Day 3 in DC

I'm having the hardest time recapping my trip, that's why posts have been slow in coming for the last few weeks. I didn't have a transcendental "Eat, Pray, Love" experience. I saw some cool shit. The End. Also, this day was jam packed with activity.

On the morning of Day 3, I got up and walked to the Capitol. It was one metro stop away from me, so I figured I could walk. And I figured, "Its a big ass building, I'll be able to find it. " I was wrong and had to ask for directions twice.

Finally found the damn place and cleared security. (Just a metal detector, you don't even take off your shoes). I was way early even after getting lost because the paper confirming my reservation said it would take an hour to clear security.
Definitely not.

The sticker I had to wear
(If lost, please return to Seattle, WA)

At 10AM, everyone else taking the tour at that time (lots and lots of teenagers) and I, were herded into a giant auditorium, bigger than a movie theater. Once we were all seated, we were shown a short movie about the origins of congress. Then we were divided up into 5 groups, assigned a tour guide and given a headset. Maybe I don't get out enough, but I thought the headsets were pretty damn cool. We could hear our guide as if he was standing right next to him, while tens of other tours would pass us, criss-crossing everywhere, the noise level was not bad because no tour guide had to raise their voice to be heard.

The guide took us upstairs and downstairs and all around until I was completely lost. We saw so many beautiful, huge murals and statues. But like most good things, it was over way too fast. Anyway, the tour was great and I highly recommend it. I won't recap it all because partly I don't remember everything, partly because you probably don't care, and partly because you should just go see it yourself.

The tour did not take us through the chambers where the Senate and House actually meet and have sessions. But! If you went to your state rep's office, you could get a pass to sit in the gallery of both chambers.  Getting the passes was just a simple matter of asking for them, but finding the person to ask was like a scavenger hunt. First, I had to find the appointments desk in the Capitol and ask a grouchy staffer to look up the building and room number for my state representative. Then I had to find the damn building. Which shouldn't have been so hard but my map reading skills were seriously challenged on this trip. I found the building and had to go through metal detectors again. Cool, whatever. Then I just needed to find the room.

Congressional Swag

Y'all. I rode the damn elevator up and down before a sweet woman took pity on me and explained that the ground floor was not the same as the first floor. WTF? Whatever, crazy East Coast people.

So I found the door for my rep's office. Do I knock? Is Congressman Jim McDermott just sitting behind this door, at his desk doing stuff? I paced the hallway trying to decide. I got brave and opened the door, luckily this was the right choice. The door opened into the reception area for a suite of offices, for Congressman McDermott and his staff. The chipper receptionist handed me passes for the Senate and House gallery and off I went.

I expertly retraced my steps back to the Capitol, back through security, followed the signs to the House Gallery which lead me to a room like coat check. But instead of my coat, the people working there wanted my phone, my headphones, my camera, and any keys with a remote.
Handed over all my electronics and continued following signs to the gallery which led me to an elevator, then down a long series of hallways, then to another metal detector, and finally to the House Gallery.

Of course these motherfuckers weren't in session. I sat for a while anyway, trying to absorb the scale of the room, and all the history that had played out here, all the intricate details of the decor. Then, because I'm a noisy person, I overheard the security officers saying that the House would be in session later that afternoon. Sweet! I'll kill a couple hours and then come back and see my government in action.

I made my way down to the cafeteria and had a lunch of mediocre sushi. I still had way too much time to kill so I decided to go the the Library of Congress. If you didn't know, and I didn't, the Capitol and the Library of Congress are connected by a tunnel. The aspiring spy side of me wished it were a secret tunnel, but still, fun.


Yoooooo, the Library of Congress is crazy gorgeous. Looks at this shit. Stop and look at it. Right now.

They have a Gutenberg Bible.
Like, what?!?!!!

Even the floor is amazing

Finally, the House was going to be back in session. Back to the Capitol, back through security, back to the electronics coat check, back up the elevator, through the other metal detector, and into the gallery. I was early but I wanted to make sure I got a good seat. 

The bailiff did the whole "oyez, oyez, oyez" thing and we all had to rise while the "speaker" entered. I say "speaker" because it was not the actually Speaker of the House, John Boehner. Apparently, Boehner is allowed to assign his authority to someone else, and had done so. There were about 5 reps in the room. None from my state, and none that I recognized, not that I know a ton of State Representatives. They all made little bullshit speeches about the tax code, gay marriage, an Easter dinner for the homeless in their state. None of this was proposing anything, no bills introduced, just stupid statements read into the record. I was super disappointed that I waited around for this. And annoyed at the whole process. 

I bounced out of the gallery and heard that the Senate was also in session. "Alright, let's see what these fuckers are up to." But the line for the Senate gallery was long and I was so done with the legislative branch for the day. 

I walked across the street and checked out the Supreme Court. They didn't have a whole lot that you could tour. I wandered aimlessly, made a purchase in the gift shop, and stopped by the cafeteria for a bottle of water. 

They did have a cool oval staircase, but besides that, I was unimpressed. I wanted to buy a Ruth Bader Ginsburg action figure in the gift shop, but sadly, such things do not exist.  I would have liked to see the court in session, but my Airbnb hosts told me that you had to get in line at 6AM for the chance at a seat. There was no way in hell I was going to get up that early and drag my ass across town to only maybe hear some legal nonsense, of which 80% would probably go over my head. 

I was all done having adventures and it was hot and humid out. On my walk home I stopped off at the corner store and bought a pint of gelato, went home and ate it in bed while watching Netflix with the cats. Then went out and had tacos for dinner. Hey, I totally earned them, I walked a lottttt all day.