The best part of the trip was a "back-stage pass" tour of the US Capitol. My wife and I and the in-laws went with the widow of a US Congressman. She wears a special medallion on a necklace that gets her almost everywhere inside the Capitol and she's there so often that the guards know her well.
The car was checked then we were let past two barricades that retract into the ground. We went past a couple of guards with M-16's and I drove into a very narrow tunnel-way. I let the group out and went to park. As I walked from the car to the tunnel-way, one of 3 guards with sidearms I had just driven past said, "No sir, you can't go that way." Out of the corner of my eye I could tell that I had the attention of the M-16 guys and slowly and carefully explained that I had just dropped off my party in that area and was trying to catch up with them. One of the 3 guards said he saw me do that and it was OK. I didn't realize I had dropped everyone off at the entrance that the Senators use. More police inside and also a metal detector to go through. All I had was my trusty pocket-sized $39.00 HD flip camera.
We had a tour of the Senate side of the Capitol including the Senate floor that I've only seen on C-SPAN, the Rotunda and Statuary Hall, a stop at the small House Chapel for a prayer service, (see stained-glass picture from inside the chapel below), then to the House side of the building including the House floor. Before we left the floor our tour guide said a little prayer for all the Representatives into a microphone at one of the lecterns.
We boarded a 3-car tram for a short ride and then had a great lunch at the Senate Dining Room.
On the walk back to the Senate side we went around a corner and saw Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, surrounded by big guys in suits with very serious faces moving quickly past us. I barely had time to realize who it was and they were gone.
As we were leaving and I went to retrieve the car to pick my group up, I had to stop at the tunnel entrance and wait on a black SUV that had just dropped some people off. I didn't want to crowd the SUV so I waited until it cleared the tunnel. Turns out that it was Mitch McConnell and his posse again. Man, that guy gets around fast.
That was a huge event for a guy like me who is very interested in history. Afterwards my wife joked that I was constantly looking around and saying, "Wow - look at this!" To be able to walk into and look around where so many important things have happened over the course of our history was the trip of a lifetime.
. Too crowded and not enough major highways in proximity to downtown. Luckily I left with enough of a cushion to make it in time.
Shoulda seen the look on the face of one of the mom's with me when the agent explained why they were swabbing - I am SO relieved she didn't say anything!