Today it is starting off rainy but we came prepared and will continue with our plans to walk The Mall and visit the Capitol where we have a scheduled private tour arranged by Mike H., through Senator McConnell’s office. We get to the Shady Grove Metro stop around 7:30 and find seats on the subway. By the time we make it down about 5 stops, there is only standing room left on the train. Fortunately, Shady Grove is the very last stop (or, first depending upon point of reference) so we are able to get seats.
We make it to the Capitol subway stop around 8:30 where it is still raining and since none of the Smithsonian museums are open at this early hour we take refuge in the Capitol which is the only visitor center open at this time. This is a brand new visitor center and I’m not sure exactly where it is but we follow the steady stream of tourist like people walking that way and find it. It eventually stops raining late in the morning and we spend the rest of the day looking at the Library of Congress and a few of the Smithsonian buildings. Our private tour of the Capitol is not until later in the afternoon so we are essentially just killing time until then. Even so, according to Mike H.’s pedometer, we walk over 10 miles this day.
I had never been in the Library of Congress building before but of all the buildings I have visited in D.C., it has the most beautiful interior of any of them.
After our guided tour of the Capitol it’s time to head back to Shady Grove and dinner. Since we are close to Union Station (okay, about 3 blocks but hey we’ve been walking all day and that seems pretty close) we head over there to get the subway. Once inside the building the signage is not very clear as to where to pick up the Red Line trains so to impress the boys I assess the situation and after 20+ years of last being in this building, lead us in the direction where we find the red line trains, on the very first attempt!! I’m not sure the boys were duly impressed by that feat but I reminded them of it several times.
That night we picked up my friend Joe whom I worked with at Marriott over 20 years ago and go to the “Cracked Claw” for dinner. Even though we have kept in touch by phone all these years, Joe and I had not seen each other since 1990. Everyone enjoyed Joe’s company and neither one of us had been to the Cracked Claw since probably the last time we went there which was probably 23 years ago. I was still basking in the glow of my Union Station feat but that didn’t last long as I proceeded to NOT find the Cracked Claw for about 40 minutes driving past the building about 4 times before discovering where it was. So much for my thinking I perhaps had some scout blood in my ancestry.
Tomorrow is Saturday and it’s back over to the Shady Grove Metro for another trip downtown so we can take the guided tour of the White House.
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