#98 Library of Congress and US Capitol 5-23-09

Our last day in Washington DC. We took the Metrorail into town from College Park, MD where we have been the last week. Our first stop was the Library of Congress. Debbie Martin had told us this was spectacular, and she was right. Below is just half of the front of the building.

Looking up from the steps this building is magnificent.

Inside you enter under the words “Library of Congress” in gold. Impressive!

Once inside the great room—before you even get to the room where the research books are kept—you are surrounded by beautiful mosaics, stained glass windows, and sculptures.

The pillars and stairwells are all marble.

We went on a tour with a docent and she gave us lots of facts about the building of this structure. One of the things that was interesting was the fact that the builders kept the inside a secret from congress—who put up the money for the building. The other thing that was really interesting was that the project came in under budget and on time. Probably the last government job to do so!!!

The mosaics in the building were outstanding. The way they were done was really interesting to me. The wall covered with a canvas, then painted with the picture. Then the canvas was carefully taken down and sent to Italy to have the mosaic done. That way the artisans in Italy had the shape of the wall to be decorated. This procedure is called “cartooning.”

In the picture above look at the many angles that are covered with the mosaic tiles. Even the floors in some of the rooms are all done in mosaic tiles. I was enthralled!

We took a tunnel under the street to the Capitol building our next stop of the day.

First you have to go to the visitor center. Then you line up with all the visiting kids! Then you get to go on an audio tour with a guide. We see a movie about the capitol and country and then head to the rotunda.

Looking up to the rotunda is a beautiful fresco painting, surrounded by gold leaf decorated tiles. Under that is carvings all around the ceiling.

On the walls are very large paintings. The one below depicts Pocahontas marrying John Smith. We were all told that her Christian name, after she was baptized, was Rebecca. I didn’t know that.

Next we went into the old senate room. It is now the hall of statures. The senate moved out to a wing of the capitol building. They didn’t like this room because it has such a bad echo. They could hear each other’s whispers!! Now each state has two statues of any of their historical figures they choose. Those figures have to be deceased. Not all 100 statues are in this room.

Under the Rotunda are the pillars that hold up the entire building. And below, right in the center of the Capitol is a star showing the directions of the city. Beneath the star is an empty tomb. It was supposed to be George Washington’s tomb, but they didn’t finish the building until after he had died 12 years before. And George wanted to be buried at Mt. Vernon.

We are leaving the capitol building. The sun is peeking through the clouds and making a beautiful picture for us.

Across the street from the Capitol is the Supreme Court. This, too, is a pretty awesome building. Only we didn’t go inside.

On our way to catch the Metro we decided we would walk to Union Station. What a surprise we had. This is like an Airport, a mall, and a restaurant row all inside one building. Not only can you catch a train, you can eat, shop, and get the metro. It is big!

The sky lights over just one part of the building were so awesome I had to take a picture of the ceiling. From here we were just steps away from our ride home on the Metro.

Bye, Bye Washington, DC. Bye Brian and Iris. By Debbie. Thank all of you for such wonderful memories.

#97 Inner Harbor, Baltimore MD 5-22-09

Brian rode his motorcycle over to the RV Park Friday afternoon. He and Frank went out for a ride! We made arrangements to meet for dinner that evening.

We went to dinner in Baltimore at Phillip’s with Iris and Brian Allard. It was our last meeting with them before we headed north.

The inner harbor is a hub of activity. There were inner harbor dinner cruises, concerts on the walk, and all the shops were open and doing a nice business. Lots of restaurants and gift shops.

The harbor if filled with history and nautical artifacts.

The Aquarium is right on the harbor and has an amazing glass view of the waterfall and bridge from the outside looking in.

Above is a submarine in the harbor you can tour. Below are swan shaped paddle boats to rent. Lots of things to do.

We really enjoyed our dinner and walking around the harbor. It was a very nice evening, no jackets and nice company. Thanks Iris and Brian for making our visit to Washington, DC and the surrounding area so interesting and memorable.

