Washington D.C. Day 2

We had parts of Friday planned about 3 weeks in advance of our trip.  We couldn't wait for today as we knew we were going to get to see some cool things but we didn't know exactly what we had in store for us.  I will get to more of that in just a second.

Our day first started with a scheduled and already booked tour of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.  We were running late for this tour and of course, my feet were still killing me so I was hobbling the whole way there which slowed us down even more.  The tour started at 8:45am and that is the time we showed up at the building but only to be told we came to the wrong entrance that the door we went to was only an exit.  We then had to go around the building into a different entrance which took us a few minutes to walk to.  We really didn't think they would let us in at that point as we ended up being about 5 minutes late.  We quickly went through security and caught up with our tour though.  The only thing we missed was a video at the very beginning.  It was actually a very interesting tour learning how our money was made.  The biggest interesting fact that we learned was the D.C. Bureau of Engraving and Printing prints approx. 1 billion dollars daily.  So why is the economy struggling, right?  Well, they say the majority of that money being made is replacement money.  Pictures were not allowed during the tour but I can't believe I didn't remember to take a picture of the outside of the building at least.  Oh well!  This tour ended around 9:30am and we had to huff it to get to our next touring destination as we were scheduled to be there at 10am so we jumped on the subway to the nearest Metro stop to our next destination.

Our next touring destination for the day was the part of the whole trip that I think we were most excited about prior to going.  The Capitol!  Back when we thought we were going to D.C. but wasn't sure, some of the officers Trent works with had told us that if we went, we needed to make sure to call one of the Capitol Police Officers that they had met when they went back in September of last year.  Once we booked our trip, they gave us the officers information and about 3 weeks prior to us going, Trent emailed him.  The very next day, he called us.  His name is Big Dqqky (pronounced Doo-Key).  Yes, you read that correctly!  Is that his real name?  Not too sure but Trent says that Dqqky is his last name.  Who knows.  Anyways, during this phone call, Dqqky was cutting up and we just knew we would have a great time with him.  We had told him that this was our Anniversary trip to just get away.  Once we showed up at the Capitol, it was like chaos trying to find him.  Some medical emergency was going on and a fire truck and ambulance was pulling in just as we got there.  We tried to ask another officer where Big Dqqky was and he pointed us in one direction but he was very sidetracked and just quickly responded.  We stopped for Trent to call Dqqky and see where he was but we didn't get an answer.  At that time, the officer that was sidetracked hollered for us and told us he was coming out of the side door so we went around there and finally met up with him.  When we met him, he was holding a Capitol Visitors Center bag.  After we met and was walking up to the Capitol, Dqqky said "Today is yalls anniversary right?"  We told him no, it was actually last week.  We could see an instant look of disappointment on his face and we wondered what was up with that.  He then proceeded to pull a box out of the bag he was holding and said that it was a flag that he specifically had flown over the Capitol in honor of us that morning for our anniversary.  He was so bummed out that he had the date wrong.  We reassured him that it wasn't a big deal and he didn't have to do anything for us but we thought it was wonderful what he done and it was fine that the date was wrong.  He just was not accepting that though.  He called the Flag office in the Capitol and they actually still had the flag that was flown over on May 3rd which was our anniversary.  He then told them that he needed to trade out flags and get that flag.  As a side note:  Apparently they fly a new flag over the Capitol each day and every day they date the flag box so that they will know what day it was flown.  The flag that he presented to us also came with a certificate.  We thought this was just awesome.  We never in a million years thought we would come home from D.C. with a flag that was flown over the Capitol and more importantly, not just flown over the Capitol but flown over in Honor of US!  Yes it may not be the specific flag that was flown over for us however, it was the flag that was flown over for our Anniversary.  He was still pretty bummed that he accidentally got the date wrong but we didn't mind at all.  We just thought it was awesome that we were coming home with something so monumental.

Our first view of the Capitol up close

The flag in the box that Dqqky gave us with the
Certificate

The Certificate that came with the flag.  We just think this is Awesome!
(Parts of the sides and top and bottom is cut off as this pic is zoomed in)

The flag now that we have gotten it home.  I took it to the local Armory
and had them to fold it for me.  We haven't decided how and where to
put it in the house yet that is why it is just sitting on this table for now

Once Dqqky got everything figured out with the flag, he took our camera and took some pictures for us.

After he was done taking our picture, we went on in the Capitol.  He showed us around to several places.  He showed us the center of the Capitol and the House Chambers which everyone gets to tour.  This is pretty much the only areas of the Capitol that is open to the public.  We could take pictures inside the center area but were not allowed to even carry cameras in the House Chambers.  I can't remember which of the pictures below was in areas where others could tour but some of the areas were off limits and then as you can see, other areas, people were in.

Inside the Capitol

Didn't go inside but passed by Nancy Pelosi's office.  Dqqky says she
is the best smelling woman ever.  Everyday she comes in smelling
like a big bundle of Gardenias

Inside the Capitol

Where Lincoln's desk used to sit in the Capitol

The two of us in the Capitol in the area of
the Speaker of the House office

The center of the Capitol.  This is what is under the big dome that you see
from the outside

The center of the Capitol.  This is what is under the big dome that you see
from the outside.

Inside the Capitol

The center of the Capitol.  This is what is under the big dome that you see
from the outside.

