a much belated recap of the second half of our trip to the capital in June 2023 -- you can read the first half here!
one of the definite highlights of the trip was a private tour of the US Capitol building on Monday morning, arranged for us by a very thoughtful friend who is a political consultant. the girls were grumbling about wearing dresses "because it's not church" but I was so glad that we held firm (not that they were wearing anything fancy -- we failed to bring any dress shoes so they were wearing their pool slides! but still, it helped to foster a fitting sense of respect for the occasion).
we headed out from the Airbnb and down the street to catch our bus, just in time to see it fly past the stop. thankfully, another bus followed shortly after. I had purchased metro cards prior to our trip, each pre-loaded with $8, and it was so nice to just be able to scan them on the bus without worrying about it ahead of time. we also had flashbacks to our time in Rome as we did the dance of folding up the stroller, carrying the baby, and getting the older kids settled in their seats, just to repeat the process in reverse after the twenty-minute ride.
as we approached the Capitol, we debated on how to reach the side entrance where we had been instructed to meet our guide, since that side of the building was gated off from the public. (we definitely hyped up this VIP access to the girls and they were wide-eyed with excitement to be entering the building through the same door used by dignitaries!) as we were trying to flag down a staff member to ask how to reach the side entrance, our guide materialized and introduced himself. he was a fantastic young staffer who truly made the tour interesting for the girls and answered all of their questions. and it was so much more relaxing as a parent to know that our kids weren't disrupting anyone else's experience.
as promised, we entered through the side door and were given badges. Elizabeth's lasted about half an hour before she started ripping it into pieces and chewing on the metal clip, but the older girls kept theirs as souvenirs.
we started our tour in the Crypt, so called because it resembles a church crypt. the compass stone in the center of the Crypt marks the center of Washington, DC, and lies above a tomb that was designed for George Washington's body. however, due to the family's wishes, he remains buried in Mount Vernon with his wife. the Crypt also houses statues to represent the 13 original colonies, as well as a replica of the Magna Carta displayed in a case that housed the actual Magna Carta when it was loaned to us by the British for one year to celebrate the bicentennial in 1976 (magnanimous of them, I'd say!).
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| forty original sandstone columns support the Rotunda above |
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| John Muhlenberg, the vice president of Pennsylvania in the 1780s and a member of the first Senate |
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| the gold presentation case and replica of the Magna Carta |
next, we visited the Old Supreme Court Chambers, used from 1810-1860. Chief Justice John Marshall presided here. the initial court only had six judges up until 1869, when the nine-judge panel was standardized and remains.
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| it's a bit hard to see in the photo, but near the top you can see pawprints memorialized in this original floor from the cats who were brought in as pest control! |
next we entered the Rotunda, with its soaring dome and gorgeous paintings depicting scenes from American history. our guide took a panoramic photo of us, so the girls entertained themselves for the rest of the tour by attempting their own panoramic shots with my phone.
next, we visited the National Statuary Hall, which used to be the hall of representatives. I think we all had a moment of disbelief as we stood on the spot where Abraham Lincoln's desk used to be.
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| the bronze plaque marks the site of Lincoln's desk |
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| the view of the hall from Lincoln's vantage point |
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| Robert Fulton, a Pennsylvania native, invented the steamship and also built the first practical submarine on a commission from Napoleon |
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| a memorial plaque to the passengers of Flight 93 who died on September 11 |
security was extremely strict for our visit to the House of Representatives; we had to leave all electronics at the desk and go through additional airport-style security screening before entering the upper chamber balcony. unfortunately, the House was not in session during our visit; it would have been amazing to see the representatives in action! as we explained the legislative process to the girls, they were surprised and somewhat amused to find out that some adults essentially argue for a living!
finally, we concluded our tour and thanked our guide. the girls picked out souvenirs in the gift shop (a sweatshirt for Greta, a US map placemat for Cecilia, and American flags for both of them), and we headed back outside.
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| view of the Senate from across the street |
by this point, everyone was hungry and Elizabeth needed a nap. we headed back to the house for some downtime before venturing back out for our next foray into sightseeing: the White House Visitor Center. we already knew that a visit to the White House proper was not in the cards for us this year, as you are not allowed to bring strollers or diaper bags. Nick dropped us off while he went to go in search of parking. we arrived about 25 minutes before they closed, but the visitor center was small and I probably wouldn't have spent more than 45 minutes or an hour at most if we had it. it did have some interesting artifacts from White House history. of course, the girls were most interested in the touchpad kiosks with interactive displays. Nick had just parked and was walking down the street to meet us there when a fire alarm went off and we were all quickly ushered out of the building. so, all in all, it was fine to visit but nothing earth shattering, and I was glad that admission was free!
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| a cast of the carving in the White House mantel, taken from a letter John Adams wrote on his second night of the presidency |
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| a ring given to President Ulysses Grant in 1869 upon completion of the transcontinental railroad. the ring was formed from metal used to cast the commemorative golden spike that connected the Central Pacific and Union Pacific lines together. |
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| the usher's desk, including an intercom system. President Woodrow Wilson sat here when he signed the declaration of war on Germany in 1917. |
our next stop was a visit to the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, the seat of the Archdiocese of Washington, DC, and a historic church. the funeral of John F. Kennedy was held here in 1963. Pope John Paul II celebrated mass here in 1979 and Pope Francis visited in 2015.
