Our vacation 2008 Part 5

Wednesday July 30, 2008

Yesterday the family went to DC. Great huge place, too much to do in just one day. We took a train in. Okay, let me expand on that. We went to a ‘park and ride’ sort of place. We drove around the parking lot a few times and discovered that there were no spots, there were, however, a whole bunch of spots that were reserved for people with permits between 2 AM and 10 AM. It was about 9:30 and we saw a woman who parked in one of those spots and she explained that if we sat there until 10 we would not get a ticket. So at 9:45 most of us headed to the station to buy our all day passes while Bob and Ariel stayed at the truck. Like clock work, they headed up right after 10 and we got instructions from one of the metro people and boarded the train/subway. Fifteen minutes later we were in the heart of DC and only two blocks away from the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. We spent a few hours in there. We saw an IMAX film on black holes. We ate at the giant McDonald’s, then we left.
We went to the Capitol Building and found out that if we go to this one tent, we can get free tickets for a tour of the capitol. More than half of the family did not want to go. It was decided that Cassie and I would go back the next day. As we approached the station there was a trumpet player blowing away and Jacob put a dollar in his hat.
We headed back to the parking lot on the packed subway and arrived about 15 minutes later. We stopped at the grocery store on the way home and got enough for three dinners. I cooked roasted chicken for dinner and Mark, the owner of the house, stopped by to drop off some paintings. Bob took him on a short electrical tour of the home, pointing out all of the mistakes and potential disasters. Shortly after that, it was lights out.
We left the house at 9:30. Bob drove Cassie and me to the ‘kiss and ride’ place. Isn’t that a cute name? By ten we were in DC. We walked over to the capitol building and got our tickets. We were really hungry, okay I was, so we decided to grab a hotdog while we waited for our turn for the tour. We went into a botanical garden building hoping to use it as a short cut. Nope, just one way in and out. So, we went back to the capitol and waited patiently for our tour to begin.
There were a whole bunch of Asian people who appeared to speak very little, if any, English whose tour began 20 minutes after ours, but they stood in line with us anyway. At 10:20, our tour time, they marched right out with the rest of us, but were quickly sent back under the tent.
The tour was not nearly as exciting as it could have been, it was more a tour of the art than of the building itself. We went into the rotunda. That was pretty cool. There is a white dot in the center of the floor where people who have been or will be laid out for viewing are put. So far it has only been presidents, except for a police officer a couple of years ago. Rosa Parks will be put there after she dies. That is really cool. It has a fresco all around the top of the circular wall. It represents America’s history.
After that tour we went across the street to a building that a police officer told us we could find lunch. While we were walking to the cafeteria I saw some pretty neat names on the placards of the doors such as, Sub-committee to Middle East, and Committee of Finance. While we were in line I asked the woman in line behind me what building we were in and she said the building that my representatives’ offices are in and that we should go to the offices. So we did. As it turned out our particular reps were not in that building so we went to the basement and walked through underground tunnels to get to the correct building. We went up to Vern Buchanan’s office and signed the guest book. You never know when you will need an alibi. Then it was off the Library of Congress. We used the same underground tunnels, then to the Supreme Court. It was not in session. We were allowed to wander the halls a bit. We could not go on the circular staircase, but we were allowed to check it out.
From there we took a bus and a train to the White House. We could stand about a half a mile away and wave. I think W. and Laura saw me and waved back. Not really sure, though. It may have been a shadow.
From there we caught the train again and went two stops, got off and found a t-shirt vendor and got Ariel an FBI jacket she had requested. We got back on the train and headed back to the kiss and ride place where our family was lovingly waiting for us. It turns out that they spent the day at the house and bowling. I made chicken cutlets for dinner.
Jacob and Ariel caught some fireflies and put one in a jar. I wouldn’t let them keep it, though.