#96 Fort McHenry, MD and Kennedy Performing Arts Center 5-18, 19-2009

On Monday we decided we would go to Annapolis and visit the Navy Academy. When we arrived at the exit off the freeway to go to Annapolis there were two miles of cars waiting to exit. We waited almost 20 minutes in line and then decided to go to Baltimore! Later we found out that this was Commissioning week. We never did get to go to Annapolis!

Above is a picture of Fort McHenry. This is the famous fort where Francis Scott Key watched the British bombard the Fort and in the morning the flag was still flying. He penned a poem about what he saw. He was on a ship beyond the line of British fighting ships. The Fort looks like a star. It was the main fort guarding the city of Baltimore.

Here are the cannons in one of the star points. The British were too far away for any of the cannons to reach, but they did stop the fleet from entering the harbor and landing in Baltimore.

The bombs that burst in the air, and the description of what they looked like.

The following day we had a “congressional tour” of the Kennedy Center. That meant that we had tickets from our Congress woman and our tour was with only a few people and we were able to visit each theater.

The first theater was the main Opera House. which seats over 2,000.

There are four levels of seating in the Opera Theater

The President has his own lounge in the Opera Theater. It seats 12.

Originally the Kennedy Center was going to be an international Performing Arts Center. Many different nations donated items to the center. All the marble used in the building came from, and was donated by Carrera Italy. The chandelier is made of Waterford Crystal from England. It was beautiful. The sconces on the back wall are also Waterford Crystal. This is one of the many lounges.

The red silk curtain above was donated by China and weighs three tons.

There are lounge rooms that were paid for and donated by different countries. The above lounge was donated by Israel and there are different companies or organizations for parties and meetings.

After President Kennedy’s assassination the center was turned into a monument for him. There will not be any other monument to honor his memory. The above sculpture is six feet in height and is dwarfed by the floor to roof windows behind it.

After our tour we took a ride down to the City and had lunch outside. It was a beautiful day. No rain!

We are getting pretty good on riding the Metro-rail. Today we took the Metro-bus and then the rail. We decided we didn’t like the bus-too many stops. It took us an hour an a half to get from Cherry Hill RV Park in College Park, MD to the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Next time we will drive to the Metro-rail station and park the car at the multi story parking garage!

#95 Basilica and Arlington Nat. Cemetery 5-11 thru 13-2009

We spent one afternoon with Brian going to the Vet’s Hospital and delivered some books the Library had donated.  While we were nearby we stopped in to visit the Basilica.  What a beautiful place.

The above picture is looking up at one of the domes.  This is all mosaic tiles and beautiful gold colors.

The main dome and in the distance some of the ante rooms that are also smaller chapels.

A sample of just one of the picture mosaics.

Above is one of the alcove mosaics with inspirational verse.  Below is a close up of the intricate placement and colors of the tiles.  Beautiful.

We took a break for a day, while it rained!  As soon as we knew we were in for a nice day we took the Metrorail out to the Arlington National Cemetery.  The train stop is just a 5 minute walk to the visitor center, where we caught a tram ride through out the cemetery.

This is the view of the cemetery as we were walking to the visitor center.  The pilloried building in the back is the Custis-Lee Home.

John F. Kennedy’s grave and eternal flame.

Robert Kennedy’s grave and the only wooden cross in the cemetery

The grave site of Audie Murphy.  The most decorated soldier of World War II.

This is the amphitheater  by the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  On Memorial Day the President gives a speech here every year.

View Full Album

We were able to view the changing of the guard while we were visiting the grave of the Unknown Soldier.

The Unknown Soldier’s grave with the memorial wreath.

A closer look at the Custis-Lee Home.

The view from the porch of the Custis-Lee Home.  This home was owned by Robert E. Lee who married George Washington’s great granddaughter Miss Custis.  When the Civil War broke out and Lee chose the Confederate side, the home was taken over by the Union.  It was used as a hospital and then was used as a burial ground for Union Soldiers.

   

There are over 300,000 soldiers buried at Arlington.  Every where you look are gravestones.  Above is just a small sample.  It is a very beautiful and peaceful resting place.