Before we get started, I should mention that this is what our "little" B&B looked like from the outside. When we got here the other night, the tree was full of little white twinkle lights. It's so pretty!
First we walked down to the White House and then down across the mall.The funny thing here was that 1) There was some construction going on behind the White house, so there was a crane in the back of almost everyone's pictures and 2) there were like a million people in front of the White house, but on the back side, there's basically no one!
Next, we stopped off at the National Archives Building and saw the Constitution, Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence! We weren't allowed to take any pictures inside there, but believe me, the documents were so old and crisp. It's a good thing they are behind glass or it would probably disintegrate if someone sneezed! It didn't really look anything like what you see in National Treasure either :)
We continued to walk across the mall and looked at all the buildings. We were just enjoying seeing everything and enjoying the GREAT weather! We wondered on over to the Botanic Gardens and looked at a bunch of plants. There were plants from all over the world in there!
Just inside the entrance
Huge palm trees that were growing INSIDE!
Really cool roots on a tree
These were pretty with really long wispy parts. They were called Cat Whiskers.
This was one of just a few beautiful lotus flowers that were floating about in a pool.
Finally it was time to tour the Capital Building! We had to go through a security check and then just went in to be standing in front of "freedom" a full size replica of the actual statue that is on top of the capital building.
Next we watched a short film on the United States of America and then went into the Rotunda
The ceiling of the dome
Standing inside the rotunda looking across the way
Then we walked around and saw where the original senate and the original house met. We saw where Clinton had his impeachment trial. We saw the original clock that was set up to be 5 minutes fast so that people would finish debating on time. There is a spot in the floor where it's dipped down because it is where people rub their feet for good luck. This spot is where Washington was supposed to be buried but he's not because he's in Mt. Vernon with Martha. This was basically the end of the tour and we walked in this long underground tunnel that came out inside the Library of Congress
The ceilings were just covered in beautiful mosaics and it was just amazing to see the designs and the architecture. After this we ended up just heading back towards our B&B and getting something to eat for dinner.
It was a good day :)
