Visitor's Galleries of first the Senate and then the House of Representatives. While it was interesting to see each one, both were somewhat underwhelming. In the Senate, we just missed Senator John McCain talking about some legislation he is co-sponsoring, but he was still in the room, as was Senator Christopher J. Dodd. They were waiting for a Senator named Shelby to deliver his part of the presentation, and were then going to vote on it. We didn't have time to stay and see how that worked. Most of the time we were in there, we watched the four or five Senators in attendance chat amiably together, as McCain wandered around casually.

In the House chamber, they were on a recess, so the only ones in the room were about 20 congressional pages, talking amongst themselves. Mr. Pfister talked to us about some of the details and features of the room.

In neither hall were we allowed to bring cameras or phones. We went through security three different times: once to get into the building, another to go into the Senate, and a third time to go into the House. One wonders why they can't just clear you when you go into the building, and be done with it!

In all, we were inside the Capitol building for about two hours, enough to miss the worst of the rain that was falling.

The next stop on our tour was probably one of the most anticipated one for the kids. We went to Arlington National Cemetery, to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We saw the changing of the guard, and then four of our kids participated in a wreath-laying ceremony. It was very moving to see the precision and intensity of the guards in all of their duties, and to know that they work very hard on that detail, all to honor those who have lost their lives, but died unknown.

We also walked a bit more to see the monuments to those who died in the Challenger and Columbia Space Shuttle accidents, and then down to the JFK burial site, to see the "eternal flame," as well as the graves of JFK, Jackie Kennedy, their two children who died as infants, and then the graves of Robert and Ted Kennedy, as well.

The the rest of the evening was simply dinner at the Pentagon City Mall, and then back here to the hotel. It was a very busy, very long day, and my feet are tired.

And there just might be photographic evidence somewhere of me wearing a tie at Arlington Cemetery. I'll leave that for the reader to discover -- and determine if it's a clever Photoshop job or not.