Bureau of Engraving
The first stop of the day was a tour of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. This was a fascinating tour. We got to watch the entire progress of money being created/printed. There is absolutely no cameras allowed in this building. Did you know that they print $2 bills every other year? Finding one isn't as rare as you think. Also, FYI- It is against the law to own the type of paper money is printed on as is owning the special ink money is printed with. So don't even think about it. :)
National Art Gallery
We made a quick trip through the National Art Gallery. Got our fill of weird sculptures and nudes. I did enjoy the impressionist art section and saw some famous works of art.
Capitol Building
We spent the majority of the day on Capitol Hill. There is a reason it is called Capitol Hill... it is on a hill! The Capitol is being remodeled at the moment and is scheduled to be done by Inauguration Day 2017. When we got to the capitol it was swarming with security (So many black SUVs and police it was C-R-A-Z-Y!) Come to find out John Boehner was resigning as Speaker of the House at that very moment. Sort of a big deal.The Capitol building has tight security since September 11th and you can't just walk in and look around like you once could. Just to tour the rotunda and a few rooms you need to have tickets in advance through your congressman.
Inside the Rotunda -It was filled with scaffolding.
We also went to see the Senate in session. We had to go through three different searches and metal detectors before we were able to enter the chambers. You can't even bring chap-stick into the room, security is that tight. Of course, by the time we finally got into the room there was only aides, and one senator. It was still cool to see, but a little disappointing. We stood in line to go in the House of Representatives but because of the resignation of the Speaker of the House the line to get in there was out of control!
Library of Congress
Our next stop was to the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress is made up of multiple buildings and they are stunning. The architecture in these buildings are amazing. This was my favorite building! So pretty. It is so cool to actually see BOOKS in the Library of Congress!
National History Museum
My kids would have loved this place. It is huge and is like a zoo/ museum/ science center all rolled into one. They have a whole wing of the building with every animal you can think of stuffed and posed, then a whole wing of the building of animal skeletons. Sort of creepy if you think about it to long! They had mummies, insects, underwater animals, earth science and so much more.
I loved how they positioned this giraffe!
Iwo Jima Monument
This monument is HUGE! It was touching to see so many veterans were visiting around this monument, paying their respects.
Just a helpful hint: IF someone tells you it is faster to take the Metro to Rosslyn and walk to this monument that is very BAD information. After a day of walking non-stop, this "little" walk from the Metro to Iwo Jima just about did us in. AND if we didn't have enough of the human consuming mosquitoes from the day before we finished our day by walking through Arlington Cemetery seeing a few more things we missed, before being driven out by the woman eating mosquitoes.
By the end of the day, it was so late and we were so tired we found a Subway restaurant ate our sandwiches and went to bed!
No comments:
Post a Comment