Wednesday, October 21, 2009

The Capitol Visitor Center & Library of Congress

From Washington DC - Capitol Visitors' Center

Today will be our last day in DC, so we head straight for the Capital Visitor Center, a $550M expenditure of our tax dollars. Tickets are free (as is almost everything in our capitol) and fortunately it is a relatively light day, and I score tickets to visit the senate chambers as well - awesome!

From Washington DC - Capitol Visitors' Center
From Washington DC - Capitol Visitors' Center
From Washington DC - Capitol Visitors' Center
From Washington DC - Capitol Visitors' Center
From Washington DC - Capitol Visitors' Center
From Washington DC - Capitol Visitors' Center
From Washington DC - Capitol Visitors' Center
From Washington DC - Capitol Visitors' Center
From Washington DC - Capitol Visitors' Center
From Washington DC - Capitol Visitors' Center
From Washington DC - Capitol Visitors' Center

Some of the above you will recognize, the others are taken in the visitor center which lies under the capital. You'll see a picture of the entrance as I exit this post. The Senate wing follows:

From Washington DC - Capitol Visitors' Center
From Washington DC - Capitol Visitors' Center
From Washington DC - Capitol Visitors' Center

The House wing is far less elaborate, and by choice, I didn't take many pictures. I did manage to take this of the astronauts who, I believe, lost their lives in the shuttle explosion shortly after takeoff.

From Washington DC - Capitol Visitors' Center

Walking back on the Senate side:

From Washington DC - Capitol Visitors' Center
From Washington DC - Capitol Visitors' Center

Forgive me if I've mislabeled anything. Serves me right for posting this 10 months after the fact.

Some call the Library of Congress the most beautiful building in Washington. I agree. The actual working portion of the library is visible only from a platform surrounded by acrylic - picture taking is impossible.

From Washington DC - Capitol Visitors' Center
From Washington DC - Capitol Visitors' Center
From Washington DC - Capitol Visitors' Center

Here is the promised view of the visitor center, however the shade makes seeing the underground entrance a little difficult. The final two pictures are of Union Station - a very fun place to visit.

From Washington DC - Capitol Visitors' Center
From Washington DC - Capitol Visitors' Center
From Washington DC - Capitol Visitors' Center

Next, we leave for North Carolina!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Thanks so much for sharing these wonderful photos!