The Capitol Building

First on our to do list- find the flag of Washington State and Patty Murray's office to pick up gallery passes.  I thought this would be a quick, inconvenient stop, but the kids thought it was so cool  we stayed and  toured each corridor and checked out the state flags and different Senate offices.

On to the Capitol Building.  We used our gallery passes right away because Andy wanted to see the "real" capitol.  It doesn't get much more real than touring the Senate during the tax bill filibuster. The kids have been so excited to watch C-span and the news at night to see what is happening in Congress.

Because there were so few people touring the Capitol that day we got an extended tour of the building including the old Supreme Court and Senate chambers.  The kids loved our tour guide's story of how Charles Dickens visited the US Senate and said there was so much spit and tobacco juice on the floor that if he dropped his wallet he would not pick it up even if he was wearing gloves.  Definitely not a place I would have wanted to visit.

I am such a bad Washingtonian.  Each state has two statues in the Capitol and I did not recognize either of Washington's- Marcus Whitman and Mother Joseph.  I guess I have a lot to learn about Washington history.

After touring the Capitol we walked across the street to the Library of Congress.  Andy was very disappointed  we couldn't  walk among the stacks and perhaps search for the President's Book of Secrets.  Even if I came up with a good research excuse to get a pass for the reading room they did not allow anyone under 16 on the floor :)  The building is beautiful but the kids mostly enjoyed the children's library where they could just sit and read for awhile. 

After a whirlwind week at the conference center I was very stressed about getting back into the motorhome.  We have not settled our debate about where to spend Christmas and I have no itinerary for the coming weeks.  David took pity on me and signed up to take another class so we can stay in Baltimore for another week :)  We honestly just needed a little vacation from our vacation.