DC Trip: The Library of Congress, the Capitol, and the Supreme Court

So prepare yourself, this is going to be a lot of pictures! I arrived and met Matt in DC on Thursday and then Friday morning we got up to be at the Library of Congress for opening at 8:30 AM. We were the first ones in and got to see the amazing building when there was no one else in it. It was definitely beautiful and it was especially cool to see the Reading Room. One day I will get to go in there and do some research, just have to figure out what! The LOC also has some really interesting exhibits, including one on Bob Hope, and a copy of the Gutenberg Bible.

Almost felt like I was back in Europe

Just stunning

The Reading Room

The Gutenberg Bible

After our tour of the LOC, we headed over to meet up with our tour guide for the tour of the US Capitol! Several months ago I had arranged through our congressional office tours of the White House, Supreme Court, and the Capitol. A few days prior to the trip, I get an email offering us a private, staff-led tour of the Capitol. If you get a chance, I highly recommend you take them up on this offer. We had an intern show us around parts of the Capitol the 'big' tours don't get to see and it was excellent getting to skip the lines, too!

The next few pictures were taken prior to our tour of the LOC,
around 8 AM, hence why there aren't throngs of tourists :)

Now inside the Capitol, this was the Supreme Court Chambers from 1810-1860

A replica of the Magna Carta 

Now THIS is what made the staff-led tour especially awesome. This is from the
Speaker's Balcony. That larger balcony below is where the president makes his Inaugural Address.

Inside the dome

The Old Senate Chamber from 1810-1859

And finally we went to the Supreme Court! This was more interesting than I expected and we learned all sorts of cool things about this building. Did you know it wasn't built until the 1930s? Until then, the Supreme Court met in the Capitol.

You could take pictures looking into the chambers but not once you were inside.

We were able to enjoy a rather informative 30-minute 'lecture' on the history and architecture of the Supreme Court. Again- highly recommend it if you're able!