the education of henry

Day 22: The Capitol, The Supreme Court, and Library of Congress

2023-10-05

We left early this morning and avoided most of the traffic. Dad knows the way without directions now, but this was our last day to go down to the Mall.

Before things started opening up we walked around Lafayette Park to see the statues. Yes, who is ready to see more pictures of statues?

This building really sums up the whole trip to DC: everything is under construction.

Oh yeah, we walked by the White House, too.

Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette - or just Lafayette if you're an American. The French nobleman wo came to America to fight with Washington and was instrumental in securing France's financial and military aid. And then he went on to be a major figure in the French Revolution.

Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawenture Kosciuszko - a Polish-Lithuanian military engineer who designed the defenses at Saratoga and West Point and went on to fight for the freedom of Poland from the Prussians and Russians.

Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand von Steuben - known to Americans as Baron von Steuben. He served with Frederick the Great and later he whipped the Continental Army into shape during the winter at Valley Forge in 1777-1778. The Army still uses some of the training materials he created that winter.

Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau - leader of the French expeditionary force sent to help the Continental Army. He was at Yorktown when Cornwallis surrendered and the War for Independence was effectively ended.

In front of the five fences that separate us from the White House.

This wasn't under construction and we could touch it.

I realized we forgot a picture of the outside of the Museum of African American History and Culture - so here it is. We walked by it twice a day, but this is the only picture.

We hopped on the Circulator bus (which is a great deal if you're in DC) and rode over to the Capitol Hill to see the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, and the Capitol building.

I thought we had enough pictures of the Washington Monument, but then it was disappearing into the clouds and it looked pretty cool.

The Capitol building.

The Supreme Court...also under construction.

One of the spiral staircases in the Court.

The courtroom where every decision since 1935 has been handed down. We got to go in and sit for a half hour lecture on the Supreme Court, but we were not allowed to take pictures: no electronic devices are allowed in the courtroom/

Lunch at the Supreme Court - just like Mom and Dad's honeymoon.

Justice Thurgood Marshall.

Justice John Marshall.

Climbing the stairs so we could go out the front staircase.

On the court steps.

Their honeymoon was fifteen years ago - why do they still like each other so much?

A last look at the Court.

The Library of Congress.

The ceremonial office of the Librarian of Congress.

The ceilings are amazing!

A Gutenberg Bible. The Library's copy is in three volumes, and they rotate them through the display every six months, and change the pages displayed every month so the pages don't get light damage.

The ceiling in the reading room.

The reading room.

I just realized the design of the Library is like a castle!

In the room with the display of the books Thomas Jefferson sold to the Library to replace the collection the British burned in the War of 1812.

We walked the underground tunnel from the Library to the Capitol building and went on a tour.

In the room they call the "Crypt," which was originally supposed to be used as a burial spot for the first president. Washington was buried at Mount Vernon, so the crypt is empty.

The Crypt is below the star on the floor, which is the center of the building.

Samuel Adams. Did you know that he did not like being called Sam? And that the beer has nothing to do with him? And the beer actually uses a picture based on Paul Revere on the label, not Sam Adams?

In the rotunda. It's an amazing room.

A painting of the Mayflower passengers - so our family is in the rotunda.

Looking up at the dome. Which is made of cast iron painted to look like stone. And it looks like a giant eye staring at me.

This poor guy had to guard the door of Kevin McCarthy's office while everyone takes pictures of the now-incorrect signs that says he is Speaker of the House.

A model of the statue at the top of the Capitol dome, which is currently...you guessed it: under construction.

After the tour.

We realized we didn't get a shot of me in front of the Library of Congress.

Leaving the Capitol building.

We hopped on the Circulator bus to get back to the car. The Mall was much busier than any other day we were there. So many buses and cars and people - I guess the city really was asleep most of the time we were here.

In front of the US Customs and Border Protection Building, which was the entrance to the parking ramp we used every day.

What a great day of sight-seeing! We finished up early enough to make it back to the hotel before traffic in DC got too crazy. And that was the day! Hope you enjoyed more pictures of statues!