Capitol Tour, Washington, DC

We had an informative tour of the Capitol building today. Here is Teressa’s journal entry with all the details:

Joan in Congressman David Wu’s office set up a capitol tour today with Grant—their intern. Two other Oregon women (retired teachers) from McMinnville were also in our group. Grant took us through the crypt (now a visitor center), old senate room (rich and stately—done in deep reds and golds with spittoons available for the senators of old), statue room, rotunda (tall enough for the statue of liberty without her base), and old house of representatives room. In the old house of representatives room, we stood where John Adams sat. He would pretend to be asleep but was really listening to his opponents talking in a small group on the opposite side of the room. The sound bounced off the dome above and was crystal clear over 50 feet away. This was also the room that contained many beautiful historical paintings including The Signing of the Declaration of Independence. The story has it that Thomas Jefferson paid the artist to make him look stately and to make John Adams frumpy. Jefferson is portrayed as handsome and well-dressed in red, white and blue; Adams was in dull brown clothing. Jefferson’s right foot was standing on top of Adams’s foot. Not the best of friends until later in their twilight years!

We ended the tour in the House of Representatives chamber which was not in session. This is where the president holds the State of the Union address with the Supreme Court justices sitting on the president’s right, in front, the Democrat congressmen seated on the right and the Republican congressmen on the left. We were sitting in the balcony where the First Ladies and special guests sit during the address.

When our tour ended we walked toward Union Station and had dinner at the Capitol City Grill. During the week and the time of day we were there, all appetizers were $5 and the appetizers were meals by themselves. So we ate, topping it off with a brownie and ice cream, and jumped back on the subway.