He then took us to the Senate area and said that he somehow had to make it up to us for messing up on the flag.  (You can tell he was REALLY bothered that he got the date wrong).  Once we got to the Senate area, there were numerous cops standing around I assume to make sure no one enters that is not allowed.  At this point, Dqqky even had to ask permission for us to enter.  He couldn't even let us in without permission.  One of the officers that guards the Senate area went with us and agreed to let us view that area.  Dqqky was shocked himself as he says that the Senate area is totally off limits to the public and no one is allowed in there.  It is an EXTREMELY private area.  We were not allowed to go in or even take a picture of the door but we got to stand outside of the Presidents Room across from the Senate Chambers, we actually went inside the Senate Chambers which was a huge shock but unfortunately, no pictures were allowed.  That was pretty neat to say that we stood in the actual room where NOONE is allowed in which our Senators vote on laws, meet, etc.  After that, he took us to the Senators lounge where they go to chill out between meetings or to just relax.  Unfortunately, no pictures allowed here either.  The final thing we got to do that was totally off limits to the public is he took us out on to the Senators balcony.  He did take a couple of pictures of us here.

The view off of the Senators Balcony with the Washington Monument
in the background

Us standing on the Senators Balcony

Us again on the Senators Balcony.

Big Dqqky was so kind to take his break and give us such a wonderful tour of the Capitol and let us experience once in a lifetime things as we got to see things and experience things that many will never see.  His hospitality and kindness to us was wonderful and we could not thank him enough for everything that he done for us.  We have came home with so many wonderful memories just because of him. 


Us with Big Dqqky

 After we parted ways with Big Dqqky, we ate lunch there at the Capitol so that we could sit down for a while and give my feet a break because they were KILLING me at that point and the blister that had got started yesterday was now full blown and I had 3 huge blisters at this point. 

The lunch/feet break was nice but we got back at it and our next touring destination was the Library of Congress. 

Outside of the Library of Congress

Inside the Library of Congress.  Since this picture is smaller than normal,
you may not be able to see it but on the center archway, it says
Library of Congress

Inside Library of Congress

Inside Library of Congress

Inside Library of Congress

Inside Library of Congress

Pictures were allowed inside the Library of Congress other than the glass room to where you look into the room where all of the books actually are.  The pictures above are all pictures of around the Library of Congress before you get to the glass room area.
My Trentie rebelled and snuck some pictures in the area where you weren't supposed to.  They aren't the best of quality because he just snapped them quickly.

Looking into the actual book room

Looking into the actual book room

The ceiling of the book room

After leaving the Library of Congress, next up was the Supreme Court.  It seemed like there was construction everywhere in DC.  As you can see in the pictures below, the Supreme Court Building was under construction.  You can't actually see the building here as there is a cover over the building that resembles the building.


Supreme Court on the outside

A staircase inside the Supreme Court

We didn't get to go inside the actual courtroom as there was a lecture in there while we were there.  We did get to slightly see inside though.  I don't know why we didn't think to snap a quick picture but oh well.

After we left here, we started walking to tour the Mall area.  This is the area where all the museums is located.  We were about to die of thirst after all the walking and of course, my feet were killing me again so we stopped outside the Indian Museum to get drinks from a vendor.  We both got a Blue Gatorade and a big bottle of water.  I wouldn't say we were thirsty at all.  We then sat down on a wall area for a bit to just rest.

Another view of the Capitol as we were walking

The Indian Museum and vendor truck we stopped at to get a drink.
We didn't take the time to go into this museum.

After we took a little break, we set out walking again.  Next up was the National Air and Space Museum.

This museum was HUGE on the inside.  We walked in and decided it was
a little too big and we were a little too worn out to explore it so we left.

Across the street from it was one of the Art Galleries.  We didn't stop in there either but got a picture of it.


As we were walking, we caught more good views of the Capitol and had to take pictures.  We loved the Capitol but I guess it just holds a special place to us since we had such a wonderful time there and got to see and experience so much.

Next up was the Natural History Museum.  We went in here just briefly.  It was also huge on the inside.  Since Trent wanted to be a Paleontologist when he grew up, lol, we saw the Dinosaurs and then left.

Next up was the Smithsonian Castle which we also did not go inside.

After this, we made our way to the nearest Metro station and took the subway back to the nearest station to our Motel.  We called it a day and went on to the motel.  We had planned on going to this nights baseball game but throughout the day had thought maybe we would just wait and go to Saturday's game and then maybe Sundays.  I am not sure what time it was when we finally made it back to the motel but I am thinking around 6pm.  As we sit there, I got comfy in the bed and started dozing off.  Trent was looking at something on the Ipad.  I don't even know what.  Next thing I know, he is laying beside me and I hear him ask if I wanted to go ahead and go to tonight's game.  It started at 7:05.  I said it didn't matter, it was up to him.  Next thing I knew, maybe 3 minutes later, he was laying beside me snoring.  We were obviously wore out and missed the game that night.  We woke up from our nap and ordered some Chinese food for delivery.  We ate and just chilled the rest of the night as we knew we had a busy day and early morning ahead of us tomorrow.

Even though we really didn't get to/didn't take the time to go in all the museums, we had a great day touring the area.  When we return to D.C., maybe we can make that part of our agenda to actually take the time to go in and actually see some of the museums.  Two of them that we would have liked to have seen was the Archives (which I will get to on Day 4 of the trip) and the American History museum.  Oh well, like I said, hopefully we can see those next time.