Catching Up: April 1-April 8... Capital Building

Monday was our tour of the Capital Building along with a ton more walking (which by know you should notice as the theme of this trip... WALKING a TON!). We spent the morning at the American History Museum checking out the Star Spangled Banner exhibit (SO COOL and a must see), the First Ladies exhibit (interesting) and the War Exhibit (also worth seeing).

Hanna in front of the museum.

Seriously love the S.S.B. The ACTUAL flag that inspired our national anthem is on display there. Magnificent and over powering. Interesting to note is that this all surrounded the war of 1812. The British (for a reason I cannot recall) had declared war on us again. Probably still bent out of shape after losing to us in 1776. Anyway, they had burned D.C. to the ground in hopes to break our moral as a fledgling country. Instead, they incited us to band together and fight more fiercely. After D.C. fell (or perhaps in tandem... I don't recall so check with a history buff), they moved onto Baltimore in hopes of securing the harbor. The British couldn't get close because the pesky Americans did crazy things like putting stakes in the water that would pierce approaching ships, so they bombed Fort McHenry. They actually used missiles too! Key was in the hold of a British ship listening to the battle all night and into the next morning. As the smoke cleared he saw the huge American Flag, tattered and worn, but still waving above Fort McHenry--an indication that we had maintained the fort and the harbor. It was a HUGE victory by the Americans. He was inspired and, after seeing the flag myself, I could not help but be inspired as well. It's interesting to me that we as Americans bind together when threatened or attached rather than falling apart. The British burned D.C. and we rose to chase them from our shores. Terrorists took down the Twin Towers and we knit our hearts together for the victims and sent our troops to war. We don't back down. We don't fall apart. We stand together, united. The only sad part is that our unification wains in times of prosperity. Anyway, I digress. The exhibit was powerful and, in my mind, a must see.

After the American History Museum we raced up to the Capital for our tour. Like I said, on a map it seems small but in RL the walk/run took us over 30 minutes. Pure craziness! But we made it and had a very nice, private tour of the building with fun facts and an "insider" perspective from the intern who took us around. I thought the capital fun to see, but wouldn't have missed it if not given the chance to go. Lots of paintings and statues and interesting facts.

Lady Liberty. A replica of the statue that stands on top of the building. I thought she was cool.

Though it looks carved, this is actually hand painted (as are all the reliefs in the building).

Pelosi's cave. Fitting. (Take that however you want.)

George Washington painted as a Greek god on the ceiling of the rotunda. Read up on this one. Interesting!

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hanna and Tina.

More of the rotunda. Like I said, worth seeing once... maybe.

After the tour (which lasted 3 hours!), headed back to the Holocaust Museum (which is across the street from the American History Museum). This time we were smart and took the metro. Well worth it! I LOVE this museum. I didn't take any pictures (I don't think they are allowed). Even if they were, I wouldn't have taken any as I was so immersed in the exhibits. This is a MUST SEE. Well done, in depth, and gives views of this time in history that don't always see. I loved how personal it felt. I loved how personal they made it. I won't do it justice with words, so I'll just encourage anyone that comes out this way to make the time to see this museum. It requires tickets, so grab those in advance at https://tix.cnptix.com/tix/ushmm?eventid=21322. You'll be glad you did!