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| I absolutely love this sculpture of Mary. the inscription reads "ad Jesum per Mariam": to Jesus through Mary. as a Catholic convert, I used to think Catholics idolized Mary and revered her above Jesus. now I understand that Mary always points us towards her Son. |
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| a model of the Pieta |
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| side chapel |
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| archbishops and bishops are buried here |
while we were visiting the church, we received a phone call from Nick's mom. his grandmother, who had recently been diagnosed with an aggressive form of kidney cancer, was being transitioned to hospice care. he asked if we should come home right then to see her. the doctors expected her to live for at least several more days if not weeks, so we decided to stay, but continued to pray even more fervently for her.
we then drove through rush hour traffic down to the National Mall, where we found free street parking down by the monuments and headed up to see the Lincoln Memorial. the wind was whipping around and stormclouds were rolling in; we thought we might get drenched in a downpour, but this was really our only opportunity to visit the memorial before heading home the next day, so we threw umbrellas and jackets into the bottom of the stroller and decided to risk it!
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| the girls were dramatically clutching each other and vowing to protect each other from the "hurricane" |
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| lines from Lincoln's speech accepting the Republican nomination for US Senator in 1858 |
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| lines from a speech in Chicago, 1858 |
the girls had a somewhat traumatizing experience on the elevator up from the visitor's center, due to an extremely aggressive elevator door. they got on the elevator first and I was moving forward with Elizabeth in the stroller when the door snapped shut, and off they went. I was hoping they remembered what I drilled into them from previous excursions (but hadn't reiterated for a while), that if they ever get accidentally stuck in an elevator by themselves, they should just stay on the same elevator car and not get off for any reason. sure enough, less than a minute later, the door opened and there they were, almost crying from panic but safe and sound. poor Greta still is nervous around elevators to this day now. but they quickly rallied and were happy to indulge me in the obligatory photo shoot, as long as they could each take turns with the phone to take their own pictures too.
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| the sky made a dramatic backdrop! |
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| photo courtesy of Greta |
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| I decided we all needed to be in the picture. Elizabeth just wanted the phone |
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| my All American girl! |
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| out of her myriad of basketball shirts, Greta carefully selected her President's Day tournament shirt to wear to the Lincoln Memorial |
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| baby Victoria was just 3 weeks away from making her grand entrance! |
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| one of the girls took this panoramic shot by bending over backwards! |
everyone was hungry by this point. Nick had scoped out a famous chili restaurant called Ben's Chili Bowl. Elizabeth was losing her mind and I didn't think she'd make it through a restaurant dinner, so we placed an order for takeout and he headed over to pick it up while I stayed with Elizabeth in the car. normally he makes fun of me for taking pictures of everything, but he said the place was so cool he just had to take some photos. it was like stepping back into the 1950s! the hot dogs were indeed good, as was the chili, although the girls said it looked "disgusting" (their chili is all beef in a dark brown sauce, no beans!). so it's probably for the best we didn't eat in-house after all!
the next morning, we packed up the Airbnb and were out the door by 9. this gave us plenty of time to find parking along the National Mall and join the queue waiting for the Smithsonian Natural History museum to open at 10. entrance to the museums is always free, but we had a pleasant surprise in that admission to the butterfly hall is also free on Tuesdays (it's normally $8 per adult and $7 per child, so we saved a fair amount!). I truly wish we could have spent all day at this museum. there was just no way to fit it all in. eventually we dragged the kids out and had a quick sidewalk lunch featuring some street food before heading to our next destination.
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| interstellar diamond dust: this vial contains 1.2 mg of tiny diamond crystals isolated from the Allende meteor that fell to earth in 1969 |
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| Elizabeth was on the cusp of an epic toddler meltdown at this point, but was temporarily mollified by being able to touch the giant amethyst (signs encouraged kids to touch it!). shortly after this, Nick took one for the team and whisked her away to the cafe for some overpriced snacks while the older girls and I saw a few more exhibits. |
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| the Hope diamond, weighing 45 carats. my girls were underwhelmed |
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| obligatory 36 week bump photo |
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| I asked the girls to find their spirit animal on this wall of photos. mission very much accomplished |
our final stop of the trip was the Udvar-Hazy Center, the counterpart to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum downtown. the Udvar-Hazy is about a 40-minute drive west from downtown DC, and it houses the SR71 Blackbird, the Space Shuttle Discovery, and the Enola Gay (the B29 fighter jet that dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan).
we had just entered the museum and were looking out from the balcony at the planes on the floor below when we got another call from Nick's mom. his grandmother's health had taken a turn for the worse overnight. we immediately got in the van and started on the three-hour drive to central Pennsylvania to keep vigil by her hospital bed. we finally started our drive back to Pittsburgh around 7 PM. sadly, she passed away later that evening. I am so grateful we were able to spend those last few hours with her, pray with her, spend time together, and visit with Nick's grandfather. it was a heartbreaking way to end our trip; she was always so welcoming to me and to the girls, and even had gifts set aside already for the next Christmas. we miss you, Gram.
I think you would LOVE the White House usher book! It's by the Chief Usher (West) whose quote you have a picture of!
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