Since our group was on the larger size, we were able to have a tour guide, mostly to ourselves. There were a few other local people who were attached with us just to even out the groups a little. Since multiple groups would be touring with different tour guides, we were all handed headphones in order to distinguish our tour guide from the others. Once we accomplished the task of headphone instruction and operational check, we were shuffled into a larger auditorium for a short movie about the creation and accomplishments of congress. This lead to a more inspired view of the building as we all had hearts swelled with pride for our country. After ascending about 40 steps, we were now in the Dome of the Capitol.
It was filled with many inspiring paintings and more statuary. I had to snap this picture of Andrew Jackson due to his commanding pose and family significance.
However, the details were amazing. It is easy to see why the construction took so long and went millions over budget.
The dome room is a special place as our tour guide pointed out. The space is used to welcome and say final farewell to every president of our country. When our next president is sworn in on January 20Th, Senator Obama will take his Oath of Office in the Dome. This is also the place where we have paid respects to former presidents such as Ronald Regan with the marines standing a final watch over the body.
After taking the Oath of Office, the new President Obama will enjoy a luncheon in the Hall of Statuary. The interesting point of this space is the acoustics. One can stand in a particular spot in the room and hear any conversation. She explained this by having us remove our headphones and walking across the room. In a normal conversational tone she explained more about this and we could hear her as clearly as if she had been whispering in our ears. This is not a place to hold a private conversation and many Congressional members are very aware of this circumstance.
Other places we explored on our tour were the crypt and the original Supreme Court space. The crypt has an interesting tale in there is no body within the crypt. It was meant to be the resting place for President Washington, but through years of construction and found letters of will, his body was never transported from Mont Vernon. So the crypt lies empty for no one could fill the shoes of President Washington. The other point of interest is when standing in the center of the crypt your body would be in four different zip codes as the dividing lines of the DC zip codes travel from compass points that meet at the crypt. The original Supreme Court space was a very small space located farther down and in a windowless space. The area had been lit with whale oil during this time period, so when the senate grew to large for it's space, it was very obvious why they took the newly free space. The dedication to details and royal feeling of the space made it feel very important.
After leaving the cramped spaces and tight hallways, we returned to the dome room for a final look before our tour ended. Since it was getting late, the cub scout parents decided to part ways and either continue to explore DC or return home. Since we had two puppies waiting at home, we chose to return home. Two other families followed our cue and joined us on the metro but not before one last picture in front of the Capitol.
