Last Visit to DC

On December 22, we took one more trip into DC.  

We stopped at the US Marine Corps Memorial.

Wow!

I say Wow because it is HUGE!  I had no idea how big it was.  The pictures I've seen of it don't make it look that big.  I was blown away by how large it was.  And how beautiful.  It really is one of my favorite memorials there in DC.

Then we made our way to the National Archives.  Some of the things we saw on the way:

 Mark Twain--naturally. : D

And this cool silver tree--this was in the middle of a sculpture garden on our walk over.  This was the only picture I took because it was really cold and windy and we didn't want to be out longer than we needed.

The National Archives!

We couldn't take pictures inside because of what was inside--the most important documents!!

We got to see the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights and the Magna Carta!

And the best part was that there were few people there, so we got to spend as much time looking at these awesome documents as we wanted.  The Declaration of Independence was really faded, but it was cool to see it.  We had a good time seeing those amazing documents!

Then we went to the Capitol Visitor's Center.  We had tried to go our previous visit--when we were on bikes--but since we had food with us, we couldn't go in.  This time we didn't have food, so we went.

Inside they had two statues from each state of individuals who did something important.  There were some that were in the central area.  From there we went to a theater to watch a short film about the VC.

 Sakakawea

 Helen Keller

Then we went on a guided tour of the Capitol Building.

This spot on the floor is the center of the building and the center of the city of DC.  All distances and such are measured from this point.

President Eisenhower

 Inside they had a beautiful ceiling with a picture that George Washington would never have wanted painted. It's of him in a sort of god-like pose.  That was not George Washington.  He was a great man, but he did not see himself as better than others.  What a great leader he was!

 President Reagan--just under the base of his statue--that broken up rock--that's from the Berlin Wall--pretty cool!

These were some paintings in that big room.

 The Pilgrims

 Signing of the Declaration of Independence

 Abraham Lincoln

 President Ulysses S. Grant

 Thomas Jefferson

 President George Washington

And Brigham Young!

Because of the time of year and the day we were there, both of the Houses--the Senate and the House of Representatives were closed to tours.  We didn't get to see where they sit and all that--too bad.

But we still enjoyed our tour and our last visit to DC--at least for awhile.