Explorations around the Capitol

D.C. was a fantastic visit. We visited the Air and Space Museum and Spy Museum on 12/27. They were both fun and the kids had a great time.One of the favorite treats was the flight simulator in the Air and Space. The boys had theirs spinning around at a pretty good clip!! Will has been enjoying the handcuffs and shock pen he got at the spy museum. The weather improved and although cold we walked alot more outside.

The following day Tuesday we wanted to cover more ground so hopped on and off the Tourmobile to see the monuments and get some National Park Stamps for the kid's passports. We enjoyed the Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and found the Korean War and Vietnam War Memorials very moving. We also had a chance to glimpse the newly commissioned MLK memorial in the distance (scheduled for 2012).

The White House was closed for tours so we went to the White House Visitor's Center. When we walked up to see the real thing from the outside it was a treat seeing a helicopter take off and land several times from the lawn. We lunched in the Reagan Building which was very modern and busy.

Heading back to the Metro we stopped in at the Old Post Office Building and took the glass elevator to up to the clock tower. We got to travel up past the famous bells that used to ring to call Congress to session. The open air viewing deck at the top of the tower gave us an amazing view of all Washington, DC.

Wednesday 12/29 was our final and best day in DC. We had an early tour of the Library of Congress. None of us had ever visited there and it's lovely. The building and the artwork are stunning as well as the collection of material, film, and music from all over the world. They have one of the rare pristine Guttenberg Bibles, George and Ira Gershwin's piano.

We travelled through the tunnel into the new Capitol Visitor's Center. The visitor's center is all underground and where you start the capitol tour. It has an amazing cafeteria, auditorium, statues of famous Statespeople and the plaster prototype of the statue of Freedom that was used to top the Capitol. We had the tour of the Capitol and also had gotten gallery passes for both the House and Senate chambers. Although they were both on break it was exciting to see where our legislature works.

There was still so much to see- museums and historic buildings. The kids will each enjoy their 8th grade trip I'm sure.